Though better known for his Campbell Soup paintings, king of pop art Andy Warhol also produced silkscreen portraits of 10 famous athletes, which are now among the artist's best-known works.
The forthcoming Morgan O'Driscoll Irish and International online sale, which ends on October 27th, features a well-known Warhol work: a portfolio of four screen-prints, signed and numbered 8, from an edition of 150, of Muhammad Ali which were printed by Rupert Jasen Smith in New York in 1978 (€200,000–€300,000).
Born Cassius Clay, the boxer, activist and philanthropist changed his name to Muhammad Ali when he converted to Idlsm in 1964. He is widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated figures of the 20th century, as well as one of the greatest boxers of all time.
He discovered that his grandfather, Abe Grady hailed from Co Clare, and when he came to Ireland in 1972 to fight Alvin 'Blue' Lewis at Croke Park, the Irish Tourist Board pulled a major coup by getting the world's most marketable sports star to film an advert promoting Ireland. (Look for it on YouTube.)
Warhol himself – who was a leading figure in the visual art movement, and who The Economist, in 2009 described as "a bellwether of the art market" – was also no stranger to the occasional fight. In 1968, radical feminist Valerie Solanas shot the artist. .
A second Warhol, called The Nun, from Ingrid Bergman, is also featured in the sale with an estimate of €25,000–€35,000.
Also in there is Morons by urban artist Banksy, whose prices have seen a steady increase since his dystopian view of the House of Commons achieved €11.1m last year. Signed “Banksy 07”, the coloured screenprint is listed at €20,000–€30,000.
Two works by Belfast-born artist Daniel O’Neill include the oversized Summer (€70,000–€100,000) and the soulful dark-eyed portrait of Girl with Flowers at a more modest €35,000–€45,000. The record for an O’Neill was set at a Sotheby’s New York sale in 2008, when Reclining Figure achieved in excess of €358,000.
The two Harry Kernoff’s in the sale are a good indication that not all paintings by an artist are equal in terms of cost, medium and from a critical viewpoint.
The highest price achieved for a Kernoff is in the region of €159,000 when fees and exchange rates are taken into account. Old Village, Milltown, Dublin, a watercolour is listed at €1,500–€2,500, while his slightly larger oil on board The Twelve Pins, Renvyle, Connemara is seeking €20,00–€30,000. It was last sold at auction in 2014 for €19,000, so it will be one to watch.
Two further works which will likely cause interest are Sean Scully’s 9.2.89 (€80,000–€100,000) and Bridget Riley’s Study for Painting Four Colours (€100,000–€150,000).
