Signed Andy Warhol Collection
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GUEST:
I knew and met Andy Warhol in the '80s. He was all over New York all the time, and I ask him in a nightclub if he would sign some soup cans for me. And the guy's, like, "Sure, you bet. Bring them by my studio tomorrow." I'm, like, "Okay."
APPRAISER:
So you became friendly with Andy, and he gave you these great autographs. And then you got this beautiful print.
GUEST:
I loved it, and I got this from Andy for $125.
APPRAISER:
Oh, wow.
GUEST:
And again, I went down to his studio with... I took my mom and my sister and we all went down there and it was really great. I mean, this guy was so friendly that there was no "No" coming out of his mouth. He loved people and he was also very interested in your story, like where you were from, what you do.
APPRAISER:
Let's take a look at the back of this, too. You have some other things on here. We have some “Interview” magazines.
GUEST:
“Interview” magazines. Andy was publishing this magazine called “Interview” at the time, and the guy had a stack of “Interview” magazines, so he would sign them and I got him to sign, you know, Robin Williams with a "Meow," with a cat. And I love Molly Ringwald, he called her Molly Ringworm. And then Richard Pryor.
APPRAISER:
Yeah.
GUEST:
So it's really, really funny that he would sign them and, you know, draw funny things on them. Oh, look, I love this, "To Park, love Andy Warhol."
APPRAISER:
Yeah, I was going to point this out, which is really great. We have the back of the print, which is properly numbered, rubber-stamped and signed, and then dedicated in pencil to you.
GUEST:
You know, I asked him to sign the front, and he said he would never sign the front of his pieces.
APPRAISER:
Mm-hmm. Let's flip this around. So... Let's talk about the cans. Again, this is something Andy did, his iconic work on the Campbell's soup can. People began to bring cans for him to sign. What's great about your cans, a number of them he signed twice. Now, as far as the cans go, these have become very collectible, obviously, over the years. And he signed a lot, but it doesn't matter because they're very, very iconic and people love them and you have a great provenance, a great story that goes behind these.
GUEST:
It's a fun story, yeah.
APPRAISER:
You got these directly from him. If I were estimating these at auction, I would estimate the individual cans at $1,500 to $2,000 apiece.
GUEST:
Nice!
APPRAISER:
Yeah, yeah.
GUEST:
Nice, good.
APPRAISER:
So you've got six of them there, not bad.
GUEST:
It's an expensive can of soup, very nice, good.
APPRAISER:
Absolutely. The “Interview” magazines are great, and what's really nice is that he did the little extra touches. He signed a lot, but he didn't always do the extra touches. I would estimate those at $1,000 to $1,500 apiece.
GUEST:
Shut up! (laughs)
APPRAISER:
Not at all. Now, what really makes this print spectacular is the color. It really pops. This is actually from the late '60s, and of course you have the wonderful dedication on the back. A conservative estimate, at auction, would probably be about $15,000 to $20,000.
GUEST:
No! (laughs)
APPRAISER:
So...
GUEST:
Mom, did you hear that? We're going to Acapulco for the weekend. (laughs) Oh, God! No way.
APPRAISER:
Great investment for 125 bucks.
GUEST:
Hundred and twenty-five dollars. And he had to hold my check because payday was the next week. (both laugh) Unbelievable!
APPRAISER:
Well, we were all very excited to see it. (both laugh)
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