Grace Kelly (F. & S. II.305)© Andy Warhol, 1984
Andy Warhol provides us with a vision of the golden age of Hollywood in Grace Kelly print series. As with his portraits of Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor, Warhol depicts the actress Grace Kelly as the classic American beauty.
This portrait is based on a film still.
Grace Kelly (F. & S. II.305)© Andy Warhol, 1984The portrait is based on a still from Grace Kelly’s first film Fourteen Hours, from 1951. It shows the actress looking defiantly at the camera, her face tightly cropped so that her features and golden hair fill the entire foreground of the image.
Warhol first experimented with this method of screen printing in the 1960s.
Campbell's Soup I, Vegetable Made With Beef Stock (F. & S. II.48) © Andy Warhol, 1968The prints in Warhol’s Grace Kelly collection are each produced using his classic screen printing method. Beginning with lithography and monoprinting, Warhol first experimented with this method of screen printing in the early 1960s.
This portrait was created shortly after Kelly’s tragic death.
Marilyn (F. & S. II.25) © Andy Warhol, 1967Completed just two years after her tragic death from a car accident, this portrait sits within the Warholian tradition of depicting quintessential American celebrity icons posthumously.
Warhol’s kitsch aesthetic has a deeper meaning.
Details Of Renaissance Paintings (Leonardo Da Vinci, The Annunciation, 1472) (F. & S. II.321) © Andy Warhol, 1984Warhol’s use of vivid colours and simplified form replicates the kitsch aesthetic of mass consumer products and works to emphasise the thin veneer of Kelly’s beauty and fame.
The Grace Kelly series is an example of Warhol mimicking a 1980s magazine aesthetic.
Volkswagen © Andy Warhol, 1985Warhol creates a glossy surface to this print that mimics the visual language of 1980s magazines.
This series was produced nearly 20 years after Marilyn and Liz.
Liz © Andy Warhol, 1964The Grace Kelly prints have strong parallels with the Marilyn and Liz prints in terms of subject, composition and thematics. The fact that the Grace Kelly prints were produced nearly 20 years later is a testament to Warhol’s consistency as an artist.
Grace Kelly features Warhol’s distinct multicoloured lines.
Ingrid Bergman As Herself (F. & S. II.313) © Andy Warhol, 1983Characteristic of Warhol’s later, more commercial prints produced after 1970, the Grace Kelly series features multicoloured lines that contour the sitter’s face.
The Grace Kelly series has 20 different colourways.
Grace Kelly © Andy Warhol, 1984Andy Warhol’s print series were renowned for their experiments in varying colourways. This particular collection used the same image across 20 different colourways, the most famous depicting Kelly with golden hair against a pale blue background.
The record price for a Grace Kelly print is €275,000.
Dollar (F. & S. II.278) by Andy Warhol, 1982Far reaching its pre-sale estimate of €140,000-€180,000, a version of Grace Kelly sold for a total of €275,000 at Lempertz auction house in Cologne on 3rd December 2021. Before this sale, the print was acquired at the benefit auction in aid of the Ronald McDonald Children’s Fund in 2001 in Amsterdam.
A Grace Kelly print was last sold at auction in June 2022.
Dollar Sign Quad (F. & S. II.281) © Andy Warhol, 1982 Grace Kelly (F.&.S. II.305) sold at David Rago in the US for a total of US$ 212,500 on 16th June 2022. This was the last time a Grace Kelly print appeared at auction.
