Andy Warhol's portrait of Elvis Presley as a cowboy is headed to the auction block in Manhattan on May 9th, y'all. The "Double Elvis (Ferus Type)" silkscreen is the first to appear on the market since 1995, and is expected to go for up to $50 million at Sotheby's.
The silkscreen was made in 1963, and is part of a series of 22 that Warhol did of the musician (currently 9 are in museum collections). They were for an exhibition at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, where they were on display with his Elizabeth Taylor prints. From the Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonné:
Warhol made two types of compositions based on the same picture of Elvis Presley. The source has not been located but a comparable image has been identified in the Warhol archive—a colour postcard, printed in Germany, that shows Presley as a gunslinger... On the back, the movie is identified as Flaming Star, a Western directed by Don Siegel... The postcard documents Warhol's source and helps to establish a date before July 1963 for the paintings.
Can't afford to hang this thing on your wall? Etsy has some budget option: an iPhone case with the same print for just $14, and this sweet Han Solo "Space Cowboy" print inspired by the Warhol piece for 40 bucks.
