Name: Details Of Renaissance Paintings (Sandro Botticelli, Birth Of Venus, 1482) (F. & S. II.318)
Brand: Andy Warhol
Rating: 5 (236 reviews)

Track auction value trend

The value of Andy Warhol’s Details Of Renaissance Paintings (Sandro Botticelli, Birth Of Venus, 1482) (F. & S. II.318) (signed) is estimated to be worth between £70,000 and £100,000. This screenprint, created in 1984, has shown consistent value growth since its first sale in March 2010. There have been 9 total sales at auction, and the hammer price over the past 12 months has ranged from £73,540 in June 2024 to £110,873 in March 2024. The average annual growth rate of this artwork is currently at -5% and the edition size of this piece is limited to 70.

Meaning & Analysis

Andy Warhol’s print Sandro Botticelli, Birth Of Venus, 1482) (F. & S. II.318) draws from Sandro Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus (c. 1485-1486). The original painting commissioned by Lorenzo de’ Medici, depicts the Roman goddess Venus emerging from the sea as described in her creation myth. Warhol has adopted this highly recognisable image and transferred it to the twentieth-century medium of screen printing, cropping the scene to include only the goddess of love’s head. Her darkened face and fiery yellow-orange hair stand out from the white-washed background.

read more about Renaissance Paintings

Produced in the last years of his life, Warhol’s Details of Renaissance Paintings series adapts Italian Renaissance masterpieces by the likes of Paolo Uccello, Leonardo da Vinci, and Sandro Botticeli. This particular image from Botticelli diverges most from the Quattrocento master’s palette. Warhol replaces the naturalistic peaches and blue sea with red and black skin reminiscent of a heat map. Despite cropping, overdrawing, and altering colour and tone, the image remains totally recognisable. Thus, Warhol has effectively applied his treatment of celebrity even to Roman goddesses and Renaissance masters.