Alice Cooper Discovers Andy Warhol Classic in Storage Locker

Rolling Stone ^ | 7/26 | Jon Blistein

[nickcarraway]

"Little Electric Chair" print was "rolled up in a tube," could be worth millions

Alice Cooper discovered an Andy Warhol silkscreen print that could be worth millions of dollars "rolled up in a tube" in a storage locker, The Guardian reports. The "Little Electric Chair" print was part of Warhol's Death and Disaster series and, coincidentally, had been laying around a facility for over 40 years alongside Cooper's Seventies-era electric chair stage prop.

Cooper and Warhol became friends in the early Seventies after the rocker moved to New York City. Warhol even came to one of Cooper's concerts where he used the electric chair to fake an execution. As Cooper's longtime manager Shep Gordon explained, "Andy was kind of a groupie, and so was Alice. They loved famous people. So they started a relationship, and they loved to hang out."

However, it was Cooper's girlfriend at the time, model Cindy Lang, who purchased the "Little Electric Chair" print from Warhol. Warhol based his print (dated either 1964 or 1965) on a 1953 press photo of the death chamber at Sing Sing prison where Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed that year for sharing secrets with the Soviet Union.

Lang apparently handed the print off to Gordon, but it quickly got lost amongst Cooper's vast assortment of gear. "At the time Alice is making two albums a year and touring the rest of the time," Gordon said. "It was a rock & roll time; none of us thought about anything. He ends up going into an insane asylum for his drinking and then leaves New York for L.A. Alice says he remembers having a conversation with Warhol about the picture. He thinks the conversation was real, but he couldn't put his hand on a Bible and say that it was."

Gordon only remembered Cooper had the piece four years ago after having dinner with an art dealer. While it was unclear where the print was, Gordon noted that, luckily, Cooper's mother remembered seeing it go into storage.

View image on Twitter View image on Twitter Follow Walker Reader @walkermag 40 years later, Alice Cooper's Warhol electric chair screenprint found "rolled up in a tube": http://wac.mn/2uu6FY8 3:02 PM - Jul 24, 2017 29 29 Retweets 33 33 likes Twitter Ads info and privacy While Cooper's "Little Electric Chair" is unsigned, Warhol expert Richard Polsky said he is certain the piece is authentic (the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts stopped authenticating work in 2011 after a dispute with a collector). In 1972, Lang paid $2,500 for the piece. In 2015, another "Little Electric Chair" print sold at auction for $11.6 million.

Gordon said that after Cooper learned of the Warhol's potential value, he declined to hang something so expensive in his house, though apparently the rocker is now reconsidering. "You should have seen Alice’s face when Richard Polsky's estimate came in," Gordon said. "His jaw dropped and he looked at me. 'Are you serious? I own that!'"

[Salamander]

It does not turn me on at all, artistically speaking but the subtle little “silence” sign in the upper right corner made me giggle morbidly.

[Salamander]

It’s obscene to have horsepower and *not* use it.

/loves her Hemi

;D

[Salamander]

Best example of Barnum’s adage is *anything* by Jackson Pollock.

[dfwgator]

Best example of Barnum’s adage is *anything* by Jackson Pollock.

Or as I say, "If I can do it, it ain't art."

[Salamander]

We commonly refer to the ‘nose art’ created by the dogs on the house and car windows as “Pollocks”.

:D

[dangus]

11 million for a screen print does seem crazy, but don't hate on Warhol. Despite having homosexual attractions, he was a devout Christian who remained chaste because he believed homosexuality was immoral -- at least he claimed to have remained a virgin, although various people (none of whom are beyond question) have claimed to have had affairs with him. He attended daily mass, regularly helped at food shelter, and donated frequently, not to leftist political organizations, but to honest shelter-and-feed charities.

He was also a great fan of capitalism and the free market system; his most famous paintings are almost all intended as celebrations of capitalism.

He was also a preternaturally gifted artist. The fact that he used certain modern techniques, such as silk screens has helped conceal from many that he was one of the most technically skilled artists of the modern era. Yes, he could draw a perfect circles, and yes, the elipses of his Campbell's soup cans were drawn by hand.

Our trashy culture has given the most accolades to his most pop-oriented artwork, including works similar to his Electric Chair. BUt he also created religious iconography. Many mistake his mixing of capitalism with religious images as being ironic, meant to demean religion with manna, but he was not ironic.

His relation with Christ, and his Church, was tumultuous; he was a believer caught in a world defined by disbelief, and set aside by terrible temptations most believers never have to grapple with. And there are definitely phases in his work which reflect anger with Christ, or with the Church. But whether or not he's a great Christian, he's certainly a great artist.

[dfwgator]

Judging by the crosses, he must have been Slovak.

[Bob434]

that looks ijnteresting- just read the description- sounds cool

[Salamander]

Just listened to it.

This one seems to be similar to Raise Your Fist And Yell.
Jam album with a couple of “Alice-y” tunes thrown in.

Top 3 of the album, IMO

Paranoiac Personality
Fallen In Love
The Sound Of A, which reminded me of the oldie but goodie, ‘Hard-Hearted Alice’

I was hoping for something as glorious as Along Came A Spider but apparently he’s in a Detroit rocker mood, these days.

Ah, well.
I pre-ordered from Amazon and got the box set with a cool t shirt, included.

For whatever reason, every time he puts out an album, it hits the shelves 2 days before my birthday.

:)

[Bob434]

[[For whatever reason, every time he puts out an album, it hits the shelves 2 days before my birthday.]]

Lol- almost like it’s ‘paranormal’

[Salamander]

:D

[dangus]

Yes... but those crosses are used throughout Eastern Churches.

[Albion Wilde]

What a very interesting post. Thanks.