‘Andy Warhol: Social Network’ Offers Rarities From The Andy Warhol Foundation At Accessible Prices To Fund Arts

Born in 1928 to poor Slovakian immigrants in Steel City, Andrew Warhola remained frugal even as he rocketed to Pop Art stardom, famously chronicling every cent eked out on quotidian expenses like taxi rides and payphone calls.

In May 2022, Larry Gagosian paid a staggering $195 million for Andy Warhol’s Shot Sage Blue Marilyn (1964) at Christie’s New York, obliterating the sales record for a 20th-century artwork.

Most of us oscillate somewhere in the wildly fungible space between contemplating basic creature comforts and winning ostentatious auction bids, but owning an original Warhol is a collective dream of everyone who celebrates the most influential artist of the 20th century.

Speculating about how Warhol would react to ChatGPT, artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, NFTs, and myriad other tech and markets buzzwords that clutter our inboxes has become a source of clatter rather than insight. Though I think it’s safe to say he’d embrace The Andy Warhol Foundation partnering with eBay for Charity to fetch over $3 million from the sale of more than 750 original Warhol works, printed materials, vintage posters, and books originating from his estate.

The Foundation today announced the $3 million sales total achieved with an average price of $3,721 per item, as part of an initiative to launch a global and democratic platform for judicious Warhol collectors who lack the coffers to raise a paddle alongside the one percent. Proceeds from the online sales contribute to the Foundation’s philanthropic mission of supporting a diverse array of artistic practices. Most recently, the Foundation announced a semi-annual distribution of more than $4 million in grants to 48 visual arts organizations.

The ongoing online sales offer items for immediate purchase, as well as monthly online auctions of select materials from the Foundation’s collection. To amplify the $3 million achievement, the Foundation presents Andy Warhol: Social Network, its largest curated online eBay auction, honoring Warhol’s constellation of exceptional, unusual folks who forever transformed and subverted society to ensure a semblance of counter culture permeates our otherwise insufferable everyday normative, conformist existence. The 50-lot auction, open through April 3, includes original Polaroids, black-and-white photographs, prints, and vintage posters featuring dozens of inimitable and delicious subjects, including Warhol superstar and transgender trailblazer Candy Darling, Warhol’s blue chip collaborator Jean-Michel Basquiat, his boundary-busting comrade Robert Rauschenberg, wrap dress revolutionary Diane von Furstenberg, and Mr. Olympia-turned-Gubernator Arnold Schwarzenegger.

To ensure fair play, starting bids range from $500 to $24,000 to offer unprecedented access to rare works from Warhol’s estate to diverse buyers around the globe. All works are accompanied by a certificate of provenance issued by Matchfire, a brand design and digital marketing agency that combines data analysis and creative expertise and manages eBay for Charity sales on behalf of the Foundation.

“Warhol remains one of the most influential artists not only through the enduring impact of his life and work but also through the philanthropy of the foundation he established,” said Michael Dayton Hermann, director of licensing, marketing, and sales at the Foundation. “This initiative has proven demand from global collectors of all budgets to purchase with ease and with purpose by utilizing a democratic platform while directly supporting the advancement of the visual arts.”