Pears (F. & S. II.203)
Pears (F. & S. II.203)
Signed Print
Andy Warhol
£10,000-£15,000Value Indicator
$21,000-$30,000 Value Indicator
$18,000-$28,000 Value Indicator
¥100,000-¥150,000 Value Indicator
€11,500-€18,000 Value Indicator
$100,000-$150,000 Value Indicator
¥1,890,000-¥2,840,000 Value Indicator
$13,000-$20,000 Value Indicator
AAGR (5 years) This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
There aren't enough data points on this work for a comprehensive result. Please speak to a specialist by making an enquiry.
Medium: Screenprint
Edition size: 150
Year: 1979
Size: H 76cm x W 102cm
Signed: Yes
Format: Signed Print
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Auction Results
| Auction Date | Auction House | Location | Hammer Price | Return to Seller | Buyer Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2025 | Phillips London | United Kingdom | |||
| March 2023 | Bonhams Los Angeles | United States | |||
| July 2022 | Rosebery's Fine Art Auctioneers | United Kingdom | |||
| June 2016 | Germann Auctions | Switzerland | |||
| June 2012 | Germann Auctions | Switzerland | |||
| December 2010 | Phillips New York | United States | |||
| October 2010 | Christie's New York | United States |
Meaning & Analysis
Andy Warhol’s 1979 signed screen print Pears (F. & S. II.203) depicts five pears in exaggerated shadow. Warhol began with a photograph of the fruits lit from the left to cast long shadows. He then added overdrawing and pops of colour to heighten some detail, while obscuring the fruit in others, abstracting them almost to the point of unrecognizability. Warhol contrasts his lime-green pears with a magenta background, revealing his interest in complementary colours and the colour wheel at this time.
The screen print Pears comes from the larger series, Space Fruit from the same year. A rare example of still life from the pop artists, Space Fruit draws on the long tradition of still life painting in the canon of western art. However, Warhol’s extreme lighting, collage, and abstraction make his fruit appear other-worldly, a product of outer-space. Throughout the series, Warhol experimented with the colour wheel, applying principles of saturation, hue, and complementary colours. This example is perhaps his most striking use of complementary colours, and pink and lime green stand opposite each other on the colour wheel.
Andy Warhol was a leading figure of the Pop Art movement and is often considered the father of Pop Art. Born in 1928, Warhol allowed cultural references of the 20th century to drive his work. From the depiction of glamorous public figures, such as Marilyn Monroe, to the everyday Campbell’s Soup Can, the artist challenged what was considered art by blurring the boundaries between high art and mass consumerism. Warhol's preferred screen printing technique further reiterated his obsession with mass culture, enabling art to be seen as somewhat of a commodity through the reproduced images in multiple colour ways.
