Wayne Gretzky #99

Medium: Screenprint on Lenox Museum Board
Year: 1984
Sheet: 40×32 inches (101.6 x 81.3 cm)
Edition: 300
Artist’s Proofs: 50 AP
Other: 6 PP (Printer’s Proofs), which are trial proof variations
Trial Proofs: 46 TP in unique color combination
(see Feldman & Schellmann IIB.306)
Printer: Rupert Jasen Smith, New-York
Publisher: Frans Wynans, Vancouver, Canada
Literature: Feldman & Schellmann II.306

Signed and numbered in pencil lower left
Some prints are also signed by Wayne Gretzky

“He’s more than a hockey player, he’s an entertainer.”

The Vancouver art dealer Frans Wynans asked Warhol to create this screenprint of Wayne Gretzky to help promote Canada’s art market abroad.

Despite Warhol not being a hockey enthusiast, he thought that Gretzky transcended the sport, saying “He’s more than a hockey player, he’s an entertainer.” Gretzky, who admired Warhol and collected his works, happily posed for the portrait.

Andy Warhol and Wayne Gretzky were introduced by Vancouver dealer Frans Wynans. Gretzky had reportedly been a fan of the artist long before their meeting. This collaboration aligned with Warhol’s interests, as he had created the portfolio Athletes in 1977, which featured ten portraits, including Muhammad Ali, O.J. Simpson, Jack Nicklaus and Pelé. The original paintings Warhol created from the sitting originally sold for $35,000, while the screenprints sold for $2,000. Gretzky kept one of the portraits for himself, choosing the one he described as featuring “the Oiler colors, if you can see the blue with the orange and white. They all look the same, but the color in that one was the one that I seemed to like the most.”

Warhol’s diary entry for Thursday, June 9, 1983—the day of their appointment—describes their meeting: “Got up early because I had a 10:00 appointment at the office that Fred had made with Wayne Gretzky of the Oilers (cab $6). When I got there they said Gretzky had just called and said he was coming right down. Meanwhile Fred who had made this early, early meeting wasn’t there yet… By 12:30 I was still the only one there, and I was mad… And finally Gretzky arrived and he was adorable, blond twenty-two and cute. He doesn’t wear shoulder pads when he plays. I told him he should go into the movies and he said that he was going to be in a Fall Guy and a Tom Selleck. He dates a Canadian singer.”

In this work, Warhol focuses on “The Great One’s” boyish blond hair and intense gaze, which he emphasized using neon colours set against a large white square that contrasts with an intense blue background. Additionally, a large neon pink square highlights Gretzky’s famous number ninety-nine, with stylistic colored outlines drawing attention to the hockey stick he holds. The last few letters of the hockey logo Titan are barely visible, a brand which Gretzky would be associated with throughout his career.

Source: Cowley Abbott

Regular Editions

Cowley Abbott: 28 November 2025
Estimated: CAD 20,000 – 30,000
CAD 18,000 (Hammer)
CAD 21,600 / USD 15,445

ANDY WARHOL
Wayne Gretzky #99 (F&S II.306), 1984
Color screenprint on Lenox Museum Board
Signed by the artist and numbered 179/300 lower left
Signed by Wayne Gretzky and inscribed “99” lower right
Titled and numbered on a gallery label on the reverse
Published by Frans Wynans, Vancouver

Showplace New-York: 23 October 2025
Estimated: USD 12,000 – 18,000
USD 30,000 (Hammer)
USD 37,500

ANDY WARHOL (American, 1928-1987)
“Wayne Gretzky #99”, 1984
Screenprint in Colors on Lenox Museum Board
Signed in pencil and numbered edition “72/300” lower left
Signed in pencil by Wayne Gretzky (Canadian, b. 1961) lower right
Published by Frans Wynans, Vancouver, Canada

Cowley Abbott: 28 May 2025
Estimated: CAD 20,000 – 30,000
CAD 33,600 / USD 24,310

ANDY WARHOL
Wayne Gretzky #99 (F&S II.306)
Color screenprint on lenox museum board
Signed and numbered 280/300 lower left
Signed by Wayne Gretzky and inscribed “99” lower right

Christie’s New-York: 16 April 2024
Estimated: USD 10,000 – 15,000
USD 30,240

ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987)
Wayne Gretzky #99, 1984
Screenprint in colors on Lenox Museum Board
Signed in pencil by the artist and by Wayne Gretzky
Numbered 109⁄300 (there were also 50 artist’s proofs)

Heffel Toronto: 27 April 2023
Estimated: CAD 12,000 – 16,000
CAD 43,250 / USD 31,730

Heffel Fine Art: 28 April 2022
Estimated: CAD 12,000 – 16,000
CAD 31,250 / USD 24,385

ANDY WARHOL (1928 – 1987) American
Wayne Gretzky #99 (F.&S.II.306)
Screenprint on Lenox Museum Board
Signed and signed by Wayne Gretzky and editioned 264/300

Bonhams New-York: 2 November 2021
Estimated: USD 13,000 – 18,000
USD 17,812

ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987)
Wayne Gretzky #99, 1984
Screenprint in colors on Lenox Museum Board
Signed in pencil by the artist and Wayne Gretzky
Numbered 109/300 (there were also 50 artist’s proofs)

Trial Proofs

Rago: 16 June 2021
Estimated: USD 20,000 – 30,000
USD 20,000