Andy Warhol’s stunning O.J. Simpson painting expected to fetch $500,000 at auction: Report
Famed American visual artist Andy Warhol's painting of O.J. Simpson is going under the hammer and is expected to fetch nearly half a million. Art News reports that it will be part of the 20th Century and Contemporary Art Day Sale at Phlips this month and is expected to fetch between $300,000 to $500,000.
The painting, titled 'O.J. Simpson', was part of Andy Warhol's 'Athletes Series', where he covered 200 sports stars including the likes of Muhammad Ali, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Dorothy Hammill. It depicts the football player holding a football and is signed both by him and the painter.
See a reproduction of the paining below:
Andy Warhol painted this portrait of O.J. Simpson in 1977 as a part of his ‘Athletes Series’
Created nearly 20 years before the murders, Simpson was seemingly on his way to becoming one of the greatest players in history.
It’s at auction at Phillips this month with a high est.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… https://t.co/sQZWISKWdU
Andy Warhol captures O.J. Simpson when he was just a footballer
The beauty of the painting is also made more striking because this was done in 1977. This was when O.J. Simpson was at the peak of his powers as a footballer.
It is no overstatement to say that these were happier times for him. He was on route to becoming the most devastating running back of all time. He was 30 years old and was pulling up trees for the Buffalo Bills.
Just a few weeks after the shoot with Andy Warhol, tragedy would strike for the footballer on the playing field. What perhaps no one knew at that time was it would be the portal to a different direction in his life. He got injured in 1977 and the following year he was traded to the San Francisco 49ers.
He would meet Nicole Brown the same year. They were married from 1985 to 1992. In 1994, she was killed along with her friend Ron Goldman. The criminal trial acquitted O.J. Simpson of any wrongdoing but a California civil trial found him responsible.
His legal troubles did not end there as the settlement as part of the civil suit was never fully honored by him. That led to many other court battles. He faced issues with tax evasion and had run-ins with authorities for other issues.
It all came to a head in 2007, when he was part of a robbery case. He was arrested and was found guilty in 2008. He was sentenced to 33 years in prison with parole eligbility set for nine years. That allowed him to walk out after completing his dues in 2017.
For many people, that is all what they remember and know of O.J. Simspon. Andy Warhol's painting almost provides an escapism to the player he was before he became embroiled in all these troubles.