S&H Green Stamps Saver Book, c. 1970s. Andy Warhol's S&H Green Stamps highlights a quintessential symbol of mid-twentieth century American consumerism. Introduced in 1896 by Thomas A. Sperry and Shelly B. Hutchinson, S&H Green Stamps became a beloved part of daily life for many Americans, especially housewives in the 1950s and 1960s. Shoppers collected the stamps, which were distributed at supermarkets and gas stations, and carefully pasted them into booklets based on the value of their purchases. These booklets could then be redeemed for a range of household goods, from dishes to clocks. Captivated by the repetitiveness and commercial ubiquity of the stamps, Warhol first engaged with the motif in 1962, when he meticulously carved the logo into an eraser, using it to hand-stamp the motif across canvas. In both print and paint, the repeated, ready-made imagery of the S&H Green Stamps logo provided Warhol a means to explore his fascination with twentieth century consumer culture, mass production, and the art of repetition, once again elevating an everyday consumer object to the realm of fine art.
Green Stamps catalogue pages, offering various household glassware, men’s accessories and tobacco items, which could be acquired when shoppers redeemed their S&H Stamps saver books. Condition Report
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Provenance
The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, New York
Literature
Frayda Feldman and Jörg Schellmann 9
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.
108
S&H Green Stamps (F. & S. 9)
1965
Offset lithograph in colours, on lightweight wove paper, with full margins.
I. 57.1 x 56.6 cm (22 1/2 x 22 1/4 in.)
S. 58.9 x 58 cm (23 1/4 x 22 7/8 in.)
From the edition of approximately 300 (there was also an edition of 6000 folded mailers), published by the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, with the Estate of Andy Warhol and the Visual Arts Foundation inkstamps, initialled 'T.J.H.' by Timothy J. Hunt of the Andy Warhol Foundation and annotated '013S AWE.606' in pencil on the reverse, unframed.
Estimate
£1,500 - 2,000 †
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Evening & Day Editions
London Auction 23 - 24 January 2025
