Million-dollar holiday snaps? Andy Warhol's China photographs up for auction

Million-dollar holiday snaps? Andy Warhol's China photographs up for auction
27 March 2017, Monday

Andy Warhol's personal photographs from his trip to Beijing and Hong Kong in 1982 are arguably the most famous holiday snaps of all time.

And depending on how a May auction of the collection fares, they could soon be among the most valuable.


Warhol, who was one of the most famous people in the western world at the time of his visit, went largely unrecognized on the streets of Beijing. It makes the images even more remarkable, not least to collectors, who have come to view the set as a rare slice of history in the making. 


The three-day trip saw the late pop art icon take his camera to sites including the Great Wall and Tiananmen Square, where he came face-to-face with the portrait of Mao Zedong that had inspired his own colorful 1970s paintings and prints of the former leader.


Over 200 personal photos from Warhol's China set will go under the hammer at a Phillips auction at the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong. The candid shots are currently on display at the hotel, to coincide with the opening of Art Basel Hong Kong.
Phillips' associate director Charlotte Raybaud tells CNN the auction house is hoping to sell the set for over $1.1 million (HK$8.5 million).


"The photos capture his personality in a way that may even be more genuine and pure than the pictures he takes prior to this, because he came to Beijing and Hong Kong as a tourist," she says.

News of the day

"Impressionism as a source of light in conditions of shortage of air" - The Art Newspaper about the exhibition in St. Petersburg
read news
An exhibition of the famous Russian sculptor “Alexander Rukavishnikov: Transformation after Bruegel” opens in Ulyanovsk
An exhibition of the famous Russian sculptor “Alexander Rukavishnikov: Transformation after Bruegel” opens in Ulyanovsk
read news
“Heroes and contemporaries of the Silver Age” - The Tretyakov Gallery continues to display graphic treasures from its holdings
“Heroes and contemporaries of the Silver Age” - The Tretyakov Gallery continues to display graphic treasures from its holdings
read news