LONDON.- Andy Warhol has long been considered one of the most important graphic artists of the twentieth century. The breadth of his work and the depth of his innovations in printmaking, combined with his prolific output, will be showcased at Sotheby’s in London on 29 September 2015, in the company’s biannual Prints & Multiples sale. Featuring over 30 lots by the artist – and numbering 83 prints in total, comprising single works and complete sets – the auction includes two private collections which provide a fascinating insight into Warhol’s importance in Europe both during his lifetime and soon after his death.

Property from A Private Slovakian Collection
A collection of prints by Andy Warhol from a private Slovakian collection shines a light on how Slovakia, the homeland of Warhol’s parents, became an important hub for Warhol, boasting not only the first museum in the world dedicated to the Pop artist – The Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art, previously known as The Warhol Family Museum of Art – but also for collectors of his work. With estimates ranging from £5,000 upwards to £80,000, this superb group features a selection of sets comprising a variety of subjects both familiar and surprising. The museum – which holds the second largest collection of the artist’s work in the world – was established in Medzilaborce, a somewhat remote region in Slovakia, not far from the village of Miková, where the artist’s mother, Julia Warhola, was born and lived, and where she married Andrew Warhola in 1909. Upon the museum’s foundation, Dr. Michal Bycko, curator and friend of the Warhol family, met with Andy’s brother John, then a trustee at the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. At this time, John Warhola initiated the process of lending and donating artworks and artefacts to the museum in Medzilaborce, while he also facilitated access for Slovakian collectors to the artist’s works administered by the Foundation. These felicitous developments led to the formation of several world-class collections of works by Warhol in Slovakia.

Property from The Family of Hermann Wünsche
The auction features a selection of prints by Warhol consigned for sale from the family of Hermann Wünsche. The names Hermann Wünsche and Andy Warhol are inextricably linked for collectors of Pop art in Germany; Wünsche co-ordinated the first catalogue raisonné of the artist’s editions, Andy Warhol Das Graphische Werk 1962-1980, which was published in 1980. A staunch defender of his friend’s factory-style production techniques, Wünsche adopted a vital role in the dissemination of Warhol prints in Germany, based out of his eponymous gallery in Bonn. As well as publishing several screenprints, he also acted as a social and cultural bridge between New York Pop and its European reception. The dealer’s admiration for Warhol was reciprocated when the artist expressed his enjoyment on working with Wünsche on the catalogue raisonné, noting in particular the perfection insisted upon by Wünsche which resulted in a ‘great’ publication. The collection offered for sale is testimony to a lasting friendship, to the art dealer’s commitment to promoting and documenting Warhol as an insightful artist, actively engaged with his time.