Wayne Gretzky #99 (F&S II.306)

Private Collection, British Columbia

Frayda Feldman and Jörg Schellmann, "Andy Warhol Prints: A Catalogue Raisonné 1962-1987", 4th edition, Milan, 2003, reproduced page 133, catalogue no. II.306 Pat Hackett, ed., "The Andy Warhol Diaries", New York, 2014, page 515 'When Andy Warhol and Wayne Gretzky Teamed Up for a Portrait', "CBC Archives" [online publication], 12 December 2019, accessed 2 April 2025

“I’ve never met a person I couldn’t call a beauty,” —Andy Warhol Andy Warhol and Wayne Gretzky were introduced by Vancouver dealer Frans Wynans. Gretzky had reportedly been a fan of the artist long before their meeting. This collaboration aligned with Warhol’s interests, as he had created the portfolio Athletes in 1977, which featured ten portraits, including Muhammad Ali, O.J. Simpson, Jack Nicklaus and Pelé. The original paintings Warhol created from the sitting originally sold for $35,000, while the screenprints sold for $2,000. Gretzky kept one of the portraits for himself, choosing the one he described as featuring “the Oiler colours, if you can see the blue with the orange and white. They all look the same, but the colour in that one was the one that I seemed to like the most.” Warhol’s diary entry for Thursday, June 9, 1983—the day of their appointment—describes their meeting: “Got up early because I had a 10:00 appointment at the office that Fred had made with Wayne Gretzky of the Oilers (cab $6). When I got there they said Gretzky had just called and said he was coming right down. Meanwhile Fred who had made this early, early meeting wasn’t there yet... By 12:30 I was still the only one there, and I was mad... And finally Gretzky arrived and he was adorable, blond twenty-two and cute. He doesn’t wear shoulder pads when he plays. I told him he should go into the movies and he said that he was going to be in a Fall Guy and a Tom Selleck. He dates a Canadian singer.” In this work, Warhol focuses on “The Great One’s” boyish blond hair and intense gaze, which he emphasized using neon colours set against a large white square that contrasts with an intense blue background. Additionally, a large neon pink square highlights Gretzky’s famous number ninety-nine, with stylistic coloured outlines drawing attention to the hockey stick he holds. The last few letters of the hockey logo Titan are barely visible, a brand which Gretzky would be associated with throughout his career.