Andy Warhol (1928-1987)
Two plates, from A Gold Book (See Feldman & Schellmann IV.106-124)
Two offset lithographs printed in black, 1957, each on gold paper, each the full sheet, each 362 x 286mm (14 1/4 x 11 1/4in) (mounted) (2)

The Gold Book (1957), in which these two plates were included, is recognised as one of the most elaborate editions by Warhol, with thirteen of the plates printed on gold paper-inspired by, according to close friend Charles Lisanby, the gold-leaf furniture lacquered with black designs that the two had seen on their trip to Bangkok.
The images in the twenty-two page volume were devoted to "Boys/filles/fruits/and flowers/Shoes/Ted Carey and Edward Wallowitch" in the words of the artist. Certainly, Warhol did base the designs on photographs by Wallowitch, to whom he was romantically linked at the time. He went on to exhibit the completed plates at the Bodley Gallery in New York shortly after publication, along with his related drawings and source material for the book.
The first plate in this lot, of the young man leaning, is a clear reference to James Dean, the heartthrob who had died just two years earlier in 1955. Meanwhile, the second fits in with larger themes across the book of childhood and nature. Thus the Gold Book marks the beginning of Warhol's explorations into the ideas that would preoccupy him throughout his career, including the allure of celebrity and Hollywood, childhood ideals, nature versus nurture, commercialism, sexuality and of course what people will do to chase the American dream.