Kate Moss, White Gloves

Medium: Screenprint in colors on Arches 88 paper
Year: 2001
Sheet: 17×28 inches (43.2 x 71.1 cm)
Edition: 50
Printer’s Proofs: 5 PP
Publisher: Kawsone, New-York

Signed, numbered and dated in pencil along lower edge

Kate Moss, White Gloves features a black and white image of the English supermodel Kate Moss, with KAWS’s distinct graphic motifs superimposed over it. Her face is defaced with the artist’s signature “X”d-out eyes and a skull-and-crossbones head is suggested. The figure is also given oversized, white, Mickey Mouse-style gloves.

From an edition of 50 plus 5 printer’s proofs, Kate Moss, White Glove is a compelling example that showcases the KAWS’ unique artistic vocabulary across a variety of mediums. Executed in 2001, this work calls to mind the artist’s earlier graffiti practices in the early 1990s, created in response to a surge of advertisements taking up coveted graffiti spots in New York City. He would unlock the advertising cabinets on the sides of bus shelters and telephone booths, removing the posters and re-working them in his studio, returning them to the public space overnight with his signature crossed out eyes, alterations to the figures, and signing with his tag, KAWS. Turning to a familiar subject that is well known to many, British model Kate Moss, who was the face of the gritty ‘heroin chic’ aesthetic since the 1990s and still often a muse to photographers and artists alike around the world, KAWS boldly taps into the nostalgia of universally cherished cartoon characters and injects this icon with newfound emotional undertones with his signature ‘X’ eyes and the gloved hands of his ever-popular COMPANION character.

Kate Moss, White Gloves is part of KAWS’s “Models” collection and his broader “subvertising” practice, where he modified commercial advertisements in public spaces in the 1990s. The artwork offers a critique or parody of society’s near-religious worship of beauty and celebrity. By injecting his own pop-culture-inspired characters, KAWS blurs the lines between fine art and commercial design, challenging traditional notions of advertising and consumerism. The character, possibly the Companion, wrapping itself around the model has been interpreted as offering protection from the intense public gaze.

Kate Moss, White Gloves is a key example of KAWS’s unique artistic vocabulary and his early, influential appropriation of pop culture imagery, which laid the foundation for his later, large-scale sculptures and global brand collaborations. Its legacy is found in its successful synthesis of street art and high art, and its role in establishing KAWS as a major figure in contemporary art and design. The Companion character and “X” motif used in the print have since become iconic trademarks of the artist’s entire oeuvre.

Auction Results

KAWS (B. 1974)
Kate Moss, White Gloves, 2001
Screenprint in colors on Arches paper
Signed and dated in pencil, numbered 34/50

Phillips Hong-Kong: 28 March 2025
Estimated: HKD 120,000 – 180,000
HKD 152,400 / USD 19,590

Phillips Hong-Kong: 12 December 2024
Estimated: HKD 120,000 – 180,000
HKD 241,300 / USD 31,035

KAWS
Kate Moss, White Gloves, 2001
Screenprint in colors on Arches paper
Signed, dated and numbered 4/50 in pencil
(there were also 5 artist’s proofs)

Heritage Auctions: 29 November 2022
No Estimated Provided
USD 37,500

KAWS (b. 1974)
Kate Moss, White Gloves, 2001
Screenprint in colors on Arches 88 paper
Ed. 15/50
Signed, numbered, and dated in pencil along lower edge

SBI Art Auction: 31 October 2020
Estimated: JPY 3,500,000 – 5,500,000
JPY 6,325,000 / USD 60,435
AUCTION RECORD FOR KATE MOSS, WHITE GLOVES

KAWS
Kate Moss, White Gloves, 2001
Screenprint
Signed, dated and numbered on the lower part
From the edition of 50

Heritage Auctions: 20 October 2020
Estimated: USD 30,000 – 50,000
USD 45,000

KAWS (b. 1974)
Kate Moss, White Gloves, 2001
Screenprint in colors on Arches 88 paper
Ed. 15/50
Signed, numbered, and dated in pencil along lower edge

Phillips Hong-Kong: 9 July 2020
Estimated: HKD 300,000 – 500,000
HKD 400,000 / USD 51,610