Mick Jagger (F&S II.141) by Andy Warhol

Provenance:
Private Collection, Ontario

Literature:
Andy Warhol, “Andy Warhol’s Exposures”, New York, 1979, page 29
Freyda Feldman and Jörg Schellmann, “Andy Warhol Prints: A Catalogue Raisonné 1962–1987”, 4th edition, 2003, catalogue no. II.141

Mick Jagger and Andy Warhol met in 1963 in New York when the Rolling Stones were on their first tour of the United States. They would remain close friends throughout their lives. Their first artistic collaboration was in 1971 when Jagger asked Warhol to create the album cover for “Sticky Fingers”. Given the popularity of Warhol and The Factory at the time, it is not surprising that bands in the 1960s and 1970s all wanted Warhol to design their album covers. His first would be the famous banana cover for “The Velvet Underground & Nico’s” LP.

From the portfolio of ten colour screenprints of Mick Jagger, Warhol has used his own source material. In 1975 Mick and his then–wife Bianca rented Warhol’s Montauk home at the eastern tip of Long Island, with the band in the small town to rehearse for their upcoming tour. There, Warhol took a series of Polaroids of the singer, shirt off with just a chain around his neck, focused on capturing Jagger’s raunchy sex appeal. Warhol said of Jagger at the time:

“Mick brings out the bisexuality in men who normally would not be like that. He’s androgynous enough for almost everyone. That’s always been his basic appeal, mixed with facts that:
1) He’s very talented;
2) He’s very intelligent;
3) He’s very handsome;
4) He’s very adorable;
5) He’s a great business person;
6) He’s a movie star;
7) I like his fake Cockney accent.”

Most importantly, Warhol’s approach to these screenprints deviated from his usual process. Instead, he drew attention to Jagger’s gaze, pouting mouth, and exposed armpit using Colour Aid papers that create a collaged application of colour.

Even though the suite cemented Jagger and Warhol’s relationship in the public eye, turning these Polaroids into the portfolio we know today was actually a business proposal from the London–based Seabirds Editions Company, who offered to publish them. The fact that both Jagger and Warhol have signed them has only contributed to amplifying the commercial allure of these screenprints.