A self-portrait by Andy Warhol, whose purchase and then resale have been the subject of two books, will test the market of the king of Pop Art in New York next week.
The 12 by 12 inches Self Portrait (spooky wig), depicts the artist’s head and spiky hair in green on black. Estimated between $800,000 and $1.2 million at Phillips, it will be offered at the evening auction of 20th and 21st century art on May 17. This is one of 28 Warhols on the auction block during the sales taking place in New York until next week, according to the Artnet price database.
The work is anonymously deposited by Finnish collector John Lindell, who bought it for $374,000 at Christie’s in 2005. At that time, it was sold by art dealer Richard Polsky, who used the work as a narrative device for his two non-fiction works on the art market, “I Bought Andy Warhol” and “I Sold Andy Warhol (Too Soon): A Memoir”.
The first book told the story of Polsky’s 12-year quest to find and buy the right Warhol, for which he ultimately paid $47,500. The second book is about selling the Warhol at auction and then having terrible buyer’s remorse.
“My mom told me not to sell it,” Polsky said by phone from Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he now lives. “I should have listened to my mother.”
Cover of Richard Polsky’s book ‘I Bought Andy Warhol’. Courtesy of Richard Polsky
Just two years later, another similar 12-inch Warhol self-portrait fetched $2.7 million at auction, still the highest price for a work of this size. Prices for self-portraits of Warhol in creepy wig peaked in 2010 when a 9-foot square canvas traded for $32.6 million. A group of six 22-by-22-inch works fetched $31.4. million in 2018.
The Fright Wig self-portrait series is the result of a suggestion by art dealer Anthony d’Offay, who wanted to bring the iconic artist together as creator and subject in the same work. The series was completed and exhibited at London’s Offay Gallery shortly before Warhol’s death in 1987.
Lindell was aware of Polsky’s first book, but was drawn to the painting outside of any narrative, he said this week. He loves Warhol and has collected it extensively, beginning in 1992 when he purchased his first work by the artist, a Dollar Sign painting. Since then, he has amassed 25 Warhol serigraphs and sculptures, including four self-portraits. They are part of his art collection of around 250 works and a vast treasury of furniture, glass and ceramics.
“I’m sorry to see it go,” Lindell said of the Fright Wig, speaking from Helsinki, “but after collecting for 40 years and approaching 70 next year, maybe it’s time to sell something. thing.”
In fact, he’s selling three more works at Phillips next week, including two more Warhols (a little Mao in the evening sale and OJ Simpson during the morning sale) as well as a brushstroke sculpture by Roy Lichtenstein.
Both Polsky and Lindell said owning the Fright Wig was a special experience.
“I got a lot of spiritual nourishment from it,” Polsky said. “Whoever gets it will enjoy living with it.”
He once predicted that the price of a small Fright Wig self-portrait would reach $500,000. Phillips’ estimate is already “double what I thought it would ever be worth”.
Had he kept it so far, Polsky could have paid for his new home with the sale proceeds, he said. But that’s just the nature of the art business: you often sell for a profit, but too soon.
Is there a chance he will bid again? “I couldn’t buy it back even if I wanted to,” he said.
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