Front and Back Dollar Bills

Front and Back Dollar Bills
ArtistAndy Warhol
Year1962
MediumSilkscreen ink and pencil on linen, in two parts
MovementPop Art
Dimensions210.8 cm × 48.3 cm (83.0 in × 19.0 in)
OwnerPrivate collection

Front and Back Dollar Bills is a 1962 painting by American artist Andy Warhol. It consists of two vertically oriented panels depicting enlarged images of the front and back of a one-dollar bill. The work belongs to Warhol's early Dollar Bill series, made during his first experiments with silkscreen printing.

Background

Throughout the 1950s, Andy Warhol established a successful career in New York as a commercial illustrator, specializing in advertising and women's shoes.[1] His work in commercial art gave him extensive familiarity with the visual language of advertising and the consumer culture of postwar America. He was also attracted to the glamour, money, and branded products that characterized that culture.[1]

By the early 1960s, Warhol was seeking a transition from commercial illustration to fine art, and he began depicting subjects drawn from popular culture.[2] He initially painted images based on comic strips, but abandoned the approach after learning that Roy Lichtenstein was already producing similar works.[1] Warhol sought suggestions from friends about possible subjects.[1][3] Art curator Henry Geldzahler encouraged him to focus on ordinary, commercially available objects, while art dealer Muriel Latow suggested that he paint what he liked most: money.[3] Warhol subsequently began producing paintings of dollar bills alongside works depicting Coca-Cola bottles, Campbell's soup cans, and movie stars.[1] The dollar bill became one of his recurring subjects as he developed the silkscreen technique that would become central to his practice.[4][5]

Technique and production

Front and Back Dollar Bills was produced at Warhol's home studio at 1342 Lexington Avenue in New York.[6] Warhol initially produced pencil drawings and hand-painted works of United States one-dollar, two-dollar, five-dollar, and ten-dollar bills followed by silkscreen works in which the images could be mechanically reproduced.[7][8] The dollar-bill paintings were among Warhol's earliest sustained experiments with silkscreen printing.[9][10] In a 1977 interview, Warhol recalled, "I started [silkscreening] when I was printing money. I had to draw it, and it came out looking too much like a drawing, so I thought wouldn't it be a great idea to have it printed. Somebody said you could just put it on silkscreens."[11]

Front and Back Dollar Bills belongs to Warhol's early Dollar Bill series, which includes paintings of one-dollar and two-dollar bills made in 1962. Among the works from the series are 200 One Dollar Bills, 192 One Dollar Bills, Two Dollar Bills (Fronts), and Two Dollar Bills (Back) (40 Two Dollar Bills in Green).[12]

Description

Front and back of 1957 series United States one-dollar silver certificate

The painting consists of two narrow vertical canvases hung side by side, each measuring 83 × 19 inches (210.8 × 48.3 cm).[13] One panel depicts the front of a one-dollar bill, while the other depicts its reverse. Although the two panels are individually signed and dated 1962 and 1963,[12] respectively, the work has historically been dated to 1962 in museum records and scholarly publications.[14][15][16]

The use of separate panels allows the front and back of the bill to be viewed simultaneously. Rather than presenting currency as a functional object that can be handled and exchanged, Warhol presents its two sides as images. The close proximity between the panels also emphasizes the distinction between the front and reverse while the corresponding colors match that of an authentic dollar bill.

The work is executed in silkscreen ink and pencil on canvas. The combination of a mechanically reproduced image with pencil marks reflects Warhol's early silkscreen practice, in which mechanical reproduction did not eliminate evidence of the artist's hand.

Interpretation

Front and Back Dollar Bills reflects Warhol's use of repetition as both a compositional strategy and a means of engaging with mass production. Art critic David Bourdon argued that Warhol's serial images distinguished his work from that of Roy Lichtenstein, writing that "the grid organization implied mass production and uniformity and also possessed commercial overtones that he welcomed."[10] Bourdon further observed that the repetition of individual images subsequently became "a central element of Warhol's aesthetic."[10]

The work also links Warhol's use of repetition to his exploration of the connection between art and money.[13] Art historian Richard Meyer argued that in Front and Back Dollar Bills, Warhol "literalized the idea of art as a way of making money.[13] The accumulation of cash served as both the artist's subject and his intended goal.[13] Meyer added that the silkscreening process allowed Warhol to "sustain visual interest within an overall logic of duplication" through "off-register, or otherwise idiosyncratic silk-screen impressions."[13] Warhol himself described the appeal of silkscreening as "simple—quick and chancy," emphasizing the variations that could result from repeatedly printing the same image.[17]

Warhol's own statements reveal his interest in transforming commonplace objects into subjects of art.[1][18] In 1962, he told Time, "I just paint things I always thought were beautiful, things you use every day and never think about. I'm working on soups, and I've been doing some paintings of money. I just do it because I like it."[18] In his 1975 book The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B & Back Again), he similarly connected art and commerce, stating, "During the hippie era people put down the idea of business—they'd say 'Money is bad' and 'Working is bad' but making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art." Elsewhere in the book, he said, "I like money on the wall. Say you are going to buy a $200,000 painting. I think you should take that money, tie it up, and hang it on the wall. Then when someone visited you the first thing they would see is the money on the wall."[19]

As with Campbell's Soup Cans (1961–62), the dollar bill was an object Warhol encountered routinely in everyday life.[20] In 1962, journalist Marguerite Lamkin, writing for the London Express Service, asked Warhol what he was trying to say through his paintings.[21] He replied, "I want to show the monotony in the way things are. You see these things every day and by painting them you realize how boring life really is."[21]

Provenance

The painting was owned by interior designer Jed Johnson, who was Warhol's longtime partner.[22] Following Johnson's death in the TWA Flight 800 explosion in 1996, the work passed to his estate.[23] It was subsequently acquired by Thomas Ammann Fine Art in Zürich and then by Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, also in Zürich. A private collector purchased the work directly from Galerie Bruno Bischofberger in 1998.[12]

Exhibitions

Front and Back Dollar Bills was exhibited at the Daimaru department stores in Tokyo and Kobe in 1974 in an exhibition of Warhol's work.[12]

In 1989, it was included in the major retrospective Andy Warhol: A Retrospective, which traveled from the Museum of Modern Art in New York to the Art Institute of Chicago, Hayward Gallery in London, Museum Ludwig in Cologne, Palazzo Grassi in Venice, and Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.[15]

It was subsequently included in Les Couleurs de l'Argent at the Musée de La Poste in Paris (November 19, 1991 – February 1, 1992), Andy Warhol: Series and Singles at the Fondation Beyeler in Basel (September 17 – December 31, 2000),[24] and SuperWarhol at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco (July 16 – August 31, 2003).[25]

Auction history

In June 2015, Front and Back Dollar Bills was offered at Sotheby's Contemporary Art Evening Sale in London with a presale estimate of £12 million to £18 million ($18.3 million–$27.5 million).[26] The work failed to sell after no bidder met its reserve.[27] In the same sale, an earlier 1962 dollar-bill painting, One Dollar Bill (Silver Certificate), sold for £20.9 million ($32.8 million).[27][28]

In June 2021, Front and Back Dollar Bills sold for £6.8 million ($9.4 million) at Sotheby's in London in its Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Sale.[12][29]

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cotter, Holland (2009-11-12). "Warhol's Eye for the Bucks". ArtsBeat. Retrieved 2026-08-20.
  2. ↑ Danto, Arthur C. (2002-09-01). "The Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonné". Artforum. Retrieved 2026-08-20.
  3. 1 2 Watson, Steven (2003). Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties. New York: Pantheon Books. pp. 74–75. ISBN 978-0-679-42372-0.
  4. ↑ Freeman, Nate (2015-05-21). "Take a Look at the Blinged-Out Paintings in the Money-Themed Auction at Sotheby's - Slideshow". Vulture. Retrieved 2026-08-21.
  5. ↑ Kamholz, Roger (2013-11-10). "Andy Warhol and His Process". Sothebys.com. Retrieved 2026-08-20.
  6. ↑ Barbanel, Josh (2008-03-30). "A Shrine to 15-Minute Fame". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-08-20.
  7. ↑ Bourdon 1989, pp. 104–107.
  8. ↑ Cotter, Holland (2009-11-12). "Warhol's Eye for the Bucks". ArtsBeat. Retrieved 2026-08-17.
  9. ↑ O'Brien, Glenn (August 1977). "Interview with Andy Warhol". High Times (24): 34.
  10. 1 2 3 Bourdon 1989, p. 96.
  11. ↑ O'Brien, Glenn (August 1977). "Interview with Andy Warhol". High Times (24): 34.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 "Andy Warhol, Front and Back Dollar Bills". Sotheby's. Jun 29, 2021.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 Meyer, Richard (2008). Warhol's Jews: Ten Portraits Reconsidered. New York: Jewish Museum, under the auspices of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America; San Francisco: Contemporary Jewish Museum; New Haven, Conn.: Distributed by Yale University Press. pp. 12–13. ISBN 978-0-300-14115-3.
  14. ↑ Grudin, Anthony E. (2017-10-20). Warhol's Working Class: Pop Art and Egalitarianism. University of Chicago Press. p. 71. ISBN 978-0-226-34777-6.
  15. 1 2 Kynaston, McShine, ed. (1989). Andy Warhol: A Retrospective. New York: Museum of Modern Art; Boston: Distributed by Bullfinch Press/Little, Brown. p. 164. ISBN 978-0-87070-680-6.
  16. ↑ Masterpieces: Warhol. Barcelona: Ediciones Polígrafa, S.A. 2005. p. 34. ISBN 84-343-1070-8Text: Maria Vera Pachon{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  17. ↑ Warhol, Andy; Hackett, Pat (1980). POPism: The Warhol '60s. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-15-173095-7.
  18. 1 2 "The Slice-of-Cake School". Time. 79 (19): 52. May 11, 1962.
  19. ↑ Simon, Jeff (1975-09-27). "Andy Warhol: 'As American As They Come'". The Buffalo News. pp. C-12. Retrieved 2026-08-17.
  20. ↑ Gopnik, Blake (May 2020). "How Andy Warhol Came to Paint Campbell's Soup Cans". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2026-08-17.
  21. 1 2 Lampkin, Marguerite (1962-11-20). "It Will Cost You $100 For Painting Of Dollar". The Hamilton Spectator. p. 30. Retrieved 2026-08-17.
  22. ↑ Nugent, Mitchell (2022-03-21). "Meet Jed Johnson, the Man Who Stole Andy Warhol's Heart". Interview Magazine. Retrieved 2026-08-21.
  23. ↑ Kellogg, Craig (2017-07-27). "Arthur Dunnam Carries Jed Johnson Associates into a New Era". Architectural Digest. Retrieved 2026-08-21.
  24. ↑ Warhol, Andy (2000). Andy Warhol: Series and Singles. Riehen/Basel: Fondation Beyeler. p. 78. ISBN 978-3-7701-5548-4.
  25. ↑ Celant, Germano (2003). SuperWarhol. Milan: Skira; Monaco: Grimaldi Forum Monaco. pp. 28, 527. ISBN 978-88-8491-636-5.
  26. ↑ Neuendorf, Henri (2015-06-10). "Sotheby's Launches Money-Themed Sale". Artnet News. Retrieved 2026-08-21.
  27. 1 2 Roach, Steve (August 10, 2015). "Warhol Dollar Art Sells In London: Paintings From Private Auction Lead July 1 and 2 Contemporary Art Sale". Coin World. 56 (2887): 6, 22.
  28. ↑ Boucher, Brian (2015-07-01). "Sotheby's Warhol Dollar Bill Fetches $32 Million". Artnet News. Retrieved 2026-08-21.
  29. ↑ Kinsella, Eileen (2021-06-29). "'Fierce' Demand From Collectors in Asia Propelled Sotheby's $217 Million Sales of British and Contemporary Art in London". Artnet News. Retrieved 2026-08-21.

Sources

  • Bourdon, David (2003). Warhol. New York: Abrams. ISBN 978-0810917613.
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