Dorothy Hamill, 1977 Painting | Acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen
Neil Sedaka, 1979 Two paintings | Acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen
Dorothy Hamill was an iconic American figure skater and 1976 Olympic gold medalist. She was once considered one of the most popular and beloved American athletes. Her portrait was one of a series of ten commissioned portraits called “The Athlete Series.”
Neil Sedaka is an American musician and composer, best known for his hits “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” “Calendar Girl,” and “Breaking Up is Hard to Do.” He would also compose big hits for artists like Connie Francis. Despite their friendship, Warhol expressed uncertainty and reluctance to do Sedaka’s portrait, believing the musician was “too fat.”
Evelyn Kuhn, 1977 Two paintings | Acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen
Bob Colacello, 1979 Photograph | Facsimile of original Polaroid 20 x 24” print
Evelyn Kuhn was a fashion model who appeared on the cover of Vogue, Cosmopolitan, and Harper’s Bazaar, as well as a print model for Revlon and Cover Girl. In addition to her portrait by Warhol, she was also photographed by legendary photographer Richard Avedon.
Bob Colacello was a close friend of Warhol’s, a columnist and later executive editor of Warhol’s magazine Interview. He is one of the most frequently mentioned figures in Warhol’s diaries, and was responsible for securing many of the commissioned portraits Warhol would complete in his career.
Mark Leibovitz, 1977 Two paintings | Acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen Mark Leibovitz was an art dealer in New York in the 1970s. He was a permanent fixture at Studio 54, and this portrait is considered one of Warhol’s finest, capturing the mythic world of the wild, hedonistic years of the late 1970s. Liza Minelli, 1977 Photograph | Facsimile of an original Polaroid Polacolor Type 108 Liza Minelli is a star of stage and screen, a songstress best known for her turn as Sally Bowles in the 1972 film version of Cabaret. The daughter of Hollywood legend Judy Garland, Minelli became close friends with Warhol in the 1970s. Younger audiences may better recognize her as Lucille Austero, the on-again, off-again love interest of Buster Bluth on the cult-hit Arrested Development. Arnold Schwarzenegger, 1977 Photograph | Facsimile of an original Polaroid Polacolor Type 108 Arnold Schwarzenegger is a former body-builder and Mr. Universe turned actor-filmmaker and politician. Following a catapult to fame after his appearance in the documentary Pumping Iron, Schwarzenegger enjoyed success as an actor in the Terminator series. He would later reinvent himself, serving as the 38th governor of California. In 1986, he married Maria Shriver, a member of the Kennedy family, a wedding which Andy Warhol attended with Grace Jones.
Carolina Herrera and her portraits, c. 1980 Photograph | Gelatin silver print Pele, 1977 Photograph | Facsimile of an original Polaroid Polacolor Type 108 Pele is a retired Brazilian soccer player, who is considered to be the greatest player in the history of the game. During the height of his fame, he was one of the highest paid athletes, acclaimed for his social activism in shedding light on the poverty in his native Brazil. Warhol would describe him as funny looking, “but when he smiles he looks beautiful.” Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlain, c. 1978 Two paintings | Acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas John Chamberlain was an American sculptor best known for his abstracted metal sculptures made from old automobiles. Lorraine Chamberlain was his young wife, and had been a muse to Frank Zappa. John Chamberlain died in 2011. Barbara Heizer, 1978 Painting | Acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen Barbara Heizer was the wife of Michael Heizer, an American abstract painter, sculptor and land artist, a contemporary of Andy Warhol. The couple, who often socialized with Warhol, would later divorce.
Carolina Herrera is an iconic fashion designer, and was a fixture in the Studio 54 days, close friends with Andy Warhol and Mick Jagger. Born in Venenzuela, she later emigrated to America, where she became known for dressing many American First Ladies, including Jackie Kennedy and Michelle Obama. Sylvester Stallone, 1980 Two paintings | Acrylic and silkscreen on linen Sylvester Stallone is an American actor and filmmaker, whose meteoric rise to fame began with his turn as Rocky Balboa in the 1976 Academy-Award-winning film, Rocky. A close friend of the actor’s, Warhol completed a second portrait of Stallone because he wanted to revisit this subject after Stallone shaved his beard. Howdy Doody, c. 1980 Photograph | Gelatin silver print Howdy Doody was a Western-themed puppet and fictional character who was the central figure of a popular children’s television show that ran from the late 1947 until 1960.
Michael Heizer, 1978 Painting | Acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen Michael Hezier is an American sculptor, land artist and abstract painter, and a contemporary of Warhol. Along with David Whitney, he was a close friend of the artist.
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