Andy Warhols painting of Trump Tower that Donald Trump rejected in the 80s up for auction
An Andy Warhol portrait rejected by Donald Trump more than 40 years ago is up for auction — and the famed artist’s diaries reveal his first impression of the future president.When Trump met Warhol in 1981, the former was burgeoning business mogul and the latter was among the most famous American artists of the 20th century.Trump Tower on 5th Avenue was under construction at the time and The Donald was seeking out artwork to put up in the lobby — the very same one he’d descend into via golden escalator to announce his first White House bid in 2015.
Trump commissioned a series of paintings from Warhol depicting his new 58-story skyscraper, but ultimately declined to purchase the portraits, outraging the painter who later claimed he “hates the Trumps.”Fast forward more than 40 years to today, when the work of art will be sold at a Park Avenue auction house for an estimated $700,000.While the painting awaits the paddle of the highest bidder, diary entries from the prince of pop art offer unique insight into the New York high society that brought Trump to international fame — and the artist’s real-time impressions of the young real-estate titan.“Had to meet Donald Trump at the office,” Warhol scribbled in April 1981, according to Phillips auction house.
“Donald Trump is really good looking.”The unlikely pair was introduced by the then-art director at Interview magazine Marc Balet, who was working on cataloging the stores that would open in the Trump Tower atrium.It was Trump’s then-wife Ivana who suggested he meet with Warhol to discuss painting portraits of the building to hang inside, Balet told Gothamist from his home in Connecticut.“It was so strange, these people are so rich,” Warhol wrote of Trump and his wealthy pals at their first confab.
“They talked about buying a building yesterday for $500 million or something.” “They raved about the Balducci’s lunch, but they just picked at it,” he recalled of their meeting at the ...