A mysterious online shopper may soon part with at least $10,000 for a pastel-colored print of the famous Apple logo.
Sotheby’s.com is auctioning a signed and numbered screen print of the instantly recognizable logo by the late, great Andy Warhol.
The pastel-hued screen print shows Apple’s rainbow apple icon. The words “Apple” and “Macintosh” are above and below.
The sole bid has been placed by someone identified only as “Paddle 50621.”
Unless outbid, Paddle 50621 will fork over $10,000, plus taxes and commissions, for the three-foot square print when the auction ends in the early hours of Sunday morning.
“An Apple logo selling for ten thousand dollars? It doesn’t make sense,” said Gul Coskun, the London dealer selling the Apple print. “It’s like a joke, but that’s Warhol for you.”
Produced in 1985, the print is one of Warhol’s “Ads” series, which mimicked popular advertising images of the time, including Ronald Reagan from a commercial for Van Heusen shirts, and James Dean from the poster for Rebel Without a Cause.
“It’s a typical Warhol idea,” she said. “It’s like the (Campbell’s) soup cans. It’s the same idea.”
The prints were originally issued in portfolios of 10 images and sold as a set. 190 numbered portfolios were issued, though there are probably about 280 in circulation when all the artist’s and printer’s proofs are taken into account. Coskun estimated the prints initially sold for about $500 each.
Sothebys has previously auctioned many Warhols, including several copies of the Apple Macintosh print.
“Warhol prints are some of the most sought after,” said Nina Del Rio, director of online auctions at Sothebys.com. “They are fun, they are easy to own and he’s widely known.
“He’s very hot.”
Sothebys.com is currently auctioning 20 of the prolific painter’s prints, and there are 133 Warhol works for sale at the Fine Art Site.
In fact, the Fine Art Site also has a copy of the Apple Macintosh print that lists for $8,500, as does Warhol Works.
Del Rio said over the years she has sold “bazillions” of copies of the Apple print. The price, she said, has fluctuated as wildly as the stock market.
Over the years, Warhol prints have increased in popularity, but the recent economic boom has fueled a hike in interest and prices, Coskun said.
Still, Coskun was a little mystified by the appeal of the Apple print, one of simplest images in the portfolio and the only technology-related work.
“For some reason it appeals to a lot of people,” she said. “It doesn’t appeal to me, I’m afraid.”
The prints of James Dean, Chanel perfume and Life Savers candy have proven more popular, she said. She sold a James Dean print last month for $23,000 through Sothebys.com, one of the most expensive prints sold from the site.
Coskun’s own gallery, which is located in London’s tony Knightsbridge, is starting to see its Net business take off. She has sold about $400,000 worth of art online in the last ten months, she said.
“I think the Internet is still only at the beginning for selling art,” she said. “It’s still the early days. But I think in the long run it will be so important I will be able to sit on a beach somewhere in the sun and sell on the Internet.”
