Lot 656 R

The polaroid picture, the template for many of Beuys' serigraphs, originated in 1979 with Joseph Beuys' and Andy Warhol's first encounter in the Galerie Denise René/Hans Mayer. The work symbolises the connection of two important personalities of their time, which, with their understanding of art, they have shaped and defined. The Beuys motif has been processed in various ways and is counted among the most famous portraits of the pop artist's late work. ''Warhol's most successful portraits of recent times are those which, as with myths, resume the simplicity and directness of the screen print process of the 60s, but at the same time incorporate innovative modifications. In his series of portraits commissioned by Joseph Beuys in 1980 and 1980/83, Warhol manipulated the picture material in order to heighten the charisma of the artists portrayed. The choice of precisely these photographs, repetition, the simple colour combinations and diverse surface design with diamond dust and velvet covering, make Warhol's rank as portrait painter obvious.'' (Roberta Bernstain, Warhol als Grafiker, in: Frayda Feldman et.al. (ed.), Werkverzeichnis Druckgraphik, Munich 1989, p. 14).