The “Father Of Pop Art”, Andy Warhol is undoubtedly best known for his iconic Campbell’s soup can illustrations of the 1960s; and for those now-legendary colorized photo images of Liz Taylor, Jackie Onassis, Marilyn Monroe and other social luminaries of the day. These and other works by Warhol consistently rank among the most highly-prized items on the worldwide art market. In recent years, serious collectors have also been gravitating toward a very different category of his work.  

Beginning in 1949, and right up into the 1980s, Warhol designed many record album covers for a variety of jazz, classical, rock and other artists, including: The Velvet Underground, The Rolling Stones, The Boston Pops Orchestra, Toscanini, Count Basie, Thelonious Monk, Kenny Burrell, Diana Ross and dozens more. Most of these covers were created for RCA (and subsidiary Camden), and Columbia Records. Based on available data, it is thought he produced some 74 covers in all, though it is entirely possible there are others out there, as yet unattributed.

Dedicated Warhol aficionados around the world have jumped head-first into this relatively new niche, adding to their personal collections in a very big way. As this trend continues to gain momentum–and as interest in all things Warhol continues to swell–it has become common to see some of these covers fetching auction prices well into the thousands of dollars.   A long-time client of Central Valley Estates & Auctions has recently acquired what is perhaps the rarest and most sought after of all of these covers, the 1956 “Waltzes by Johann Strauss, Jr.”, on the Camden label. Given the exceptional rarity of this item, we feel it truly does warrant that often misplaced “Holy Grail” designation. The Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh has one in their permanent collection, and according to warholcovers.com, this particular cover has only come to auction on three prior occasions. 

 Our client will be offering their copy in a 10-day auction on ebay, beginning Thursday evening, May 10th. We have been asked to assist in getting the word out, which we are more than happy to do. (A live link to the auction will be posted on our site shortly after 7:00pm on the 10th: www.CentralValleyEstates.com.)   We would love to hear your stories of incredible estate sale finds, re-discovery of long-lost art and antiques and anything else you would like to share. We can also help by consigning your rare and treasured items, promoting them for sale to the right market(s) to help you get top dollar. (Who knows, you might be sitting on an “undiscovered” Warhol!) We also do no-cost consultations for estates, collections or businesses that need to be sold. Write to us via the “Contact Us” page on our site, or call me directly at the number below. In the meantime, as always, Happy Hunting!   Chris Robbins Central Valley Estates & Auctions (559) 367-6673 www.CentralValleyEstates.com