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Lot 447
ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987)
Sean Lennon
Closed25 March 2021
Price Realised
GBP 200,000
More Information
Specialist note
A monumental triple vision spanning two metres in width, the present work is Andy Warhol’s tribute to Sean Lennon: the son of his friends John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Painted between 1985 and 1986, it captures him at the age of ten, five years after his father’s untimely death. During his childhood, he and Warhol formed a close bond, with Sean later describing the artist as something of a paternal figure. Poignantly, the work coincides with the Warhol’s iconic depiction of John, painted to celebrate the release of his posthumous album Menlove Ave. Where the latter is rendered in glowing neon tones, however, the present work captures Sean in candid black and white, offering a raw, innocent portrait of youth. Though raised among glittering celebrity circles, here he appears like any other ten-year-old boy – save for the hint of his father’s likeness that flickers behind his eyes. It is a masterful example of Warhol’s ability to capture his subjects at their most human, revealing untold depths through the most economical of means.
Warhol knew John and Yoko from the New York party circuit, and the three became close friends – Yoko would later be one of the speakers at the artist’s funeral in 1987. He first met Sean at a black tie dinner at the family’s apartment, where – as he wrote in his diary – the child had taken it upon himself to entertain his mother’s guests. ‘Little Sean Lennon fell in love with me, just madly’, he recalled. ‘He said, “Why is your hair like that?” I said, “Punk.” He said, “What is your name?” I said, “Adam.” Then I asked him to go and get a double champagne and when he came back with it said somebody had told him I was Andy Warhol, and he went around to everyone telling them, “Do you know who that is? Andy Warhol”’ (A. Warhol, quoted in P. Hackett (ed.), The Andy Warhol Diaries, New York 1989, p. 563). The two struck up a rapport: Sean recalls the somewhat bizarre gift of a taxidermied cat that Warhol gave him for his eighth birthday, and notes that the artist was particularly generous in encouraging his love of drawing. Perhaps Warhol identified in him something of a kindred spirit – he too, after all, had lost his father at a young age. Years later, Sean would return the tribute, penning a song in memory of the artist for the Andy Warhol Museum’s 2016 exhibition Letters to Warhol.
Warhol knew John and Yoko from the New York party circuit, and the three became close friends – Yoko would later be one of the speakers at the artist’s funeral in 1987. He first met Sean at a black tie dinner at the family’s apartment, where – as he wrote in his diary – the child had taken it upon himself to entertain his mother’s guests. ‘Little Sean Lennon fell in love with me, just madly’, he recalled. ‘He said, “Why is your hair like that?” I said, “Punk.” He said, “What is your name?” I said, “Adam.” Then I asked him to go and get a double champagne and when he came back with it said somebody had told him I was Andy Warhol, and he went around to everyone telling them, “Do you know who that is? Andy Warhol”’ (A. Warhol, quoted in P. Hackett (ed.), The Andy Warhol Diaries, New York 1989, p. 563). The two struck up a rapport: Sean recalls the somewhat bizarre gift of a taxidermied cat that Warhol gave him for his eighth birthday, and notes that the artist was particularly generous in encouraging his love of drawing. Perhaps Warhol identified in him something of a kindred spirit – he too, after all, had lost his father at a young age. Years later, Sean would return the tribute, penning a song in memory of the artist for the Andy Warhol Museum’s 2016 exhibition Letters to Warhol.