A long-lost portrait of Blondie lead singer Debbie Harry, created by pop art icon Andy Warhol in the mid-1980s using a Commodore Amiga computer, has resurfaced in rural Delaware, US. The artwork, along with a signed disk containing 10 digital image files, has been put up for private sale by Jeff Bruette, a digital technician for Commodore who introduced Warhol to the Amiga computer. The opening asking price for the portrait and disk is reported to be $26 million (€23.6m).
The portrait was created during a promotional event at New York’s Lincoln Center, where Warhol served as a brand ambassador for Commodore. Harry, who has mentioned owning one version of the portrait, collaborated closely with Warhol during the creation of the artwork: “Andy called and asked me to model for a portrait he was going to create live, at Lincoln Center, as a promotion for the Commodore Amiga computer. It was a pretty amazing event.”
Harry first met Warhol while working as a waitress at Max’s Kansas City, a famous nightclub for artists in New York City. Their close friendship led to collaborations, including one of Warhol’s most iconic portraits of Harry featured on Blondie’s 2014 album cover. In her memoir, Harry expressed admiration for Warhol’s endless curiosity and support for new artists, noting that both she and her bandmate Chris Stein adored him. The rediscovered portrait is a significant piece of pop art history and a testament to the friendship between two cultural icons.
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