Original and Authenticated Graphite Drawing on Paper of "Jock Soto" by Andy Warhol

Jock Soto; 1982; Graphite on paper; With the 'The Estate of Andy Warhol' and 'Authorized by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts' inkstamps and numbered 115.294 and D1038 on the reverse; Size - Sheet: 31 5/8" x 23 7/8"; Unframed.

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Jock Soto was born in Gallup, New Mexico, and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. His mother is Navajo, his father is Puerto Rican; and while a student at the School of American Ballet he danced the role of Luke in Peter Martins’ The Magic Flute. He transferred to the New York City Ballet (joining in 1981) and made his debut, in the same role, as Luke in "The Magic Flute" the following January. By 1984 he was promoted to soloist, and then in 1985 promoted to principal dancer.

Jock Soto danced featured roles in over 40 ballets, of which more than 35 were specially created for him. His career on the New York ballet stage spanned an amazing 24 years! He danced the role of a parent in the 1993 film version of "The Nutcracker;" a version based on the New York City Ballet production choreographed by George Balanchine. Soto has been a permanent member of the faculty at School of American Ballet since 1996. He gave his farewell performance on June 19, 2005, and today he teaches partnering and technique classes to intermediate and advanced students at the School of American Ballet. Soto published his memoir entitled "Every Step You Take" in 2011, and he and fellow ballet dancer Heather Watts published a 1998 cook book entitled "Our Meals."

Because of Jock Soto's extraordinary career in the ballet, a feature length documentary film about his life was released in 2007. The film was written and directed by Gwendolen Cates and explores Soto's connection with his ethnic heritage and follows him through the last two years of his career, up to his retirement in 2005.

From the PBS.org website:

"Water Flowing Together is an intimate portrait of an important American artist, New York City Ballet’s Jock Soto, one of the most influential modern ballet dancers. Soto graced the stage of the New York State Theater for 24 years, partnering such renowned ballerinas as Heather Watts, Darci Kistler and Wendy Whelan. On the eve of his retirement in 2005, The New York Times wrote: "Ballet is a man called Jock"."

To view the trailer for "Water Flowing Together" click on the video below:

Jock Soto on Andy Warhol, from an interview in 2008:

"I had met [Warhol pal] Paige Powell through a friend, and she called me one day and said, "Would you like to have dinner with me and Andy?" And I said, "Hell, yeah!" I must have been maybe 20. We went to the Algonquin, which I thought was really fancy, and I ended up inviting ten friends. And there he was, sitting across from me. He (Warhol) could be fragile. He loved to cuss, and he loved to ask dirty questions. He fell in love with Heather Watts—he loved her eyes—and he wanted to take our pictures. I remember going to the Factory so he could take my picture to give it to me for Christmas. And when he died, Paige called us to say we had to come to the Factory fast and get our portraits before they got taken away. Heather and I got them and we couldn't fit them in a taxi, so we got on the bus! People were staring at us. But the portrait is still hanging in my apartment."

Close up of the 'The Estate of Andy Warhol' and 'Authorized by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts' inkstamps and foundation numbers on the verso.

This is an wonderful portrait of the famed ballet legend Jock Soto by Pop artist Andy Warhol. The portrait is an original graphite drawing on paper created in 1982, and the work was acquired from the Andy Warhol Foundation. It is a large piece, with the sheet measuring 31 5/8" x 23 7/8," and it is authenticated with the 'The Estate of Andy Warhol' and 'Authorized by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts' inkstamps; and numbered 115.294 and D1038 on the verso.

#AndyWarhol #Warhol #Soto #JockSoto #Warholfoundation #art #Warholdrawing #artcollecting #drawing #popart #nycityballet #GeorgeBalanchine #Balanchine #ballet #untitledartgallery #estateofAndyWarhol #AndyWarholFoundation #authenticatedWarhol

"Franz Kafka," 1980 by Andy Warhol

Franz Kafka from Ten Portraits Of Jews Of The Twentieth Century, 1980; Screenprint in colors on Lenox Museum Board; Signed Andy Warhol and numbered AP 7/30 in pencil lower left; Published by Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, Inc., NY, Jonathan A Editions, Tel Aviv, Israel; Size - Sheet 40" x 32"; Catalog Raisonne: Feldman/Schellmann: II.226; Unframed.

To purchase this work or to visit the Art Gallery, CLICK HERE

Franz Kafka (July 3, 1883 – June 3, 1924) was born in Prague to a middle class Jewish family. He studied law and worked in the insurance industry when he began to write mainly in the evenings, before moving to Berlin in 1923. He passed away soon after the move of tuberculosis, and his good friend Max Brod published the vast majority of his work posthumously. Kafka wrote in German and was the author of both novels and short stories. At the time of his passing he was not highly regarded by his peers, however during WWII his work became highly regarded in German literary circles. He has since been viewed by critics as one of the most influential authors of the 20th century. Most of his works such as "Die Verwandlung" (The Metamorphosis), "Der Process" (The Trial), and "Das Schloss" (The Castle), deal with concepts of alienation, physical and psychological brutality, parent–child conflicts, mazes of bureaucracy, and mystical transformations. Kafka's influence extends to not only literature, but musical and theatrical compositions as well. 

Close up of the edition number and the Andy Warhol signature.

In October 1980, an exhibit featuring portraits of "famous Jews" opened at the Jewish Museum in New York and it featured silk-screen prints and acrylic paintings based on known photographs of the following Jewish figures: Gertrude Stein, Franz Kafka, Sarah Bernhardt, the Marx Brothers, Martin Buber, Louis Brandeis, George Gershwin, Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein, and Golda Meir. The colors that were chosen, as well as the specific forms and their placement in the compositions, complimented the individual portraits perfectly. For instance, Albert Einstein was created from all black, white, and mainly grey colors; which was ideal for the "grey matter" of the brain. The Gershwin was wonderfully composed and reinforced the idea of musical lyricism. However, one of the most successful works in the set was Andy Warhol's portrait of Franz Kafka. 

Publishers stamp verso.

From "Andy Warhol: His Kafka and "Jewish Geniuses", 2000" by Bluma Goldstein:

"On the one hand is the sociocultural and political significance of the confluence of Warhol's successful endeavor to market -- in a profitable venue -- the portraits of what he referred to in his diaries as "the Ten Jewish Geniuses" and the eagerness of major Jewish museums to mount and advertise the exhibit and to sell expensive portfolios of the exhibited serigraphs. On the other hand are the cultural and political implications of Warhol's rendition of one of the more interesting portraits, that of Franz Kafka, and the ways in which it supports a rather commonplace view of the writer by altering, even effacing the photo-graph on which the portrait is based and thereby also obscuring other, more complex, compelling readings of Kafka's life and writings, a practice shared by many interpreters of the writer and his work."

This work is an exception example of Andy Warhol at his best! The bold and somber blue tones, as well as the prism like triangular projects across the forehead and face, reflect the conflict in Kafka's writings. The sheet is in mint condition with the Publisher's stamp verso.

#Warhol #AndyWarhol #Kafka #FranzKafka #untitledartgallery #PopArt #Signednumbered #Jews #JewishPortrait #BlumaGoldstein #RonaldFeldman #MaxBrod #JewishMuseum

Arman "Glow Worms Of Musik, The Sounds Of The Violin Burst Through It's Body And Up It's Neck," 1987

Glow Worms Of Musik, The Sounds Of The Violin Burst Through It's Body And Up It's Neck, 1987; Serigraph on Rives vellum paper; Signed Arman in pencil lower right and numbered 50/200 in pencil lower left; Published by GKM Editions, Sweden with stamp lower left; Size: Sheet 18" x 16 1/4", Frame 22 1/4" x 24 1/4"; Catalog Raisonne: Otmezguine/Moreau: 250A, pg. 296; Framed with an acid free linen liner, a silver and black wood frame, and UV conservation clear glass.

To purchase this work or to visit the Art Gallery, CLICK HERE

New Realism was an art movement that started in France in 1960 with Pierre Restany writing it's original manifesto which proclaimed: "Nouveau Realisme -new ways of perceiving the real." This group of artists was interested in new ways in which to create art, and in the process subvert the status quo. The artist Arman was one of the original founding members and he was known for his "accumulations" and for his destruction/recomposition of ordinary objects. Arman featured objects with a strong "identity" such as musical instruments, with the violin being his most famous subject matter. In this work the violin is first deconstructed and it's individual components are constructed in outline by bold brushstrokes of color.  Arman has titled this work, "Glow Worms Of Musik, The Sounds Of The Violin Burst Through It's Body And Up It's Neck" which further enhances the concept of the short solid color lines enhancing the concept of deconstruction or "bursting;" and re-enforcing the idea of sound and music.

Framed Arman - "Glow Worms Of Musik, The Sounds Of The Violin Burst Through It's Body And Up It's Neck," 1987

#Arman #violin #violinandbow #newrealism #nouveaurealisme #art #artcollecting #lithograph #signedlithograph #untitledartgallery #popart #PierreRestany

"Haystack," 1969 by Roy Lichtenstein

Haystack, 1969; Screenprint in colors on C.M. Fabriano Cotone paper; Signed Roy Lichtenstein '69 in pencil lower left; Numbered 20/250 in pencil lower right; Published by Gabriele Mazzotta Editore, Milan; Size - Sheet 19" x 26", Image 14 1/4" x 17"; Frame 30 1/2" x 33"; Framed with a white 8-ply acid free mat, white wood exterior frame, and plexiglass; Catalog Raisonne: Corlett 84.

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“...all my subjects are always two-dimensional or at least they come from two-dimensional sources...the painting itself became an object, a thing, like a sculpture, in its own right, not an illusion of something else. And what I’ve been trying to say all this time is similar: that even if my work looks like it depicts something, it’s essentially a flat two-dimensional image, an object.” - Roy Lichtenstein

Beginning in the summer of 1890 (and continuing through the following spring), the famed impressionist artist Claude Monet began a series of paintings that he called Haystacks. The primary subjects of the twenty-five canvas paintings in the series are stacks of hay that were located, after the season's harvest, in the fields near Monet's home in Giverny, France. The series is known for its use of repetition of subject matter in order to show differences in the perception of light. This was accomplished by painting the exact haystacks over several months during different times of day, seasons, and weather conditions. The series is considered one of Monet's most notable and greatest in his career.

Framed "Haystack," 1969 by Roy Lichtenstein

Monet's Haystack series had a profound effect on a number of artists including Camille Pissarro who stated, "These canvases breathe contentment," and Wassily Kandinsky who said, “What suddenly became clear to me was the unsuspected power of the palette, which I had not understood before and which surpassed my wildest dreams.” Even the Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein could not escape their power and beginning in 1969, worked to transform works by Claude Monet into Pop Art.

Close up of the edition number.

Roy Lichtenstein began in 1969 with Claude Monet's Haystack and Cathedral series, and then later in 1992 transformed Monet's Water Lilies series. Lichtenstein referenced other artist's work as well including, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and William DeKooning; however no artist captivated the artist's attention over such a long period of time as did Claude Monet. 

For "Haystack," 1969, the subject of the work is a sole haystack created simply with a black outline filled with solid yellow. There is a black form shadow to the right of the haystack, suggesting an unseen light source to the left of the composition. The haystack stands out on a field of black Ben Day dots on a yellow ground. There are nondescript black trees and shrubs in the horizon and the sky is composed of black Ben Day dots floating on a white ground. Roy Lichtenstein has taken the referenced Claude Monet impressionist painting and stripped it of all tonal variety, light, and color strokes. The new work now reads as totally flat pure color fields, with the only variation being from the optical Ben Day dot patterns. The result is a brilliant Pop Art work derived by a masterful Impressionist composition!

Close up of the signature and the date.

#RoyLichtenstein #Lichtenstein #Monet #ClaudeMonet #haystack #popart #untitledartgallery

"Van Heusen (Ronald Reagan)" From Ads, 1985 by Andy Warhol

Van Heusen (Ronald Reagan) From Ads, 1985; Screenprint in colors on Lenox Museum Board; Signed Andy Warhol and numbered 190/190 in pencil lower right; Published by Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, Inc., NY; Size - Sheet 38" x 38", Frame 43 1/2" x 43 1/2"; Framed floated on a white mat, white wood exterior frame, and plexiglass; Catalog Raisonne: Feldman/Schellmann: II.356.

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"The neatest Christmas gift of all!
You can twist it... You can twirl it... You can bend it... You can curl it... The new revolutionary collar on Van Heusen Century shirts won't wrinkle... ever!"
Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan was a conservative American politician who served as the 40th President of the United States; he was elected for two terms from 1981 to 1989. Prior to his presidency, he served as the 33rd Governor of California from 1967 to 1975, following a career as an actor and was also the President of the Screen Actors Guild.

Ronald Reagan, while traveling with the Chicago Cubs and acting as their radio announcer in California, took a screen test in 1937 that led to a seven-year contract with Warner Brothers Studios. He spent the first few years of his Hollywood career in the "B film" unit and his first screen credit was the starring role in the 1937 movie "Love Is on the Air." By the end of 1939 he had appeared in 19 films, including "Dark Victory" with Hollywood legends Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart. Before the film "Santa Fe Trail" with Errol Flynn in 1940, he was cast in the role of George "The Gipper" Gipp in the film "Knute Rockne, All American". "The Gipper" would forever become his lifelong nickname.

Although Reagan referred to "Kings Row" as the film that "made me a star;" he was unable to capitalize on the success because he was ordered to active duty with the U.S. Army two months after its release. Reagan was never again able to regain "star" status in motion pictures. Soon he would shift into politics, beginning his career as a liberal Democrat; but then by the 1950's becoming more and more a conservative Republican. Ronald Reagan would reach the ultimate political job as President of the United States of America in 1981.

Close up of the number and signature.

Presidents make wonderful subject matter for artists, and Ronald Reagan was no exception. What was lacking from other artist's portraits of Reagan was any reference to his long career in Hollywood. Andy Warhol, while working on his Ad Series; would make a direct reference to Reagan's prior career as an actor in motion pictures. Warhol had a history of portraiture and had made portraits of former presidents Kennedy, Nixon, and Carter. What was to be different for the Reagan portrait was the source material. Warhol, for both the paitings on canvas and the limited edition prints, had decided to use a photograph of an old shirt ad that was part of a promotional campaign for Ronald Reagan's 1953 film, "Law and Order."

In this wonderful serigraph, Warhol casts Reagan in a circa-1953 advertisement for wrinkle-free Van Heusen Century shirts. The text of the ad reads, "You can twist it... You can twirl it... You can bend it... You can curl it... The new revolutionary collar on Van Heusen Century shirts won't wrinkle... ever!" A smiling Ronald Reagan is off the left of the image and the text seems to play off of Reagan’s nickname, the “Teflon President.” This title had been given to him by Democratic congresswoman Patricia Schroeder, because it seemed that no negative criticism of him ever seemed to stick. 

Publisher stamp on the verso.

Andy Warhol had his start in the art world by becoming a commercial advertising artist. This early career would always influence his art and in 1985 Warhol created a series of ten works that he called Ads. It is interesting to note that Warhol chose three famous actors James Dean, Ronald Reagan, and Judy Garland to feature in this suite. The ten prints are:

Rebel Without a Cause (James Dean) – based on the Japanese poster version of the movie

The New Spirit  (Donald Duck) – based on an original Donald Duck drawing

Mobil – based on Mobil Oil Corporation trademark logo

Volkswagen – based on an advertisement by Volkswagen of America

Van Heusen – based on advertisement by Van Heusen featuring the actor at the time, Ronald Reagan

Apple –advertisement for Macintosh computers featuring the Apple logo

Paramount – original version of Paramount logo

Blackglama (Judy Garland) – advertisement for Blackglama Furs featuring Judy Garland

Life Savers – based on Lifesavers advertisement

Chanel – Chanel perfume bottle image trademarked by Chanel, Inc.

Framed "Van Heusen (Ronald Reagan)" From Ads, 1985 by Andy Warhol.

"Van Heusen (Ronald Reagan)" is a wonderful portrait of a former President, while integrating Andy Warhol's advertising history into the work. Reagan's influence in politics continues today, as the Republican party references him constantly; and this portrait references his long career in front of the camera.

#RonaldReagan #AndyWarhol #Warhol #VanHeusen #popart #untitledartgallery #WarholAds #SignedWarhol

Claes Oldenburg - "Twirling Fork with Meatball and Spaghetti," 1993

Twirling Fork with Meatball and Spaghetti, 1993; Relief print on Kozo paper; Initialed CO and dated '93 in pencil bottom right and numbered 38/50 in pencil lower left; Published by Michael Ovitz, Los Angeles; Catalog Raisonne: A. & P. 247; Framed matted and floated with acid free mats, a wood frame, and plexiglass; Size - Sheet 24" x 18", Frame 30" x 24".

The famed Pop Artist Claes Oldenburg has always been attracted to food as subject matter.  From his large scale and soft sculptures, to his work in the print medium; his interpretations of food have become some of the most recognizable works of art from the last century.  Often lacking in the discussion of his work is his extraordinary skill as a draftsman.  His lines are so beautifully rendered that they can convey movement or scale with an ease and a simplicity.  In this work, the fork is not stagnant but rather in motion. The first word in the title of this work is "twirling" and this is instantly seen with the lines around the top of the fork, as well as the way in which the food on it's tines is rendered.  The meatball and spaghetti are all a whirl, as the fork is spinning in order to keep the food all together!

Close up of the edition number.

"I am for an art that takes its form from the lines of life itself, that twists and extends and accumulates and spits and drips, and is heavy and coarse and blunt and sweet and stupid as life itself."

Claes Oldenburg. 

Close up of the initials and the date.

Photograph of the framed Oldenburg, "Twirling Fork with Meatball and Spaghetti," 1993.

#Oldenburg #ClaesOldenburg #TwirlingFork #Popart #meatballandspaghetti #untitledartgallery

"Blackglama (Judy Garland)" from Ads by Andy Warhol

Blackglama (Judy Garland) From Ads, 1985; Screenprint in colors on Lenox Museum Board; Signed Andy Warhol and numbered 184/190 in pencil lower left; Published by Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, Inc., NY; Size - Sheet 38" x 38", Frame 45 1/2" x 45 1/2"; Framed floated on a black linen mat, white gold wood exterior frame, and plexiglass; Catalog Raisonne: Feldman/Schellmann: II.351.

To purchase this work or to visit the Art Gallery, CLICK HERE

Judy Garland (Frances Ethel Gumm) is an American Icon, she was an acclaimed singer, stage performer, and actress; and she is most known for her performance in The Wizard of Oz, 1939 and in particular her performance of the song Over the Rainbow, which won an Academy Award. She appeared in over two dozen films, nine with Mickey Rooney that were referred to as "backyard musicals." The combination of Garland and Rooney was a hit with the public and the two were sent by the MGM studio on an across the country tour culminating with multiple performances by the duo.  Judy Garland had two daughters, Lorna Luft and Liza Minnelli and one son Joey Luft. Liza Minnelli went on to become a star in her own right, she was a singer, dancer, actress, and stage performer. She was also a friend of Warhol, appearing with him along with Halston and Bianca Jagger at the famed Studio 54 New York nightclub.

Andy Warhol was always drawn to the golden age of film, and in particular to the stars of the silver screen. He created portraits of some of the most important stars of his time including Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Troy Donahue, and Lana Turner. In 1978 Warhol created canvas portraits of Liza Minnelli and in 1979, Warhol created large canvas portraits of Judy Garland.

Close up of the signature and the number

Warhol had gotten his start in the art world by becoming a commercial advertising artist. This early career would always influence his art and in 1985 Warhol created a series of ten works that he called Ads. It is interesting to note that Warhol chose three famous actors James Dean, Ronald Reagan, and Judy Garland to feature in this suite. The ten prints are:

Rebel Without a Cause (James Dean) – based on the Japanese poster version of the movie

The New Spirit  (Donald Duck) – based on an original Donald Duck drawing

Mobil – based on Mobil Oil Corporation trademark logo

Volkswagen – based on an advertisement by Volkswagen of America

Van Heusen – based on advertisement by Van Heusen featuring the actor at the time, Ronald Reagan

Apple –advertisement for Macintosh computers featuring the Apple logo

Paramount – original version of Paramount logo

Blackglama (Judy Garland) – advertisement for Blackglama Furs featuring Judy Garland

Life Savers – based on Lifesavers advertisement

Chanel – Chanel perfume bottle image trademarked by Chanel, Inc.

The Great Lakes Mink Association (GLMA) was formed in 1941 by mink breeders in the Great Lakes region of the United States who had bred a black-furred mink which they characterize as "the richest, deepest, most lustrous dark mink with the lightest, most flexible leather." GLMA then trademarked it as Blackglama and began a long-running advertising campaign with the tagline being "What becomes a legend most?" Blackglama featured a series of very famous celebrities modeling their furs including in 1968, Judy Garland. Warhol must have not only adored the glamorous image of Judy Garland in a black fur coat but also the tag line "What becomes a legend most?;" because he included it in the final completed artwork.

Blackglama original ad and source material © Blackglama

Framed Blackglama (Judy Garland) using a white gold Deco wood frame.

#JudyGarland #AndyWarhol #Warhol #Blackglama #popart #untitledartgallery #WarholAds #SignedWarhol