Andy Warhol - Gaetana Enders (The Ambassadress).... Lot 1114

Andy Warhol - Gaetana Enders (The Ambassadress). Acrylic and serigraph on canvas. (19)83. Approx. 101.5 x 101.5 cm. Signed and dated on the verso of the folded canvas. In the early 1960s, Andy Warhol began portraying celebrities, mostly from models in magazines and newspapers. Drawing on mass media, developing his own two-dimensional, poster-like painting style, and a color aesthetic drawn from the colorful world of advertising, Andy Warhol put portraiture back on the painting agenda. In November 1979, the Whitney Museum in New York showed the exhibition "Portraits of the 70s". For the artist this meant the final breakthrough; in the following years he became the most sought-after portrait painter of his time, and hardly a person of public interest was not painted by him. While the early portraits still tell the story of the "American dream" and its tragic protagonists, such as Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, or Jackie Kennedy, the later portraits become more personal and tell of Warhol's own biographical entanglements. In the case of Gaetana Enders, it is the daughter of a Jewish family who went into exile in Morocco under Mussolini; she was born and raised there. In the early 1950s, she met the young American Thomas Enders in Tangier, where he gained his first experience in the diplomatic service. The two were married a short time later in Morocco and Gaetana accompanied her husband to Canada and Spain, among other places. As the wife of the ambassador, she was involved in art and culture as well as social issues in all her places of residence around the world. During her years in Spain, she became editor of the international edition of the celebrity and lifestyle magazine ¡Hola! - or Hello, as it is still called in its English version. Andy Warhol chose a pink background for his portrait of Gaetana, which softly embraces her. The very dark eyes give the look something profound, at the same time it is open and friendly. Hairstyle and makeup are perfectly arranged, on the ear sparkles, as the only jewelry, an earring. Although Gaetana Endres, characteristically in the style of Pop Art, is strongly abstracted and reduced to flatness, she clearly appears to the viewer as a cosmopolitan, self- and status-conscious woman. Provenance: private collection Gaetana Enders, New York, gift of the artist; Sotheby's, New York 10.11.2011, lot 233; private collection, Switzerland. Taxation: Differential tax plus 7% VAT: Margin Scheme (non EU).