Coca-Cola (4)

1962 painting by Andy Warhol

Coca-Cola (4), also known as Large Coca-Cola, is a pop art painting by Andy Warhol. He completed the painting in 1962 as a part of a wider collection of Coca-Cola themed paintings, including Coca-Cola (3) and Green Coca-Cola Bottles, also completed in the early to mid-1960s.

The painting is of a large black and white Coke bottle, made of acrylic, pencil and Letraset on canvas. Coca-Cola (4) is almost a foot taller than the 6-foot Coca-Cola (3).[1]

## Ownership

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Coca-Cola (4) was purchased nearly immediately after its creation by art patrons Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Hirsh of Beverly Hills. It was acquired from Irving Blum's Ferus Gallery, the site of Andy Warhol's first solo exhibition, the Campbell's Soup Can show in 1964.

It was given to Christie's in New York in 1983, and was then acquired by Sotheby's auction house.[2]

The painting sold for $35.36 million in 2010, surpassing its original estimate of $25 million.[3] Upon its purchase, Sotheby’s said Coca-Cola (4) “is a landmark in the artist’s creation of his pop art style."[4] The buyer of the painting was hedge fund manager Stephen A. Cohen.[5]

## Coca-Cola art origins

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Warhol's Coca-Cola art started in the 1950s with a drawing of a Coke bottle next to a pair of legs. His attention was turned to the pop art movement in the 60s, as well, with pop paintings based on comics and ads.[6] Warhol tore out Coca-Cola ads from magazines to use them in collages.[7] Coca-Cola (2) was pivotal in Warhol's style transition from hand-painted pieces to silkscreens, with a composition first sketched in black and gray, then hand painted, as a blend of pop abstraction.[6]

In Warhol's 1975 book, The Philosophy of Andy Warhol, he said, “You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it."[8]

Coca-Cola (4) differs from the first two in the series, Coca-Cola (1) and Coca-Cola (2) because it has less of a free-hand style, thanks to the use of Letraset letters for the patent notice located on the front of the bottle.[2]

## References

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1. ^ "Andy Warhol". Sotheby's.
2. ^ a b "Andy Warhol". Sotheby's.
3. ^ "Andy Warhol piece sells for $35m". BBC News. 2010-11-10. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
4. ^ "Andy Warhol Coke bottle sells for $35 million". LUXUO. 2010-11-12. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
5. ^ "PHOTO: Warhol Coke Bottle Sells For Over $35 Million". HuffPost UK. 2010-11-10. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
6. ^ a b "Andy Warhol". The Andy Warhol Museum. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
7. ^ Binlot, Ann. "Andy Warhol's Coca-Cola Art Highlighted In Exhibition Commemorating The Bottle's 100th Anniversary". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
8. ^ "What Andy Warhol really thought about Coca-Cola | art | Agenda | Phaidon". www.phaidon.com. Retrieved 2022-04-21.

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Andy Warhol

Artworks|

* 129 Die in Jet! (1962)
* Campbell's Soup Cans (1962)
* Coca-Cola (3) (1962)
* Coca-Cola (4) (1962)
* Marilyn Diptych (1962)
* Men in Her Life (1962)
* 3 Coke Bottles (1962)
* Gold Marilyn Monroe (1962)
* Green Coca-Cola Bottles (1962)
* Eight Elvises (1963)
* Colored Mona Lisa (1963)
* Ethel Scull 36 Times (1963)
* Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster) (1963)
* Green Car Crash (1963)
* Triple Elvis (1963)
* Suicide (Purple Jumping Man) (1963)
* Thirteen Most Wanted Men (1964)
* Shot Marilyns (1964)
* Race Riot (1964)
* Exploding Plastic Inevitable (1966)
* Cow Wallpaper (1966)
* Big Electric Chair (1967)
* Marilyn Monroe portfolio (1967)
* Campbell's Soup I (1968)
* Campbell's Soup Cans II (1969)
* Vote McGovern (1972)
* Ladies and Gentlemen (1975)
* Athletes (1977)
* Shadows (1978-79)
* Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century (1980)
* Crosses (1981)
* Jean-Michel Basquiat  (1982)
* Magazine and History (1983)
* Speed Skater (1983)
* Orange Prince (1984)
* Olympics (1984)
* Taxi, 45th/Broadway (1984-85)
* The Last Supper (1984-86)
* Zenith (1985)
* Portrait of Seymour H. Knox (1985)
* Reigning Queens (1985)
* Camouflage Self-Portrait (1986)
* Cars (1986)

Films|

* Sleep (1964)
* Kiss (1964)
* Eat (1964)
* Blow Job (1964)
* Batman Dracula (1964)
* Soap Opera (1964)
* Couch (1964)
* Taylor Mead's Ass (1964)
* Henry Geldzahler (1964)
* Harlot (1964)
* Screen Tests (1964–66)
* Empire (1965)
* Vinyl (1965)
* Horse (1965)
* Space (1965)
* Camp (1965)
* Poor Little Rich Girl (1965)
* Beauty No. 1 (1965)
* Beauty No. 2 (1965)
* More Milk, Yvette (1965)
* The Life of Juanita Castro (1965)
* My Hustler (1965)
* Kitchen (1966)
* Eating Too Fast (1966)
* The Velvet Underground and Nico: A Symphony of Sound (1966)
* Salvador Dalí (1966)
* Chelsea Girls (1966)
* Since (1966)
* The Andy Warhol Story (1966)
* I, a Man (1967)
* Bike Boy (1967)
* Four Stars**** (1967)
* Imitation of Christ (1967)
* Tub Girls (1967)
* The Nude Restaurant (1967)
* Lonesome Cowboys (1968)
* San Diego Surf (1968)
* Flesh (1968)
* Blue Movie (1969)
* Trash (1970)
* Women in Revolt (1971)
* Heat (1972)
* L'Amour (1972)
* Flesh for Frankenstein (1973)
* Blood for Dracula (1974)
* Bad (1977)

Books|

* 25 Cats Name Sam and One Blue Pussy (1954)
* a, A Novel (1968)
* Blue Movie (1970)
* The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (1975)
* Exposures (1979)
* POPism: The Warhol '60s (1980)
* The Andy Warhol Diaries (1989)

Media|

* Andy Warhol's Pork (1971)
* Interview
* You Are the One (1985)
* Andy Warhol's Fifteen Minutes (1985-87)
* "Misfit" (1986)

Museums|

* The Andy Warhol Museum (Pittsburgh)
* Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art (Medzilaborce)

Depictions|

* "Andy Warhol" (1971)
* Dos Cabezas (1982)
* Andy Mouse (1986)
* Songs for Drella (1990)
* Basquiat (1996)
* I Shot Andy Warhol (1996)
* Factory Girl (2006)
* Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film (2006)
* Warhol (2020)
* The Andy Warhol Diaries (2022)

Family|

* Julia Warhola (mother)
* John Warhola (brother)
* James Warhola (nephew)
* Jed Johnson (partner)
* Archie (pet dog)

Related|

* The Factory
* Factory Additions
* The Druds
* The Velvet Underground
* Warhol Superstars
* New Andy Warhol Garrick Theatre
* 55th Street Playhouse
* Eothen
* Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board
* The Autobiography and Sex Life of Andy Warhol (1971)
* Absolut Warhola  (2001)
* Brillo Box (3 ¢ Off) (2016)
* Andy Warhol Bridge
* "15 minutes of fame"

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