Christie’s Hong Kong will hold a 20th and 21st Century Art Auction on May 28-29, 2024, showcasing a variety of exquisite art masterpieces at the auction preview, covering art from the 20th and 21st centuries, ancient and modern Chinese paintings and calligraphy, Chinese ceramics and art pieces, precious jewelry, fine watches, handbags, and accessories, attracting the attention of art collectors and enthusiasts worldwide!
One of the most eye-catching works is the masterpiece by Andy Warhol – “Flowers”!
Flowers
“Flowers” is a rare masterpiece by the American pop art pioneer Andy Warhol in 1965, and it is also part of the acclaimed “Flowers” series.
And most strikingly, it is the largest painting in the same series in the history of Asian auctions, measuring 208.3 x 208.3 cm. (82 x 82 in.), which is truly massive. According to records, Andy Warhol only created twelve paintings in his lifetime that were 82 inches in size in the “Flowers” series, and this is one of them.
The composition of a half-flower in the painting is truly a unique masterpiece within the same size.
Further reading:
- Angus Ting – Seeking the Art of “Bamboo” Twice | Art City Travelogue
- Our distance from Kowloon Walled City is not just Kowloon Walled City Park, movies, and billboards! Taking stock of those creative works related to the Walled City
- Japanese “Alice in Wonderland” themed rose garden! 10,000 roses in full bloom / dreamy check-in installation
“Flowers” Witnessing the Peak of Andy Warhol’s Artistic Career
When Andy Warhol is mentioned, people always think of the repeated Campbell’s soup can pattern and silkscreen printing technique, as well as familiar celebrities and objects like Marilyn Monroe. Overall, the repetition and sense of capitalism in his paintings are definitely distinctive.
He believed that art is linked to money, so it should be commercialized. The “Flowers” series was created during a key period in Andy Warhol’s career.
In the summer of 1964, Andy Warhol had just completed his famous “Death and Disaster” series and then joined the lineup of art dealer Leo Castelli, whose gallery was at the core of the New York art scene at the time. The idea for creating this series came from Henry Geldzahler, a curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, who encouraged Andy Warhol to try some less gloomy subjects during a visit to The Factory. Later, Andy Warhol saw an article in the June 1964 issue of “Modern Photography” magazine introducing a new color processing technique by Kodak, demonstrated with an image of a hibiscus flower, which became the original material for the “Flowers” series. Andy Warhol cleverly appropriated this image and created the “Flowers” series for his first exhibition with Castelli at the end of the same year.
For him, this was a milestone exhibition and a hard-to-come-by event, making Andy Warhol an immortal leader of American pop art. And “Flowers,” completed in 1965, was a crucial moment in his artistic career – the “Warhol frenzy” at the time became a cultural trend in American society.
In 1965, he sparked a revolution in the art world with his series depicting Campbell’s soup cans and Marilyn Monroe. That same year, he also began managing the Velvet Underground band and held his first solo museum exhibition at the Philadelphia International Contemporary Art Center. This exhibition marked a turning point in Warhol’s career, with thousands attending the opening night, propelling the “Warhol mania” to new heights.
Two years after Warhol’s death, this work “Flowers” was included in the artist’s retrospective exhibition “Andy Warhol: Retrospective” (1989-1990) held by the Museum of Modern Art in New York and exhibited around the world.
The importance of “Flowers”
This “Flower” is the only 82-inch work in Andy Warhol’s existing “Flower” series that depicts a half-hibiscus flower, while the other 11 works of the same size are composed of four flowers in the composition.
In addition, the flowers and green background in this work are all hand-drawn by Andy Warhol. He carefully injected intricate textures and thick paint effects into the surface, creating a unique tension with the mechanical reproducibility of screen printing, making the composition vivid.
However, counting the catalogue of Andy Warhol’s series, it will be found that only 12 works of similar scale are included, with 2 of them being held by well-known institutions (1 held by the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh / 1 held by the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington), the remaining 9 pieces are in private collections, with 1 piece missing, further proving the rarity of this auction of “Flowers”.
Christie’s Asia Pacific Director of 20th and 21st Century Art, Cristian Albu, said: “Christie’s is honored to present one of the most sought-after artists in history, Andy Warhol’s unique iconic masterpiece, ‘Flowers.’ Coming from Warhol’s peak creative period, it has become an indispensable part of art history and remains one of the cultural phenomena that continues to captivate the world today. Unlike other works in this important series, the depiction of the blooming giant yellow hibiscus in this piece is grand in size and vibrant in composition. The demand for masterpieces by Western artists from Asian collectors has always been strong, and now this stunning masterpiece is making its debut on the auction block, and we believe it will attract a crowd of collectors and art enthusiasts eager to bid.”
Before this auction, the last appearance of the 82-inch “Flower” auction was in 2005. This groundbreaking classic painting, with an estimated value ranging from HK$62,800,000 to HK$92,800,000 (US$8,000,000 to US$12,000,000), finally sold for HK$66,625,000, further confirming the value of the work.
