Andy Warhol’s oeuvre revolves around his exploration of and fascination with fame, consumerism, and celebrity culture. Initially in his production of celebrity portraits, Warhol appropriated images from the media, as exemplified by his iconic portrayal of Marilyn Monroe. However, in the 1970s, he began to explore the medium of photography and developed his own portrait practice, turning his polaroid camera towards some of the 20th century icons in his orbit. One of whom was rock legend and Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, who drew Warhol in with his ‘bad-boy’ image, flamboyant style, and unforgettable persona.
“Image is so important to rock stars. Mick Jagger is the rock star with the longest running image. He's the one all the young white kids copy. That's why every detail of his appearance is important.”
—Andy Warhol 1
Andy Warhol, Mick Jagger, 1975. Artwork: © 2023 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York The two stars first met in 1964 at a party for the Rolling Stones in New York to celebrate the release of the band’s debut studio album The Rolling Stones. Warhol and Jagger were both gaining international fame “in the same cultural moment - the explosion of the counter-cultural and sexual liberation movements and the commercial exploitation of the generation gap.”2 In that same year, the Rolling Stones also recorded the single “Time Is on My Side,” which became the band’s first top ten hit in the United States, and meanwhile, Warhol produced some of his most pivotal work, including Race Riot and Electric Chair, both of which were part of his distinctive Death and Disasters series. Jagger and Warhol’s friendship would go on to become one of legend, a powerful celebrity relationship that would ignite several years of artistic collaboration. In 1971, Warhol designed the iconic cover for the Rolling Stones’ album Sticky Fingers, a suggestive close-up of Joe Dallesandro’s crotch in jeans. Warhol ignored Jagger’s request for an uncomplicated cover and instead created the image with a functional zipper, reflecting the rebellious nature of both the Rolling Stones and Warhol’s artistic approach.
In the summer of 1975, Jagger rented Warhol’s house in Montauk to allow the band to focus on preparing for their sixth American tour. While out East, Warhol photographed Jagger bare-chested with only the chain around his neck, capturing him in a variety of moods and expressions to be implemented as the source imagery for the ensuing screenprint portfolio. Warhol combined photographic images with torn paper collage, as well as superimposed drawing, techniques which would become staples of Warhol’s later work. These abstract blocks of color and gestural drawn lines produced more expressive and dynamic imagery, accentuating the subject’s movements. The resulting portfolio consisted of 10 screenprints, a distinction Warhol had only previously bestowed upon Marilyn Monroe and Mao Zedong. Furthermore, the Mick Jagger portfolio is the largest number of screenprints developed from Warhol’s personal photographs of a single figure. The project was a uniquely collaborative effort which successfully captured the celebrity status of both Jagger and Warhol, as illustrated by the presence of both stars’ signatures on the final prints.
1 Andy Warhol, Andy Warhol's Exposures, 1979, p. 196
2 Trevor Fairbrother, “Andy and Mick” in Frieze, Issue 16, May 1994
Provenance
American State of the Arts Gallery Exchange, Inc., New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner, 1981Literature
Frayda Feldman and Jörg Schellmann 142
Artist Biography
Andy Warhol
American • 1928 - 1987
Andy Warhol was the leading exponent of the Pop Art movement in the U.S. in the 1960s. Following an early career as a commercial illustrator, Warhol achieved fame with his revolutionary series of silkscreened prints and paintings of familiar objects, such as Campbell's soup tins, and celebrities, such as Marilyn Monroe. Obsessed with popular culture, celebrity and advertising, Warhol created his slick, seemingly mass-produced images of everyday subject matter from his famed Factory studio in New York City. His use of mechanical methods of reproduction, notably the commercial technique of silk screening, wholly revolutionized art-making.
Working as an artist, but also director and producer, Warhol produced a number of avant-garde films in addition to managing the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground and founding Interview magazine. A central figure in the New York art scene until his untimely death in 1987, Warhol was notably also a mentor to such artists as Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
110
Mick Jagger (F. & S. 142)
1975
Screenprint in colors, on Arches Aquarelle paper, the full sheet.
S. 43 5/8 x 29 in. (110.8 x 73.7 cm)
Signed by the artist in pencil and by the sitter in red marker (slightly faded) and numbered 178/250 in pencil (there were also 50 artist's proofs), published by Seabird Editions, London (with their inkstamp on the reverse), framed.
Estimate
$70,000 - 90,000
Sold for $114,300
Editions@phillips.com
212 940 1220
Editions & Works on Paper
New York Auction 24-26 October 2023
48
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144
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176
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326
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338
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