Andy Warhol Really, Really Loved Christmas

Andy Warhol’s fondness for Campbell’s Soup cans is well documented. Less well known but equally ardent was his love of the holiday season. Yes, from poinsettias to Santa hats, the enigmatic artist who promised we’d all have our 15 minutes of fame spent much of the 1950s working as a commercial illustrator specializing in blotted line drawings, creating everything from shoe advertisements to greeting cards.

This holiday season, Christie’s—that world-famous purveyor of fine art for nearly 250 years—is spreading Warhol’s Christmas spirit with two unique events, including “Warholiday,” a pop-up event at the San Francisco Mulberry Store, which ran through December 19th. The yuletide showcase featured 36 works by the late, great artist, some of them never-before-seen and all of them for sale (if you had between $2000 and $30,000 to shell out on Polaroids of Cabbage Patch Kid dolls).

“Warholiday” follows hot on the heels of “A Christmas Thing,” an online-only auction from Christie’s that just concluded and featured 100 original photos, prints, and drawings from the master of Pop Art. Proceeds from the auction benefitted The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, an organization dedicated to “the advancement of the visual arts” (as stipulated in Warhol’s will) and kind enough to share a few of Warhol’s Christmas pieces for your art-gazing pleasure.

WREATH: Andy Warhol, Wreath, ink and watercolor on paper, Drawn circa 1956 © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

SANTA CLAUS: Andy Warhol, Santa Claus, unique polaroid print, Executed in 1981 © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

CHRISTMAS TREE: Andy Warhol, Christmas Tree, ink, tempera and collage on paper, Drawn circa 1958 © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

POINSETTIAS: Poinsettias, screenprint in colors on paper, from an edition of unknown size, executed in 1983 © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT: Christmas Ornament, ink and Dr. Martin's Aniline Dye on paper, drawn circa 1957 © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

CHRISTMAS TREE 2: Christmas Tree, offset lithograph with gold leaf on folded paper, from an edition of unknown size, executed circa 1957 © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

GEE: Gee, Merrie Shoes, offset lithograph with hand-coloring, on laid paper, from an edition of unknown size, executed in 1956 © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

CHRISTMAS FAIRY: Christmas Fairy "Merry Christmas to You," ink on paper, drawn circa 1954. © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.