Andy Warhol, Apple, from the Ads Portfolio, 1985

Artist: Andy Warhol (1928 - 1987)
Title:Apple, from the Ads Portfolio, 1985
Reference:FS. IIB.359
Series:Ads Series, 1985
Medium:Color Screenprint on Lenox Museum Board.
Image Size:38 in x 38 in (96.5 cm x 96.5 cm)
Sheet Size:38 in x 38 in (96.5 cm x 96.5 cm)
Framed Size:41 1/2 in x 41 1/2 in (105.4 cm x 105.4 cm)
Edition:Artist proof 18/30, aside from the regular numbered edition of 190, published by Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, Inc., New York; printed by Rupert Jasen Smith, New York.
Signature:This work is hand signed by Andy Warhol (Pennsylvania, 1928 – New York, 1987) in pencil in lower right.
Condition:This work is in excellent condition.
ID #W-6893
Price on Request

Questions?

Inquire to Sell

Historical Description

Andy Warhol’s Apple 1985 screenprint, is a work from Warhol’s Ads series and acts as a commentary on the power of technology and advertising. The famous logo for Macintosh Computers, the apple with a bite taken out of it, is the star of Warhol’s Apple. The original logo’s rainbow hues fit perfectly into Warhol’s Pop Art schemes and are preserved in Warhol’s Apple. The sketched lines in the background give this work a child-like vibe, furthered by the crayon texture of the lines. Of course, the Apple logo can now be seen in the homes and in the pockets of nearly every American and around the world, making Andy Warhol’s Apple a strong statement on the growth of technology and the lasting effects of effective marketing.

Andy Warhol’s Ads portfolio, made in 1985, is a stunning exemplar of the core tenets of Warhol’s art practice. Drawing on his initial start as a commercial illustrator, the focus on commonplace advertisements encapsulates his interest in commercialism and consumerism. The Ads portfolio pulls from globally recognized brands associated with a wide range of products, from Apple cars to Paramount movies, and elevates these elements of ordinary life to the status of high art. These advertisements were powerful symbols, and Andy Warhol’s Ads portfolio is a peek into the media landscape of the 1980s. By isolating the quotidian images in these advertisements from their commercial context, Warhol creates a space to appreciate the aesthetics of the everyday. Andy Warhol’s Ads portfolio is quintessential to the history of art, and is a gorgeous collection of some of his most sought after works.

Created in 1985, Andy Warhol’s Apple is a color screenprint on Lenox Museum Board and is signed in pencil in the lower right. It is a unique work of an edition of 190, 50 AP, 30 PP, 5 EP, 10 HC, and 10 numbered in Roman numerals, published by Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, Inc., New York and printed by Rupert Jasen Smith, New York.

Andy Warhol Ads Series, 1985:

Andy Warhol’s Ads series of 1985 features a variety of advertisements and logos of popular consumer brands including Chanel No. 5, Paramount, Volkswagen, Mobilgas, and Apple.

Interested in exploring the relationship between art and commerce, Warhol understood advertisements to be ubiquitous and influential forms of visual culture that could be celebrated through art. By reproducing these quotidian advertisements as art, Warhol questions the value of traditional art forms and the role of the artist in a commercial society.

Each artwork in the series features the product or brand name in bold letters, surrounded by vibrant colors and other design elements. Warhol's use of repetition and bright colors gives these advertisements a sense of familiarity and immediacy, emphasizing their power over consumer desires and popular culture at large.

This screenprint is part of a portfolio of 10 works Warhol created in 1985 titled The Andy Warhol Ads Series . Other works in the Series include Apple, Mobil, Rebel Without a Cause (James Dean), Van Heusen (Ronald Reagan), Paramount, Blackglama (Judy Garland), Chanel, The New Spirit (Donald Duck), Lifesavers, Volkswagen.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
Andy Warhol, Apple, from Ads (1985), is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the sale of the work).

  1. Feldman, Frayda and Jörg Schellmann. Andy Warhol Prints: A Catalogue Raisonné 1962 – 1987, 4th Ed. New York: Distributed Art Publishers, Inc., 2003. Andy Warhol’s Apple is listed as catalogue raisonne FS II 359.
  2. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany our Andy Warhol Apple.

About the Framing:
Andy Warhol’s Apple is framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, artist name title, year is presented in a complementary moulding and optical grade Plexiglas.

Subject Matter: $76k+ Contemporary