Warhol’s blue-blooded memoirs

Warhol first painted images of Princess Diana, Prince Charles capturing true essence of new British couple in 1981.

LONDON: Andy Warhol first painted images of Princess Diana and Prince Charles capturing the true essence of the new British power couple in 1981.

Despite the fact that the couples marriage came to a bitter end with divorce in 1996, media scrutiny has always followed blue blood. Even thirteen years after the death of the princess, a mere shadow of the royal ancestry will always have people talking and such was the case with the latest revelation of the Warhol’s paintings.

Even though Princess Diana earned much of her fame after parting ways with the royal family, she is still considered an emblem in aristocratic history; her humble nature, candid style and philanthropic efforts made her one of the world’s most known faces.  Her wedding to Prince Charles was a call for celebration with a global audience of nearly 750 million.

The two portraits of Princess Diana and Prince Charles are matching images painted by  by pop art icon Andy Warhol and have gone on display for the first time since 1982, ahead of being sold, a London gallery said.

The paintings show Charles, the heir to the British throne, in naval attire against a blue background and his first wife Diana wearing a formal dress pictured against a pink background. The portraits were made using synthetic polymer and silkscreen ink on canvas to mark the Royal couple’s wedding in 1981.

They were sold to a private collector that year and have not gone on public sale since then. The set is now on the market for two million pounds ($3.1 million), said the Opera Gallery.

Warhol, who died in 1987 due to complications following an operation, is regarded as one of the greatest artist’s of the 20th century.

Warhol was a critically acclaimed artiste and his most famous images include images of the Chinese leader Mao Zedong and Hollywood celebrity Marilyn Monroe. However, the artiste was not only for his portraits but also diversified his portfolio with the bright coloured prints of soup cans.

Jean-David Malat, of the Opera Gallery where the paintings are being shown, told AFP, “Warhol is an artist with whom you never lose money.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 16^th,  2011.