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拍品專文
"The sports stars of today are the movie stars of yesterday." - Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol’s Athletes series demonstrates the changing nature of fame in the 1970s, granting professional sports players the Pop Art treatment that was previously reserved for movie stars and musicians. Art collector Richard Weisman commissioned the portraits in 1977 with the belief that “the athlete today is like the movie star of the past,” a philosophy that aligned with the ethos of Warhol’s most acclaimed work and his career-long fascination with celebrity (R. Weisman, quoted in S. King-Nero and N. Printz, (eds.), The Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings and Sculpture 1976-1978, vol. 05, New York, 2018, p. 291). Comprised of silkscreen portraits of world-famous sports stars, Warhol’s Athletes debuted at Coe Kerr Gallery in late 1977. Warhol depicted ten of the day’s leading athletes, including Muhammad Ali, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Pelé, Rod Gilbert, Dorothy Hamill, Tom Seaver, Chris Evert, O.J. Simpson, Jack Nicklaus, and Willie Shoemaker, each representing various professions from basketball and golf to boxing and tennis. While the series represented new and unfamiliar ground for the artist, Warhol succeeded in capturing the unique personalities of each figure while personifying their public image as legends in 1970s culture.
Coming directly from the personal collection of Rod Gilbert (1941-2021), this powerful portrait stands out among the series as being carefully selected by the artist’s muse for its poignant expression and superb color combination. The Canadian-born ice hockey player was a highly accomplished star forward for the New York Rangers from 1960-1977. The 11th player to reach the one thousand point milestone in his career, he was the first Ranger to have his shirt number retired at Madison Square Gardens, inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1982, where this exact portrait was on long-term loan for many years. The day before Gilbert sat for his portrait at Warhol’s Factory, he had played his final game of the 1976-1977 season, and after eighteen seasons, retired at the age of 36 several months later.
Of eighty 40 by 40 inch paintings in total comprising the series, each athlete kept one of their portraits. Gilbert supposedly made his selection at the exhibition opening. As reported by the New York Times, “[w]ithin an hour, Gilbert arrived at the gallery. I need your help, he told Warhol. They all look so good, I don’t know which one to take. Gilbert was awed by Warhol’s skill. I felt it was a photograph, that it was exactly me – only better. The one I pick, I’ll hang in my library. I don’t want anyone to catch me looking at it. Gilbert shook his head. I’ll tell you, I’ve looked in the mirror all my life. These paintings are me. They even make me feel a little vain… With Warhol’s help Gilbert selected one with a strong green background. He was staring at it as Tom and Nancy Seaver walked in” (T. Kornheiser, “Pictures at an Exhibit,” New York Times, 11 December 1977).
For the Gilbert portraits, of which there are eight in total, Warhol depicted his sitter against vibrant backgrounds in a variety of strong colorways, always with the jersey number “7” boldly occupying the foreground at lower right. The present work features a cobalt bust with inflections of cadmium red against a light green background, the face flush with cherry blossom pink. Gilbert confidently grips his hockey stick, with the blade partially haloing his defined face as he gazes triumphantly at the viewer. Using a palette knife and his own fingers, Warhol imposed forceful marks of paint to create an extremely textured, highly-stylized and touching portrait.
Andy Warhol’s Athletes series demonstrates the changing nature of fame in the 1970s, granting professional sports players the Pop Art treatment that was previously reserved for movie stars and musicians. Art collector Richard Weisman commissioned the portraits in 1977 with the belief that “the athlete today is like the movie star of the past,” a philosophy that aligned with the ethos of Warhol’s most acclaimed work and his career-long fascination with celebrity (R. Weisman, quoted in S. King-Nero and N. Printz, (eds.), The Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings and Sculpture 1976-1978, vol. 05, New York, 2018, p. 291). Comprised of silkscreen portraits of world-famous sports stars, Warhol’s Athletes debuted at Coe Kerr Gallery in late 1977. Warhol depicted ten of the day’s leading athletes, including Muhammad Ali, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Pelé, Rod Gilbert, Dorothy Hamill, Tom Seaver, Chris Evert, O.J. Simpson, Jack Nicklaus, and Willie Shoemaker, each representing various professions from basketball and golf to boxing and tennis. While the series represented new and unfamiliar ground for the artist, Warhol succeeded in capturing the unique personalities of each figure while personifying their public image as legends in 1970s culture.
Coming directly from the personal collection of Rod Gilbert (1941-2021), this powerful portrait stands out among the series as being carefully selected by the artist’s muse for its poignant expression and superb color combination. The Canadian-born ice hockey player was a highly accomplished star forward for the New York Rangers from 1960-1977. The 11th player to reach the one thousand point milestone in his career, he was the first Ranger to have his shirt number retired at Madison Square Gardens, inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1982, where this exact portrait was on long-term loan for many years. The day before Gilbert sat for his portrait at Warhol’s Factory, he had played his final game of the 1976-1977 season, and after eighteen seasons, retired at the age of 36 several months later.
Of eighty 40 by 40 inch paintings in total comprising the series, each athlete kept one of their portraits. Gilbert supposedly made his selection at the exhibition opening. As reported by the New York Times, “[w]ithin an hour, Gilbert arrived at the gallery. I need your help, he told Warhol. They all look so good, I don’t know which one to take. Gilbert was awed by Warhol’s skill. I felt it was a photograph, that it was exactly me – only better. The one I pick, I’ll hang in my library. I don’t want anyone to catch me looking at it. Gilbert shook his head. I’ll tell you, I’ve looked in the mirror all my life. These paintings are me. They even make me feel a little vain… With Warhol’s help Gilbert selected one with a strong green background. He was staring at it as Tom and Nancy Seaver walked in” (T. Kornheiser, “Pictures at an Exhibit,” New York Times, 11 December 1977).
For the Gilbert portraits, of which there are eight in total, Warhol depicted his sitter against vibrant backgrounds in a variety of strong colorways, always with the jersey number “7” boldly occupying the foreground at lower right. The present work features a cobalt bust with inflections of cadmium red against a light green background, the face flush with cherry blossom pink. Gilbert confidently grips his hockey stick, with the blade partially haloing his defined face as he gazes triumphantly at the viewer. Using a palette knife and his own fingers, Warhol imposed forceful marks of paint to create an extremely textured, highly-stylized and touching portrait.