Acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas

35.6 × 27.9cm. × 2 14 × 11 in. × 2

LITERATURE
2014, The Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonné: Paintings and Sculpture Late 1974-1976 - Volume 4, Phaidon Press Limited, London, no. 2916 & 2917, p.133
EXHIBITED
13 Sep – 11 Oct 1997, Andy Warhol: Ladies and Gentlemen, Gagosian Gallery, New York

PROVENANCE
The Estate of Andy Warhol, New York
The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Inc., New York
Stellan Holm Gallery, New York
Private Collection
8 Feb 2007, Sotheby's London Auction, Lot 402
Acquired directly by present important private Asian collector from the above

Note: Both works are stamped by the Estate of Andy Warhol with one seal and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. with two seals for the left piece and four seals for the right piece on each reverse, and numbered PA35.042 for the left piece and PA35.038 for the right piece on each stretcher

Splendid Souls under the Demeanour of Pop Art
Andy Warhol's Legendary Series Come Back in Honor

In March 2020, Tate Britain in London held a major retrospective of Warhol which is the first Warhol exhibition for almost 20 years. An independent room is especially arranged for series Ladies and Gentlemen. The exhibition is the most influential exposure of the series, completing people's understanding of Warhol. This make up marks the importance of the series in academic field and uniqueness in his creation as well. Andy Warhol expert Gregor Mui has illustrated this collection was one of the top three largest collection among Andy Warhol's creation in his lifetime. Thence kept by overseas family since then, and had rarely been exhibited in public. This exhibition was the showcased first time in public among 30 years, and has demonstrated the artist accomplishment of Andy Warhol, giving more insights to the public and collectors, thus reveals the academic importance of the artist, as well as its unique meaning in artist's career.

Renown as the Pope of Pop, Warhol is the most famous yet controversial contemporary artist in the 20th century. Pop Art, represented by Warhol as the core figure, swept across the world from the United States in 60s of last century. It replaced the abstract art as the mainstream of the contemporary art, contributing to the flourishing and growing of the contemporary art market.

Drag Queen: the Intermixing Polarities, the Freedom of Anonymity

In Warhol's creations on figure, the series Ladies and Gentlemen starting from 1970s is the most rebellious and revolutionary classics. In 1974, Italian dealer Luciano Anselmo commissioned Warhol to create figure works on New York street drag queens. Warhol used polaroid to photo 14 models selected from the gathering bar, Grilded Grape, of New York transgender group. He shot over 500 photos, combined his signature silkscreen printing and paints, creating 250 figure paintings, making the anonymous legends in the eyes of later art scholars.

Regarding the expression style, the series Ladies and Gentlemen combines the photography and silkscreen, marking Warhol's significance in the contemporary international artworld. It also sets a milestone in the fast growing pop art, which cannot be surpassed, triggering a new art wave about photography replication.

Different from his Celebrities, the series Ladies and Gentlemen see how he uses the symbolic representation to put a common one on the throne. This process is his rebellion and provocation, challenging the sexism in the society, which enables the series stands together with his Campbell's Soup and Coca-Cola series. They all use the extremely replicable ability to promote the freedom and equalities between different classes and individuals.

Soft Rebellion, Rendered Color

Figures in the series Ladies and Gentlemen have been living in anonymous since 1974, hidden in the colors of Warhol. For over 40 years, nobody knows who they are. In 2018, Warhol foundation conducts a research and fixes the identities of the 14 models. Aphanso Panell turns to be the one with most photos. With seven photos of him from polaroid, Warhol creates 60 works. This time, we present two works of the Ladies and Gentlemen series, which fuse the most representative elements in the series and core spirit together. These works has been kept by artist in his own studio till 1987, the artist's death. Thence owned by the foundation for over 20 years. After that, it was first publicly exhibited in Gagosian Gallery New York City in 1997, demonstrated the valuable meanings to the artist and the foundation.

Comparing two works in front of us, Warhol uses his classical Misplacing trick to blur our sights. None of the figures' facial angle, hands' position, and the resolution of features is the same. Therefore, the different facial representations of the same person indicate the different roles they played. Although he keeps enough elements to make them identifiable, Warhol excludes part of the image in the printing process to make whatever left scattered in some sense. The hands come out straightforwardly in the bottom is pretty symbolic, suggesting the power of male. The grip posture is the code for desire that is unable to be hidden. However, like the viewers in front of the painting, they could only capture the phantom of the unpredictable.

The use of neon color that is filled in the commercialized society also embeds distinctive characters in the works. In Ladies and Gentlemen, Warhol uses pink, from light to heavy, to present the femineity of the figures. While the constraint of the dark frame pulls away the intimacy just created. This makes the figures look like the ad girl in show windows, coquet and attractive. Warhol creates some kind of chaos intendedly on the painting, indicates the scars that the outside world left on the transgender group.

Price estimate:
HKD: 1,400,000 – 2,500,000
USD: 180,600 – 322,600

Auction Result:
HKD: 1,770,000