ALEXANDRIA, VA.- The Potomack Company has identified a rare lettered and signed color screenprint of Marilyn Monroe by artist Andy Warhol and will sell the iconic print of the legendary blond actress on March 16 at its Spring Catalogue Auction.
The Marilyn Monroe print portrays the movie star with a red face on hot pink background and remains in its original steel Kulicke frame. It is lettered A, from an edition of 250 and 26 AP signed and lettered prints (FS II.22). Anne Craner, fine arts specialist at The Potomack Company, says the artworks provenance is a private Chevy Chase, MD, estate and estimates it to sell for $50,000-100,000.
Potomacks Spring Catalogue Sale also features another numbered Warhol color silkscreen entitled Flowers 1970, with a sale estimate of $20,000-30,000 for the pink, blue and yellow floral work numbered (FS II.73).
Warhols Marilyn was discovered by Potomack Companys fine art director, Anne Craner, amidst a group of fine screen prints purchased over the years by a Washington , DC private collector. The same collector also had a book by Andy Warhol, Exposures, dedicated to her by Andy Warhol, which is also in Potomacks March 16th auction. The Marilyn has never changed hands and has remained in its Kulick frame from the date of purchase in the late 1960s.
In 1967, Andy Warhol made a portfolio of 10 prints of Marilyn Monroe. We know from the book devoted to Warhol screen prints written by Feldman and Schellmann that there are 250 stamped versions which appear on the market from time to time, and an AP set lettered A-Z that rarely come on the market. A Marilyn Monroe from the stamped edition of 250 sold February 27th, 2013 at Phillips, London for $174,000.
The Potomack Company recently relocated to a new 10,000-square-foot gallery in Old Town Alexandria, VA, for enhanced customer service and business expansion. The new address is 1120 North Fairfax Street , Alexandria . The companys two-day auction on March 16 and 17 also features Asian art from a private collection, vintage Tiffany jewelry and important Southern antique furniture.