The Pop Art principle of Andy Warhol was reproduction; so, to find a work that is the one and only version is a rarity. The exceptional Warhol work in question is entitled, ‘New Coke’ (1985), is up for auction on December 9th at London’s Bonhams ‘Print and Multiples sale’. The artwork is estimated to sell at £15,000–20,0000 – reports Art Fix Daily.
Coca-Cola’s mass marketing and consumerism success appealed to Warhol who saw it as a true symbol of America. The artist once stated, “What’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking.”
The piece was commissioned for the June 1985 cover of Time magazine, but it was never used. The work is very rare as it only exists in proof form. What’s more, the piece was actually owned by Irish rock band U2 for a period of time; the work is unique and historied, and is the only print with this colour combination.
Another Warhol work – ‘Banana’ from around 1966 – is also for sale. The image was famously used – at a different angle – on the album cover of the Velvet Underground’s ‘The Velvet Underground and Nico’. The album was the Velvet Underground’s first and although too radical both musically and thematically to be a commercial success when it was released; the album has now achieved legendary status.
The group was regarded as the house band of Warhol’s studio, ‘the Factory’. Warhol not only designed the album’s cover but the artist is also credited as the record’s producer. The work is estimated to sell at £5,000-7,000.