Guess what? You remember those prints that were stolen a few weeks ago, the ones commissioned by Richard Weisman to be created by Andy Warhol? There’s gonna be a show of all the Polaroid photos taken by Andy that were used to create the prints! It’s like an exhibition of pencils and paintbrushes. Similar. But because photography, especially in this circumstance, is an artform, these are works of interest in and of themselves. Below you will find the whole collection that will be on display in the show: “Greatness”, Andy Warhol’s Polaroids of Sports Champions. Above you’ll notice… The Great One.

UPDATE — the following note comes from a comment posted by none other than the person who appears to have commissioned these portraits for real! Mistakes galore!

Richard Wiseman did not commission Andy Warhol to do portraits of Wayne Gretzky. It was the writer Frans Wynans of Vancouver who commissioned Warhol to create the series of paintings and silkscreen prints. Thought you would like to know? Cheers, Frans Wynans

To find out more about the stolen portraits, see “Andy’s Buddy’s Portraits Pinched!”

Take a peek at the gallery of picture photos below, and tell me if you will: do you think these might be the most valuable Polaroids ever? Of all time? Ever? Forever?!

In 1977, Richard Weisman, an art collector and a friend of Warhol’s, commissioned a series of paintings of ten great sports figures of the era, now known as the “Athlete Series”. The group of athletes was selected by Mr. Weisman, and included stars of a variety of sports: Muhammad Ali (boxing), Pelé (soccer), Dorothy Hamill (figure skating), Tom Seaver (baseball), Jack Nicklaus (golf), O.J. Simpson (football), Chris Evert (tennis), Willie Shoemaker (horse racing), Rod Gilbert (ice hockey, NY Rangers), and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (basketball).

Four additional sports portraits taken later are also included in the show – Ron Duguay, John McEnroe (with then-wife Tatum O’Neill), Vitas Gerulaitis, and Wayne Gretzky.

While Warhol may not have selected the ten athletes for the series, their status as champions in their respective sports, with faces and names that are recognizable decades later, coincides with Warhol’s interest in images of celebrity and greatness.

Taken with Warhol’s favored “Big Shot” Polaroid Camera, these images were used by Warhol to be silkscreened on to canvas as the basis of each painting.

GREATNESS
ANDY WARHOL POLAROIDS OF SPORTS CHAMPIONS
THROUGH THE END OF 2009
DANZINGER PROJECTS
534 WEST 24TH STREET
NEW YORK NY 10011 USA
TEL 212 629 6778

This post is part of the World Famous Design Junkies Celebritarianism category.