{"id":665857,"date":"2026-10-26T13:40:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T13:40:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/665857\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T13:40:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T13:40:15","slug":"one-warhol-paintings-50-year-journey-with-richard-polsky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/665857\/","title":{"rendered":"One Warhol Painting\u2019s 50-Year Journey with Richard Polsky"},"content":{"rendered":"

Published: Oct 26, 2026written by Emily Snow<\/a>, MA Art History<\/p>\n

\"Ask\"AddAdd Us<\/a><\/p>\n

In 1972, rock star Alice Cooper received an Andy Warhol painting as a birthday gift. Little Electric Chair eventually disappeared into storage before resurfacing decades later.<\/p>\n

In this episode of TheCollector, art dealer and authenticator Richard Polsky tells the extraordinary decades-long journey of one painting that inspired his new book, I Sold Alice Cooper\u2019s Andy Warhol. He also discusses what it takes to authenticate a work of art and how the market has changed over the course of his career.<\/p>\n

It was like going down a rabbit hole. I Sold Alice Cooper\u2019s Andy Warhol is about that journey to authenticate and sell the painting. But I also wanted to show how the art world has transitioned\u2014and just how off the wall it\u2019s become.<\/p>\n

Authenticating Andy Warhol\u2019s Little Electric Chair
\n\"LittleLittle Electric Chair by Andy Warhol. Source: The Guardian<\/p>\n

Andy Warhol<\/a>\u2019s Little Electric Chair belongs to his Death and Disaster series, which drew on images of accidents, violence, and death from newspapers and other mass media. Warhol began the series in the early sixties. He turned images of tragedy into some of his most recognizable Pop Art works.<\/p>\n

Peaking in the 1960s, Pop Art drew inspiration from\u00a0consumerism and mass culture. Here are 6 things to know about the movement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In 1972, Alice Cooper\u2019s girlfriend, Cindy Lang, purchased the painting for $2,500. She gave it to the rock star as a birthday present. The painting eventually ended up in storage, where it remained for decades. When it was rediscovered in a Scottsdale, Arizona, garage more than 40 years later, its history raised an important question: was it now worth millions? That question brought the painting to Richard Polsky, an art dealer and authenticator who has worked with Warhol\u2019s art for decades.<\/p>\n

I Sold Alice Cooper\u2019s Andy Warhol by Richard Polsky
\n\"\"I Sold Alice Cooper\u2019s Andy Warhol by Richard Polsky. Source: Richard Polsky<\/p>\n

In his newest book, I Sold Alice Cooper\u2019s Andy Warhol, Polsky tells the full story of Little Electric Chair, from its acquisition by Alice Cooper to its disappearance, rediscovery, and authentication more than four decades later.<\/p>\n

The book is the third in Polsky\u2019s series of memoirs about his career in the art market. I Bought Andy Warhol and I Sold Andy Warhol (Too Soon) also draw on his experience working with Warhol\u2019s art<\/a>.\u00a0 Now, I Sold Alice Cooper\u2019s Andy Warhol offers a firsthand look at the changing art market, the challenges of authentication, and Polsky\u2019s decades-long relationship with Warhol\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

Published by Other Press on November 3, 2026, I Sold Alice Cooper\u2019s Andy Warhol<\/a> is now available to purchase.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published: Oct 26, 2026written by Emily Snow, MA Art History Add Us In 1972, rock star Alice Cooper…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":665858,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[34770,18728,34765,34777,34767,34774,307,304,305,306,4723,308,93,34772,34766,34780,34779,61,60,34771,34769,34781,14363,34776,22006,34768,34775,34778,34773,34782,34783],"class_list":["post-665857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-american-history","tag-ancient-history","tag-ancient-history-blog","tag-ancient-philosophy","tag-art-blog","tag-artists-blog","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-contemporary-art","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-european-history","tag-history-blog","tag-history-of-politics","tag-history-of-religion","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-latin-and-south-american-history","tag-medieval-history","tag-military-history","tag-modern-art","tag-modern-philosophy","tag-philosophy","tag-philosophy-blog","tag-renaissance-history","tag-travel-and-culture","tag-world-history","tag-wwi","tag-wwii"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=665857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/665858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=665857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=665857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=665857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}