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Warhol, Andy (Subject/Artist) & Polsky, Richard (Author) : I Bought Andy Warhol

Harry N. Abrams, New York City, NY, 2003

ISBN 0810942712

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 256 pages. The author's breakthrough account. One of the best books on collecting and art. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. Presents Richard Polsky's "I Bought Andy Warhol". The contemporary "icon of global desire". The title is an allusion to the cult film, "I Shot Andy Warhol" (1996). Richard Polsky has been an art dealer all his adult life. His book is about two things: His quest to own a Warhol and the impact the artist himself has had on the art market. Polsky set aside $100, 000 to acquire a decent Warhol, but over the years, the price kept going up, up, up, way beyond his means. The story of how he finally nabbed his Warhol (it's the one shown on the book's cover), which became the obsessive focus of his life, is self-deprecating and moving. Polsky also shares with the reader the secrets he learned along the way, the principal one being seemingly obvious: That the longer a collector holds on to a good piece, the more he will come out on top. If he is lucky, he will become rich beyond his wildest dreams. The highest price a Warhol has fetched at auction has long since surpassed $100 Million, an unbelievable sum for a still-debated artist. The smart collectors have been those who, despite facing personal setbacks, major cash flow problems, and irresistible offers, nevertheless hold on to their pieces when most reasonable people think they are crazy to do so. Collectors have always had one decisive advantage over dealers: Their goal is to hold on to (and enjoy) their art. Every dealer, no matter how huge, needs to sell in order to stay in business. Dealing is about buying and selling. Collecting is about finding and timing. Polsky cites many examples to prove his point (which, ironically, collectors themselves often forget). Warhol himself stands out as a classic case study. When he gave up his successful career as an advertising "creative", Warhol struggled at first to get his work as an artist accepted, and ended up taking whatever money was offered for his major pieces in order to survive. He sold his "Campbell's Soup Can" silkscreen multiples (there are 32 in all) in 1962 to a prescient (and nasty) collector for $1000. Adding insult to injury, it was paid to him in monthly installments of less than $100 over two years, resulting in lifetime enmity between artist and collector. The collector, banned permanently, held on to the set for thirty-four years before selling it to the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in 1996 for $15 Million, a remarkable profit on his $1000 investment. But what would "Campbell's Soup Can" fetch today in the event that it ever became available in the art market? $150 Million. An absolute "must-have" title for Andy Warhol and Richard Polsky collectors. This copy is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed in black pen on the title page by Richard Polsky. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a classic. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have very serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. One of the greatest artists of the 20th century. A fine copy. . ISBN 0810942712.

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