A bit of bohemia in Delhi boudoirs (Weekly Art Column, Rainbow Palette)

NEW DELHI - Andy Warhol, the American artistic icon of the 1960s, has entered the minimalist drawing rooms of the capital. He may not have come as an original - but signed prints are no less precious. It is Warhol, after all.

The Marigold Group, a well-known luxury purveyor, marketer and distributor of international brands, opened its second gallery space, Marigold Fine Art Gallery, in the capital with an exclusive collection of contemporary European art, ‘The Genius of Perverspective’, that included signed reproductions by Andy Warhol, Salvadar Dali, Jorg Doring, Patrick Hughes, Stephane Cipre, Serge Mendjisky and Pablo Picasso.

The Andy Warhol print, ‘Mao - The Announcement’, was actually an invitation card to an exhibition of the artist’s works before he became famous in the 1960s. According to Vickram Assomull, who manages the gallery along with brother Gaurav, only 50 invites, which were signed by Warhol, were printed for the exhibition; and three of them were tracked down. ‘We managed to get one of them. The exhibition was held long before he became famous. Not many people know about it,’ Assomull said.

The card on handmade paper bears the face of Mao Zedong in different colours. It was designed by the artist himself. Warhol or Andrew Warhola, born in 1928 was an American painter, filmmaker and conceptual artist. He died in 1987. The Warhol memorabilia on offer here was priced at Rs.1 million.

The exhibition also displayed limited editions reproduction of Salvadar Dali’s ‘The Surrealist Newton’, a figurative sculpture in bronze and ‘Dance of Time’, a watch shaped like a leaf.

A canvas series of a Marilyn Monroe in different moods by German pop artist Jorg Doring was effervescent. Doring is known for his portraits of American icons like Warhol, Monroe, Steve McQueen, Audrey Hepburn and Ursula Andress. He also paints comic book heroes Donald and Mickey.

Other exhibits included a series of three-dimensional relief drawings by English artist Patrick Hughes and three large format urbanscapes by Parisian Serge Mendjisky. The art works are priced between Rs.500,000 and Rs.3 million.