Most people have a tough time telling a painting by Reubens from a Renoir, but almost everyone can spot a Warhol. The American artist and film-maker led the iconic pop art movement in the 1970s, and, if art collector and dealer Eric Smulders is right, he is back in fashion.
'If you look at the trends for 2001, you will notice that a lot of it is inspired by pop art,' says Smulders. The Pompidou Centre in Paris recently launched a pop art exhibition which will run until mid-June. 'Warhol is being talked and written about again, we are being reminded of what a tremendous influence he had.'
Andy Warhol was a rebel with a paintbrush. He sought to break down conventional views of art as something unique and sacred. 'He overturned existing values. It takes an incredible person to be able to turn a tin of soup into an object of art,' says Smulders.
Convinced that pop art is back on the agenda, Smulders will launch a Warhol exhibition, entitled simply Pop Art, on April 23. After six months of sourcing from dealers and private collectors in the US and Europe, he has managed to secure 20 original silkscreen works. Most will be instantly recognisable - such as the Campbell's soup can, Mao Zedong, Marilyn Monroe and The Moon Landing. Smulder feels it is this immediacy that makes Warhols so special.
'The value of art is not just whether you like it or not, but whether it is recognisable,' he says. Prices range from $50,000 to $250,000, with a good condition silkscreen image of the Campbell's soup tin going for $125,000 and a Mao for $200,000. Mao, like Monroe and Lenin, are the most popular because they are so easily recognised.
Smulders, who has been in Hong Kong for 23 years, sold his business interests five years ago to open Master Paintings. For the large part he has focused on the Masters, like Rembrandt and Boudin, but realised Hong Kong was ready for something different during his last exhibition, Modern Art Vs Traditional Art.
'There was a lot of interest in the modern works. The great masterpieces are being copied in Guangzhou for one-tenth of the price of the originals, so people who don't feel strongly that they should have an original are going to Guangzhou for a copy,' he says.
