''Triple Elvis'' is a 1963 painting of

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

by the American artist

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...

. The photographic image of Elvis used by Warhol as a basis for this work, taken from a publicity still from the movie ''

Flaming Star ''Flaming Star'' is a 1960 American Western film starring Elvis Presley, Barbara Eden and Steve Forrest, based on the book ''Flaming Lance'' (1958) by Clair Huffaker. Critics agreed that Presley gave one of his best acting performances as t ...

'', has become iconic and synonymous with the singer. A ''Triple Elvis was sold for $81.9m (£51.9m) at a Christie's auction in New York in November 2014. Another Triple Elvis (1964, 208.3 x 121.5 cm.), the first in the Triple Elvis series whose price became known, heralded a trio of images so close together that they appear to be one. It sold at Christie's on November 19, 1998 for US$1,872,500.

Other versions

Other paintings of the same subject by Warhol show Elvis repeated a number of times, such as in the silkscreen painting ''Double Elvis'', which reproduces the second image, almost as a shadow, owned by the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

. A further version of the painting, ''Double Elvis (Ferus type)'', was auctioned on May 17, 2018, for US$37 million. Another larger version, '' Eight Elvises'' is a 1963

silkscreen Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen to fill the open me ...

, was sold in 2008 by Annibale Berlingieri for $100 million to a private buyer. The current owner and location of the painting, which has not been seen publicly since the 1960s, are unknown.

Appropriations of Warhol's Elvis paintings

Other prominent artists have been inspired by Warhol's paintings of Elvis, such as British YBA artist,

Gavin Turk Gavin Turk (born 1967) is a British artist from Guildford in Surrey, and is considered to be one of the Young British Artists.Tate Modern. (2009)'Pop Life: Art in a Material World' Retrieved 14 August 2012. Turk's oeuvre deals with issues of aut ...

, who appropriated the image and stance of Elvis in the Warhol series to produce his own versions of the work. Examples of Turk's silkscreen works on canvas are Yellow Diamond Elvis, 2005, and Pink Diamond Elvis, 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Triple Elvis 1963 paintings Paintings by Andy Warhol Cultural depictions of Elvis Presley 20th-century portraits

Other versions

Appropriations of Warhol's Elvis paintings

See also

References