Comments on: Man bought sketch by young Warhol for $5

By: markbellis

markbellis — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 17:35:00 +0000

And in the BBC interview, he says the vendor’s aunt took care of Warhol when he was sick with “Cholera” - he had Chorea!

By: markbellis

markbellis — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 17:07:00 +0000

Exactly, he only started to use “Warhol” after someone else misspelled his name that way on a magazine credit when he was working as a commercial artist.

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 16:41:00 +0000

Does not change the fact that it indeed sucks. I’m with Rindan here.

By: freshacconci

freshacconci — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 12:31:00 +0000

That’s a good point. I know some in his family go by Warhol and others Warhola — I wonder if he would have been image-savvy enough at 9 to be thinking of these sorts of things. But then this is Andy Warhol, so probably he was.

By: freshacconci

freshacconci — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 12:28:00 +0000

I’d admonish you for such nitpicky pedantry but I totally agree with you.

By: freshacconci

freshacconci — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 12:26:00 +0000

Um, you realize that it was drawn by a 9 year old, right?

By: Marktech

Marktech — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 11:35:00 +0000

The problem is, the Warhol estate is under a directive to not authenticate all of his paintingsdrawings. they are notorious for claiming real works to be fakes.

Also Picasso, allegedly. [But then, how good is the provenance of this story?]

By: Rindan

Rindan — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 06:35:00 +0000

Um, you realize that that picture sucks, right? I’ll never understand art collectors.

By: Ken Williams

Ken Williams — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 03:23:00 +0000

I am here to complain about the “when he was just nine or 10 years old” bit. Let’s say “9 or 10″, or let’s say “nine or ten”, but I always feel like this boundary case is horribly yucky, even if enshrined in the AP & Chicago style manuals.

By: wrybread

wrybread — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 02:24:00 +0000

…. as in “holes”.

By: Dan Jesse

Dan Jesse — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 02:03:00 +0000

The problem is, the Warhol estate is under a directive to not authenticate all of his paintingsdrawings. they are notorious for claiming real works to be fakes. Thus, you never know.

By: Mitchell Glaser

Mitchell Glaser — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 01:26:00 +0000

I call fake. Even if it’s real I call fake, because I’m tired of the whole “I found the Hope Diamond at a garage sale” thing.

By: Noctilucent Studios

Noctilucent Studios — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 01:23:00 +0000

He used to write the 2nd A in invisible ink.

True story.

(not really.)

By: Marching Mice of Mu

Marching Mice of Mu — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 01:04:00 +0000

Shouldn’t the signature be “Andy Warhola?”

By: Christopher W Lynch

Christopher W Lynch — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 00:30:00 +0000

As catalogued as Warhol’s work is, I doubt there will be much difficulty in authenticating the signature

By: awjt

awjt — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 00:27:00 +0000

Just check for Warhol DNA on the lips of the drawing.

By: emilydickinsonridesabmx

emilydickinsonridesabmx — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 00:10:00 +0000

My guess is it’s fake. Even though it makes for great media, the whole “I took apart the frame and I found a long lost:_________” Picasso/Rembrandt/Blake/Warhol is the most common trick to answer for fraudulent works that have no provenance. Since the whereabouts of a work can’t be accounted for (ie because it was just whipped up in someones basement), the easiest way to create legitimacy is to invent a story that it was hidden for that period of time.

Plus he bought the frame from “someone who abused drugs”, which is code for “Unfortunately this man is too unreliable to ask any real questions regarding where the drawing has been all these years”. The the Aunt who “cared for Warhol”, likely she is also deceased, as is Warhol, so no one can disprove that either. It’s also odd that a non family member would ever be caring for him as a child. He was often sick, had a stay at home Mom, and a bunch of older sibling who watched him.

If Warhol drew this when he was 9/10, his “babysitter” would have had to have hung onto it for quite some time until he was famous. Plus, very, very little of his juvenilia survived (which is why this would be worth so much if it’s real), so how did this survive and pop up all of a sudden?

I’m not saying it’s impossible that this is authentic, but all the classic signs of art forgery are present.

By: Kibbee

Kibbee — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 23:49:00 +0000

Only worth 2 million because some art collectors have too much money. I’m sure some of his old teachers are going to be going through their closets just trying to find something that was painted by the young Warhol, and all the other famous artists too. While it is interesting historically, I can’t say that it really has any artistic value, as it isn’t much different than any other painting done by a child, although perhaps a bit better than many his age (but not the best I’ve seen).

By: awjt

awjt — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 23:26:00 +0000

Regardless, it looks like it had been kissed many times. Which is very sweet of that young upstart, Mr. Warhol.

By: spacemunky

spacemunky — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 23:14:00 +0000

Cue lawsuit from the man who sold it to him in 3…2…1….