Flowers

With its colorful red flowers set against lush green foliage, Andy Warhol’s Flowers (1964) have become one of the most iconic and enigmatic images the artist ever painted. Following on from his highly acclaimed Death and Disaster paintings of 1962-1963, these bright and seemingly cheerful works were a welcomed departure from the dark, politically motivated and often disturbing canvases of the past. However, Warhol’s Flowers series also have a darker, more melancholic quality that beautifully synthesizes the themes that occupied his early oeuvre. This fourteen-inch version has been in the same family collection for nearly fifty years, acquired directly from the artist shortly after it was painted in 1964. Leon and Robyn Supraner knew Warhol through their connections with the entertainment industry (Leon insured Off Broadway shows and was an award winning photographer whose work is in the permanent collections of the Museum of the City of New York and the New York State Historical Society, and Robyn was a lyricist—writing songs for Chubby Checker amongst others—and an author of several books for children). During the 1960s, the couple became friendly with Warhol, visiting the Factory on several occasions, and acquiring a number of works by the artist.