Christie's is delighted to reunite, for the first time at auction, the three greatest cultural icons of the 20th century - Warhol, Elvis and Brando - representing the ultimate heroes of art, music and cinema. These monumental images epitomize the archetype of cool and glamour and exude a raw sexuality and intense power rarely found in Warhol's work. Warhol pieces have been on a hot streak selling for huge amounts at auction and if you judge the selling prices by the advertising and marketing by Christie's, this will be one of the biggest sales in some time. For this show they have taken out a huge multipage ad in the Times, created a video and have done a ton on the website, through email and on social media. They have also put together this interesting infographic.Warhol in Times Warhol Triple Elvis Christie'sTriple Elvis [Ferus Type] - 1963Standing 82 inches tall and 69 inches wide, the full-figure triple portrait of the singer turned Hollywood star is one of a series of artworks that Warhol produced for his 1963 show at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles; the triple version is one of the rarest. Standing with his trademark proud stance, legs apart and his pistol recently drawn from the holster hanging from his famous hips, Andy Warhol's rendition of Elvis Presley dominates the canvas just as the singer dominated the cultural landscape of the 1950s and 1960s. Warhol Four Marlons Christie'sFour Marlons - 1966This dramatic rendition of Marlon Brando, his dark inscrutable eyes staring out nonchalantly from underneath his peaked cap, provides an unrivalled portrayal of one of the greatest 20th century cultural icons. Displayed here at the peak of his fame, Brando's appearance in the 1953 film The Wild One (from which Warhol took this source image), captured a rebelliousness that, in the mind of the public at least, had subsumed the previously acquiescent American teenager and became something of an anti-hero for an entire generation of misunderstood youth. This work is the only one from the series with the four portraits covering the entire canvas. Executed on raw and unprimed linen, the material quality of Four Marlons echoes the rough masculinity of its subject. read more
