Classic Andy Warhol ‘Macintosh’ Painting Could Fetch $600,000 at Auction

Sotheby's will soon be auctioning a contemporary Macintosh painting by the late Andy Warhol, a successful artist known for his paintings of iconic American objects like Coca-Cola and Campbell's Soup and celebrities including Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali.

Macintosh-Ad-Warhol
The acrylic and silkscreen canvas painting is part of Warhol's "Ads" suite from 1985, one year after the original Macintosh launched. The painting, which features Apple's old rainbow logo sandwiched between the words Apple and Macintosh, is estimated to receive between $400,000 and $600,000 U.S. at auction.

"We went into Sean [John Lennon's son]'s bedroom–and there was a kid there setting up the Apple computer that Sean had gotten as a present, the Macintosh model. I said that once some man had been calling me a lot wanting to give me one, but that I'd never called him back or something, and then the kid looked up and said, 'Yeah, that was me. I'm Steve Jobs.' And he looked so young, like a college guy. And he told me that he would still send me one now. And then he gave me a lesson on drawing with it. It only comes in black and white now, but they'll make it soon in color...I felt so old and out of it with this young whiz guy right there who helped invent it." — Andy Warhol

The starting bid for the Macintosh painting will be $280,000 U.S. when the eBay auction starts on November 12 at 9:30 AM Eastern. The painting is in very good condition overall based on the Sotheby's report, with only light wear and handling along the edges, minor hairline craquelure, possible retouching and a few other blemishes.

Top Rated Comments

jdillings Avatar
110 months ago
Great story
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mrxak Avatar
110 months ago
I'm not really an Andy Warhol fan, but those criticizing him here saying they don't get art, you're right, you don't get art. More accurately, you don't get art history. It may look obvious and simplistic now, decades after the fact, but there's a reason nobody really did it before he came along. It took a certain creative genius (read: insanity) to come up with doing this sort of thing, and Andy Warhol did "it" very well. Furthermore pop art follows from a long history of artistic movements, going back through expressionism to impressionism (I'm skipping a bunch of steps, but those are the ones you've probably at least have heard of). The same sorts of criticism you're leveling at Andy Warhol was leveled at people like Vincent van Gogh or Claude Monet, and will continue to be leveled at all the greats of every new art movement.

There's a lot of people who can copy an Andy Warhol piece, I'm sure. There's also a lot of people who can copy a Vincent van Gogh piece too. Good luck selling your work for Andy Warhol or Vincent van Gogh prices.

I also find it particularly amusing that so many people on this site of all sites would be making fun of Andy Warhol for being too obvious or simplistic. In retrospect, the same can be said for everything to come out of Jony Ive's lab, yet presumably if you're here you're a fan of his work at least on some level. So I'll just ask you all, what's wrong with simplicity?

I had no idea Andy Warhol ever used Apple as a subject, but I'd certainly say they're a match made in heaven.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
captain cadet Avatar
110 months ago
Looks like something a toddler could do...
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fourthtunz Avatar
110 months ago
I'd like to know the back story of how Steve Jobs ended up bringing a Mac over to John Lennon's house :)
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kemal Avatar
110 months ago
No one will ever need to spend more than 640k on this.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Porco Avatar
110 months ago
I preferred his Amiga work.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

reset password request iphone

Warning: Apple Users Targeted in Phishing Attack Involving Rapid Password Reset Requests

Tuesday March 26, 2024 4:34 pm PDT by
Phishing attacks taking advantage of Apple's password reset feature have become increasingly common, according to a report from KrebsOnSecurity. Multiple Apple users have been targeted in an attack that bombards them with an endless stream of notifications or multi-factor authentication (MFA) messages in an attempt to cause panic so they'll respond favorably to social engineering. An...
maxresdefault

Apple to Launch New iPad Pro and iPad Air Models in May

Thursday March 28, 2024 11:07 am PDT by
Apple will introduce new iPad Pro and iPad Air models in early May, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman previously suggested the new iPads would come out in March, and then April, but the timeline has been pushed back once again. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Apple is working on updates to both the iPad Pro and iPad Air models. The iPad Pro models will...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Purple

iOS 18: What to Expect From 'Biggest' Update in iPhone's History

Wednesday March 27, 2024 11:10 am PDT by
At least some Apple software engineers continue to believe that iOS 18 will be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. "The iOS 18 update is expected to be the most ambitious overhaul of the iPhone's software in its history, according to people working on the upgrade," wrote Gurman, in a r...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces WWDC 2024 Event for June 10 to 14

Tuesday March 26, 2024 10:02 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its 35th annual Worldwide Developers Conference is set to take place from Monday, June 10 to Friday, June 14. As with WWDC events since 2020, WWDC 2024 will be an online event that is open to all developers at no cost. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. WWDC 2024 will include online sessions and labs so that developers can learn about new...
apple maps 3d feature

Apple Maps May Gain Custom Routes With iOS 18

Tuesday March 26, 2024 3:10 pm PDT by
Apple may be planning to add support for "custom routes" in Apple Maps in iOS 18, according to code reviewed by MacRumors. Apple Maps does not currently offer a way to input self-selected routes, with Maps users limited to Apple's pre-selected options, but that may change in iOS 18. Apple has pushed an iOS 18 file to its maps backend labeled "CustomRouteCreation." While not much is revealed...
General iOS 17 Feature Orange Purple

Apple Releases Revised Versions of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 With Updated Build Number

Wednesday March 27, 2024 5:59 am PDT by
Apple on late Tuesday released revised versions of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 with an updated build number of 21E237, according to MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The updates previously had a build number of 21E236. The revised updates are available for all iPhone and iPad models that are compatible with iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, but they can only be installed via the Finder app on macOS...
applephilschiller

Apple's Phil Schiller Works 80 Hours a Week Overseeing App Store

Wednesday March 27, 2024 2:03 pm PDT by
With the App Store and app ecosystem undergoing major changes in the European Union, The Wall Street Journal today shared a profile on App Store chief Phil Schiller, who is responsible for the App Store. Though Schiller transitioned from marketing chief to "Apple Fellow" in 2020 to take a step back from Apple and spend more time on personal projects and friends, he is reportedly working...