This month, Artnet presents its First printings and multiples sale, featuring important works by top artists such as Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Frank Stella, Wayne Thiebaud, Julian Opie, KAWS, Damien Hirst, Pablo Picasso, Edward Hopper, and more.

Beyond the famous artists behind the works, many of the works in the sale also feature famous faces. We spoke to Conner Williams, Head of Prints and Multiples at Artnet, about Pop art’s radical use of icons, as evidenced by some of the outstanding lots at our latest auction.

What is the historical significance of icons in art?

There is a long history of artists using icons as a subject for painting, reverting to the original Greek Icon, meaning “image”. While an icon would have been a representation of Christ or other religious symbolism in the 7th century, today the word “icon” has evolved to mean any object or image that has special meaning for the general public.

How did Pop art explode the modern icon?

Pop art drew inspiration from icons in television, comics, movies, advertising, and commercial products. Widely disseminated by mass media and consumerism, these images were instantly recognizable.

America in the 1960s saw a growing popularity of television, which, in turn, created a widespread fascination with celebrities – people could watch their glamorous lives right from their living rooms. This public preoccupation with celebrities found an echo in Pop art, as artists portrayed well-known movie stars, musicians and politicians. Of course, Andy Warhol had a special fascination with fame, with the works of Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe and, later, Mick Jagger, Debbie Harry and Dolly Parton, among many others.

How did the artists represent their icons?

In the world of Pop art, the use of icons exploded on a much larger scale as artists adopted printmaking techniques. As a mechanical process, printing created an opportunity for artists to produce their images in editions, mirroring mass media production.

Warhol’s technique played a huge role in the development of the modern day icon. Working from a photograph of his subject, which he would project onto a wall, Warhol would trace the main facial features and thus create a very close likeness of the individual. The icon was therefore immediately recognizable, much like seeing the character on television, in a movie theater or in a newspaper.

Andy Warhol, Grace Kelly (1984)

Andy Warhol, Grace Kelly (1984). East. $120,000 to $180,000.

Grace Kelly was the consummate icon, first as an actress on Hollywood’s silver screens, then as Princess of Monaco. It is therefore not surprising that Warhol, always drawn to the flame of fame and celebrity, depicts it in his work.

Warhol painted this magnificent portrait of Kelly just two years after her tragic death at the age of 52. With series such as Death and catastrophe, Warhol was drawn to the tragedy that tainted fame, and this work highlights how certain celebrities can be even more iconic posthumously.

This was created as a fundraiser for the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania, which hosted the artist’s first solo exhibition in 1965 and subsequently launched his career. Kelly herself was born in Philadelphia, and her parents were both actively involved in college – her mother was the first woman to head the physical education department.

Andy Warhol, Mao (complete set of 10 works) (1972)

Andy Warhol, Mao (complete set of 10 works) (1972). East. $500,000 to $700,000.

This set of 10 Mao serigraphs was created by Warhol in 1972, the same year President Nixon visited China to meet with Chairman Mao Zedong to establish closer political ties between the two countries.

Warhol was prompted to create the series by the suggestion of his dealer Bruno Bischofberger: a fitting subject for Warhol’s obsession with fame, as Life magazine had recently declared Mao the most famous person in the world. Warhol would go on to create five series of Maos between 1972 and 1973.

Warhol was inspired by the official portrait of Mao in the “Little Red Book” (official title Quotes from Chairman Mao Zedong), which was a publication of 267 aphorisms of the communist leader. With billions printed and distributed across China, Communist supporters still had to take the book with them; the book itself has become an icon of Chinese communism.

The ultimate icon, Warhol used the already instantly recognizable image of Mao to create his serigraphs using a strong color palette that marries symbols of political propaganda and modern celebrity.

Richard Pettibone, Andy Warhol, “Four Jackies” (1964) (1996)

Richard Pettibone, Andy Warhol, “Four Jackies”, (1964) (1996). East. $30,000 to $50,000.

Influential American artist Richard Pettibone is known for his creations of miniature replicas of works by other famous people, such as Andy Warhol, Ed Ruscha and Roy Lichtenstein, deliberately choosing artists whose works focus on replication and seriality, adding an extra layer of irony to The Pettibone Credits.

This work, created in 1996, is a careful and meticulous replica of the famous Jackie (Four Jackies) (Portraits of Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy) from 1964. These original works by Warhol visualized newspaper photographs of Jaqueline Kennedy, which showed the moments before and after the assassination of her husband, President John F. Kennedy. By reproducing iconic Warhol images of an iconic individual, Pettibone’s work offers a commentary on the long cultural impact of Pop art.

Andy Warhol, Herself (by Ingrid Bergman) (1983)

Andy Warhol, Herself (by Ingrid Bergman) (1983). East. $30,000 to $50,000.

One of the world’s most defining actresses, Ingrid Bergman is an instantly recognizable star. The recipient of three Oscars and two Emmys, her most famous role was as a lead actress in casablanca in 1942.

Warhol’s work, titled Se, was part of a series of three prints commissioned by the Swedish art gallery Galerie Börjeson and printed by Rupert Jasen Smith in New York. Similar to the Grace Kelly print, these prints were created in 1983 in commemoration of the actress who died in London the year before.

Published four years before his death in 1987, this series would be one of Warhol’s last portrayals of movie stars.

Browse these and dozens of other works by artists such as Keith Haring, Frank Stella and Pablo Picasso in the First printings and multiples auction, ongoing until April 13, 2023.

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