Warhol Hairpiece Makes Bigwig Price
Christie’s Celebrity Memorabilia
June 22
Want to know what a good hair day feels like? Ask Andy Warhol’s nephew, Jeffrey Warhola, who recently consigned a handful of his uncle’s items to the June 22nd celeb memorabilia sale at Christie’s—most notably, one of the signature silver hairpieces that the pop art icon used to plop rakishly on his head. Its pre-sale estimate was $4,000-$6,000. Someone wanted it to the tune of $10,800.
Warhol started sporting hairpieces like this in the 1960s to conceal his advancing baldness. But as the 1980s approached, the wigs grew ever bolder, and functioned more as zany fashion accessories than toupees. I remember spotting him one night in the summer of 1985, holding court at the Odeon restaurant, a hipster hangout in downtown Manhattan, wearing cartoonishly oversized military-style epaulets, complete with exaggerated fringe, and a wig that made Tina Turner’s look, well, modest. This trademark silver-and-dark-grey number, complete with three strips of tape on the inside, hails from the same period. The question is….will the new owner simply display it, or use it for Warhol impersonations?
Other Warhol items in the sale included a 1977 Polaroid photo of Muhammad Ali, signed by the artist (which sold for $19,200), and a Warhol Polaroid of Mick Jagger from 1975 that went for $15,600. I remember thinking them expensive a few years back, when eyestorm.com was offering them for $10,000.
Of course, the top items in the Christie’s sale didn’t belong to the Pop art prince. When it comes to celeb memorabilia, Marilyn Monroe rules the roost, along with Elvis and John Lennon. A black cocktail dress worn by Miss Monroe during the filming of “The Misfits” sold for $66,000, and a full-length ermine coat worn she wore in 1957 sold for $50,400. She is one of the few celebs whose non-performance related clothing can sell for a premium. —M.T.
