1955 Andy Warhol-inscribed Happy Butterfly Day" Lithograph
GUEST: So, I inherited this when my uncle passed away in 2011. In somewhere around 1952 through 1955-- maybe longer, I'm not really sure-- my uncle worked at I. Miller Shoes in Fifth Avenue in New York.
GUEST: He was art director. And while he was there he hired a freelance artist, Andy Warhol, and I believe this piece was given to him as a sort of thank you gift. I remember he said when he met Andy Warhol, he said he was wearing torn dungarees and his hair was disheveled. (chuckles) But he said his portfolio was fantastic, so he obviously hired him.
APPRAISER: This is a wonderful window into the early work of Warhol...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: ...when he was, like you said, a young graphic designer. This is before the Warhol most of us know. And it has a dedication up at the top. So this wonderful artwork is entitled Happy Butterfly Day. It's a hand-colored print. It was made in 1955. Warhol liked to use mechanical reproduction techniques, so he reproduced his ink drawings. Originally, this was based on a drawing.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: And then he made an offset lithograph of his drawing.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: So he could have multiple copies. We don't know the edition size of this.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: But then he later hand-colored ones like yours to give to people.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: And so they became each unique again, because they have each different hand coloring and different qualities, different colors.
GUEST: I think one of his colleagues also received one of these...
APPRAISER: Uh-huh.
GUEST: ...and my uncle said that that colleague threw it away, because they...
APPRAISER: (small groan)
GUEST: of course, Andy Warhol was not a known artist at the time. And then, years later, was very upset (chuckling) that he had thrown it away, so... (laughs)
APPRAISER: I, I'm sure. Well, he may be even more upset, uh, after he, he watches the ANTIQUES ROADSHOW. (chuckles)
GUEST: (chuckling): Okay.
APPRAISER: The story that you have of this direct connection to the artist is clear. And he did give these to people. And so the lucky ones have these dedications in ink.
APPRAISER: And then yours has this wonderful signature at the bottom. A really strong ink signature with a small inscription. I'm not sure what those numbers represent.
GUEST: Hm. Okay.
APPRAISER: It might be his phone number. (chuckles) So, most of these aren't signed.
GUEST: Oh. Uh-huh.
APPRAISER: And some are hand-colored, but yours is hand-colored and signed...
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: ...and dedicated by Warhol, which really makes it just a wonderful example of this great pop artist...
GUEST: Hm.
APPRAISER: ...at this early point in his career. It shows a little bit of its age.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: It has some, some handling marks...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: ...some things that could be improved with a little paper conservation.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: But the colors still look strong to me. So, at auction today, this could do very well. I would expect a value between $10,000 and $15,000.
GUEST: Really? Wow, okay. That's surprising to me. Just because it's a personalized... note. Um, that's great, wonderful.
APPRAISER: That's what makes it special, actually. Oh. It's the personal dedication as well as the signature.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: You inherited this from someone who worked side by side with Warhol?
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: Those stories are priceless.
GUEST: Yeah.
$10,000 - $15,000 Auction
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Understanding Our Appraisals
Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.
Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.
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