Posted by Edward Kurstak on
As we’ve covered before on our blog, Andy Warhol’s rising star of fame reached its zenith in the 1960s and ‘70s when he turned his artists’ eye—and paintbrush—toward producing multiple-versioned representations of inescapable American icons. Within these years, he’d create paintings of celebrities including Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, Marilyn Monroe, Liza Minelli, and countless others, and his work essentially celebrated the relationship between artistic expression, celebrity and advertisement—suggesting that the mass-market, popular landscape in which American culture had grown to be was indeed worthy of canonization. And in depicting celebrities within his pop art, he also became one himself.
And it was no surprise in 1981 when Warhol released a series containing a slightly different type of celebrity portraiture. Called the Myths, the screen-printed portraits did not refer to human celebrities, or to long-lost historical civilizations—rather, to characters and icons within American pop culture that had taken on mythological status within Hollywood films and the American popular consciousness.
These Myths portraits contained ten screen prints total, and depicted figures including Santa Claus, Superman, Dracula, the Wicked Witch of the West, Mammy, Uncle Sam and one of the most recognizable American pop culture icons ever produced: Mickey Mouse. Created by Walt Disney in 1928, and known for his head shape made of three circles, Mickey is perhaps the number-one most beloved cartoon character in the entire world and even today, in 2019, holds a special place in the hearts of millions.
Mickey Mouse even held a special place in Andy Warhol’s heart. When asked who his favorite Disney character was, Warhol responded “Minnie, because she can get me close to Mickey.”
Andy Warhol’s portrait of Mickey was produced in a limited, signed and numbered run of 200 screen prints. In them, Mickey appears printed in profile on a background covered in diamond dust, which adds a touch of Hollywood glamour and appeal to the treasured character.
Edward Kurstak Gallery is proud to offer an unsigned publisher’s proof, in very good condition, of this iconic piece of Warhol’s output. One of the most sought-after pieces of Warhol’s art for sale, our offering is not one of the highly valued, numbered and signed 200 originals—which can sell for several hundreds of thousands of dollars a piece—but as a publisher’s proof, it still commands a high price and value on the secondary art market. It retains the original dimensions of works from the original production run at 38” x 38”. And perhaps best of all, Edward Kurstak Gallery is now offering this wonderful piece of Warhol’s work on sale at $2,200—down from $9,500.
Contact us today to discuss making this delightful Andy Warhol screen print part of your private collection.