In the Bottom of My Garden

Bound book with 22 pages (including two blank pages)
Medium: Offset lithograph on wove paper, 18 with extensive hand-coloring in watercolor
Year: circa 1956
Sheet: 8 1/2 x 11 inches (22.2 x 27.9 cm)
Edition: Unknown size
Literature: Feldman & Schellmann IV.86A-105A

The lettering was done by Warhol’s mother, Julia Warhola

 

Before Marilyn and Moonwalk, there was Andy the illustrator. Warhol’s career began as a commercial illustrator on New York’s Madison Avenue in 1949, during the massive post-war economic boom. His arrival additionally coincided with an extensive change in the motivations and strategies behind advertising, utilizing applied psychology to influence American consumers to purchase products. This stint as an ad man would further his Pop interest in cultural commercialization and start his artistic career; thus began the first chapter of Warhol’s oeuvre, dominated by charming and light-handed ink drawings.

As a master of line and contour, Warhol’s consistent and unique drawings and designs piqued the interest of his clients, earning him commissions and collaborations with some of the biggest brands of the day: Tiffany & Co., Columbia Records, and Vogue, to name a few. Though stylistically different from the Pop art that would rocket him to international stardom, these early drawings offer a glimpse at an artist well on his way to establishing an art movement that would change the way the world conceived of contemporary art and its connection to pop culture, morphing from his early successes in the commercial art scene.

The simple yet sophisticated line drawings contain a child-like whimsy – though that’s not to say Warhol didn’t take his work seriously. As reflected in his early drawings, he took to heart a piece of advice from one of his art teachers who told the young artist to paint for himself, not what others wanted to see. This wisdom would validate Warhol’s desire to draw his favorite things: cherubs, shoes, cats, and often young men. Across these drawings and hand-colored prints, we see Warhol as a compulsive creator, documenting life and fantasy with the stark clarity of ink on paper.

Cover

1. Page 1 (F&S II.86A)

2. Page 2 (F&S II.87A)

3. Page 3 (F&S II.88A)

4. Page 4 (F&S II.89A)

5. Page 5 (F&S II.90A)

6. Page 6 (F&S II.91A)

7. Page 7 (F&S II.92A)

8. Page 8 (F&S II.93A)

9. Page 9 (F&S II.94A)

10. Page 10 (F&S II.95A)

11. Page 11 (F&S II.96A)

12. Page 12 (F&S II.97A)

13. Page 13 (F&S II.98A)

 

Auction Results

1. Single Plates

Phillips New-York: 17 April 2024
Estimated: USD 2,000 – 4,000
USD 6,985

ANDY WARHOL
In the Bottom of My Garden: two plates (F. & S. IV.104A-105A), c. 1956
Double-sided offset lithograph with hand-coloring in watercolor, on one sheet of wove paper

 

2. Complete Books

Doyle New-York: 31 October 2024
Estimated: USD 6,000 – 8,000
USD 9,600

ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987)
IN THE BOTTOM OF MY GARDEN (FELDMAN/SCHELLMANN IV 86-105), circa 1956
Complete set of 21 offset lithographs (including the cover), three with hand-coloring on wove paper
From the edition of unknown size, the full sheets bound in paper-covered boards (as issued)

Forum Auctions: 24 October 2024
Estimated: GBP 18,000 – 22,000
Hammer: GBP 18,000
GBP 22,680 / USD 29,393

ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987)
In The Bottom of My Garden (Feldman & Schellmann IV.86A-105A), circa 1956
The book comprising twenty-one offset lithographs, eighteen of which extensively heightened with watercolor on wove paper
From the edition of unknown size
With the rubber stamps of the Estate of Andy Warhol and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
Initialed and numbered ‘PM13.0282’ in pencil on the back inside cover
Bound in cardboard-covered boards as issued

Phillips New-York: 17 October 2018
Estimated: USD 15,000 – 25,000
USD 40,000

ANDY WARHOL
In the Bottom of my Garden, 1956
The complete set of 21 offset lithographs (including the cover), 16 with hand-coloring, on wove paper
The full sheets bound in paper-covered boards (as issued)
Inscribed by another hand on the inside ‘To Joseph Christmas 1962 from Bob’ in black ink

Christie’s London: 21 September 2016
Estimated: GBP 30,000 – 50,000
GBP 37,500

ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987)
In the Bottom of my Garden, circa 1956
The complete set of twenty offset lithographs, including six with hand-colouring on thin wove paper
From the edition of unknown size
The front cover page with the Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board stamp verso, numbered A186.0610