Arts & Entertainment
Alice Cooper finds forgotten multi-million dollar Andy Warhol print in storage
the rocker forgot he owned the classic art piece
40 years later, Alice Cooper’s Warhol electric chair screenprint found “rolled up in a tube”: https://t.co/5VnVVjtfwx pic.twitter.com/gz4IYFG9aO
— Walker Reader (@walkermag) July 24, 2017
Rocker Alice Cooper is the owner of a multi-million dollar Andy Warhol classic and didn’t know it.
According to The Guardian, Cooper had kept the silkscreen print for 40 years “rolled up in a tube” in a storage locker.
The print is dated to be either 1964 or 1965 and based on a 1953 press photo of Sing Sing prison’s death chamber where Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed for sharing atomic secrets with the Soviet Union. “Little Electric Chair” was part of Warhol’s Death and Disaster series.
Cooper’s longtime manager Shep Gordon says Cooper and Warhol became friends in New York City.
“It was back in ’72 and Alice had moved to New York with his girlfriend Cindy Lang,” Gordon told The Guardian. “Andy was kind of a groupie, and so was Alice. They loved famous people. So they started a relationship, and they loved to hang out.”
At the time, Cooper would fake electrocution in an electric chair during his concerts. Lang, who died in January at the age of 67, purchased the print for $2,500.
Gordon says when Lang purchased the print Cooper was busy making albums, touring and drinking heavily. Shortly after the purchase, he was admitted into an insane asylum for drinking and after his release moved to L.A.
“Alice says he remembers having a conversation with Warhol about the picture. He thinks the conversation was real, but he couldn’t put his hand on a Bible and say that it was,” Gordon says.
The print was forgotten until Gordon was reminded of the artwork while meeting with art dealer Ruth Bloom in Los Angeles four years ago. Cooper’s mother then found the print rolled up in a tube in storage.
A green version of “Little Electric Chair” sold at auction for $11.6 million. Cooper’s red version is unsigned. It cannot be authenticated by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts because the foundation stopped authenticating work in 2011 but Richard Polsky, a Warhol art expert, says the piece is legitimate.
“At the time no one thought it had any real value,” Gordon continued. “Andy Warhol was not ‘Andy Warhol’ back then. And it was all a swirl of drugs and drinking. But you should have seen Alice’s face when Richard Polsky’s estimate came in. His jaw dropped and he looked at me. ‘Are you serious? I own that.'”
The D.C. Front Runners held the 14th annual 5K Pride Run at Congressional Cemetery on Saturday, June 6.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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Books
‘Mighty Real’ explores history of LGBTQ music
From Judas Priest to Whitney, something for every taste
‘Mighty Real: A History of LGBTQ Music, 1969-2000’
By Barry Walters
c.2026, Viking
$35/496 pages
Step, step, tap, back step.
Shimmy in a circle, left hand waving over your head, shake your tail feathers, repeat to the beat. Once there was a time when you could do any dance in your sleep, but it’s been a while. So read “Mighty Real” by Barry Walters, and see if your toes don’t tap.
Fifty-seven years after Stonewall, and here we are: LGBTQ musicians still face scrutiny for their sexuality because, says Walters, music isn’t created for gay listeners. No problem: LGBTQ artists and writers have often penned lyrics carefully in order to say what can’t be said, “coding” songs for gay audiences that straight (and ignorant) listeners can dance to and enjoy with apparent obliviousness.
Walters offers “just a few” examples.
Lou Reed sang about trans people in the late ‘60s and offered a rallying song for the Gay Liberation Front in 1972, the latter of which felt like a message to a then-11-year-old Walters. Janis Joplin claimed she was straight, but she had several girlfriends. Motown singers often offered sometimes-ambiguous lyrics.
John Lennon’s hand placement on the back cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band made Walters begin to understand that he was different from other boys.
David Bowie is on his list, of course, as is Bette Midler, Elton John, Donna Summer, and Queen. You’ll find Judas Priest here, Green Day, and punk music. The Village People are included in this book, also Grace Jones, Duran Duran, and Cher, Whitney, Melissa, Latifah, and the lyrics from several blockbuster movies.
Two of Prince’s band members were lesbians, and they heavily influenced his albums. Diana Ross’s “I’m Coming Out” cemented her position in LGBTQ culture, and Michael Jackson’s inclusion here takes much careful consideration.
Read about Olivia Newton-John and the B52s. And then there’s Sylvester, for whom Walters has a soft spot in his heart. Sylvester’s death still makes Walters cry.
In his preface, author and music writer Barry Walters points out that music is what you make it and that it’s interpreted differently by each individual. To that end, this book naturally consists of preferential history and personal opinions about singers, bands, albums, and songs.
Agree or disagree. That’s where much of the appeal lies in “Mighty Real.”
Here, Walters wraps his memories around his choices, giving readers room for their own views, memories, and list making. Music-loving readers might also be surprised to note who’s not on Walters’ list – there aren’t many country performers here, for example, and the overall list focuses entirely on music from roughly 1968 to the year 2000, mostly on the kinds of songs you’ll want at the club or party. Again, discuss, and curate your own playlist.
This is a hefty book, but the chapters are browse-able and generally short enough to read in under five minutes. It’s nostalgic, yet also serious in the history it presents. This is the kind of book you want to leave near your album collection, or wherever you get your tunes. But finding “Mighty Real” is your first step.
The Blade may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via this post.
The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington performed “Soul Divas” at the Lincoln Theatre over the weekend. The show featured songs popularized by Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Gladys Knight, Whitney Houston and more.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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