Andy Warhol is a famous figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. For his silkscreen portraits and stylistic approach to his work, Warhol rose to fame in the 1960s. Contrary to his mainstream art style, these paintings are whimsical portraiture of children and abstract and distorted imagery. This fact has certainly piqued the interest of Warhol collectors far and wide.
Relatives of Andy Warhol have been reportedly vetting auction houses to sell a group of 10 works the Pop artist created during his art school years, in the mid-1940s. The time frame of these works indicates the initial works of a young Andy Warhol defining his style.
The artist’s nephew James Warhola is spearheading the effort to sell the works along with his six siblings. Warhola works as an illustrator and divides his time between upstate New York and Pittsburgh. He and his siblings inherited the works from their late parents, Anne Warhola and Paul Warhola, who was Andy’s brother. Andy Warhol dropped the last “a” in his Polish surname early in his career.
The 10 works were all produced while Warhol was a student at the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now known as Carnegie-Mellon University) in Pittsburgh from 1945 to 1949.
A website called the Andy Warhol Family Album shows images of all of the works that are set to be auctioned. They include titles such as Nosepicker #2, I Like Dance, Two Dogs Kissing, and Blue Face.
“I believe these paintings will do well, but the painting Nosepicker 1 is the real prize,” says Warhol expert Richard Polsky. “That’s because it’s probably Andy Warhol’s first self-portrait. Even though it’s not considered part of his mature work, it’s a historically significant indicator of his future fascination with painting his likeness.”
As for the auction prizes, none have been set yet, but it is expected to be in the moderate range to encourage bidding, adds Richard Polsky.