Andrew Huber
Head of Department
Lot 11
ANDY WARHOL(1928-1987)9 animated digital artworks
1985
1985
Amended
19 May 2022, 17:00 EDT
New YorkSold for US$252,375 inc. premium
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Randy Reynolds
Specialist, Head of Sale
ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987)
9 animated digital artworks
1985
Amiga 1000 digital images on computer disk
campbells (moving; 320 by 200 non square pixels)
banana2 (moving; 320 by 200 non square pixels)
andy7 (moving; 320 by 200 non square pixels)
cycle2 (moving; 320 by 200 non square pixels)
flowers (moving; 320 by 200 non square pixels)
andys (moving; 320 by 200 non square pixels)
money (moving; 320 by 200 non square pixels)
cycle1 (moving; 320 by 200 non square pixels)
bigflower (static; 320 by 200 non square pixels)
The purchaser of this disk will receive an Amiga 1000 computer to accompany the lot.
1985
Amiga 1000 digital images on computer disk
campbells (moving; 320 by 200 non square pixels)
banana2 (moving; 320 by 200 non square pixels)
andy7 (moving; 320 by 200 non square pixels)
cycle2 (moving; 320 by 200 non square pixels)
flowers (moving; 320 by 200 non square pixels)
andys (moving; 320 by 200 non square pixels)
money (moving; 320 by 200 non square pixels)
cycle1 (moving; 320 by 200 non square pixels)
bigflower (static; 320 by 200 non square pixels)
The purchaser of this disk will receive an Amiga 1000 computer to accompany the lot.
Footnotes
Provenance
Gifted directly from the artist to Don Greenbaum
The worlds of art and technology collided onstage at Lincoln Center in New York City on July 23, 1985 when Andy Warhol demonstrated the revolutionary Amiga 1000 computer at its launch event. Seven days earlier, Andy Warhol handed a disk to Mr. Don Greenbaum, then Treasurer of Commodore International Ltd., during a visit to Warhol's studio. At the Lincoln Center launch, Warhol stated: "I have always wanted to be Walt Disney, and now I know I can be an animator."
The subjects of the works Andy created are iconic Warhol images: Marilyn Monroe, a Campbell's soup can, dollar signs and the artist's own self-portrait, but crafted in a whole new context. With the Amiga, Warhol was able to create moving digital images, continuing his early interest in filmmaking by utilizing this cutting-edge technology. The unadulterated files, as made by Warhol's own hand, can only be viewed in their native environment, using the original Amiga hardware and software included in the sale. The execution of this work recontextualizes our understanding of Warhol's supreme gift for innovation and forces us to rewrite his relationship to art history. The new images on this disk—and the groundbreaking use of animation in eight of them—are significant and historically important additions to the known catalogue of Warhol's digital art.
The disk was put in a protective disk holder and remained in Mr. Greenbaum's collection of early Commodore Amiga software until 2008 when Mr. Greenbaum opened the storage box they were in while searching for some other old files. Mr. Greenbaum was able to recover the disk's contents by refurbishing an Amiga 1000. A similar restoration mission was undertaken by Mr. Greenbaum with The Warhol Museum in Pittsburg in 2014, resulting in a multi-year long exhibition "Warhol and the Amiga". Six of the files on Mr. Greenbaum's disk are similar but not identical to those found in the Museum's archives and three are totally new images.
Never afraid to explore new media, Warhol's efforts on the Amiga can be seen as a precursor to the proliferation of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and their associated imagery. Repetitious, with varying characteristics, the avatars of the Bored Ape Yacht Club, and Cryptopunks parallel the present works made by Warhol. The moving aspect of the digital artworks bring variation to the same theme. The overarching commodification relating to NFTs only further cements the relationship to Warhol's practice.
The story of this disk, its contents, and its journey to auction will be featured prominently in an upcoming documentary.
Saleroom notices
The Andy Warhol Foundation has requested the courtesy of the following notice, issued by the Foundation, in connection with this lot: All intellectual property and ancillary rights are explicitly reserved to The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Creation of any and all derivative works based on this lot including, but not limited to NFTs, are prohibited unless and until the Warhol Foundation gives its prior written consent thereto.
