Screenprint printed in red on men's white cotton Jockey underwear, 1981. 405x440 mm; 16x17 1/4 inches (irregular edges). Signed and dated by Warhol and signed by William N. Copley in felt-tip marker and black ink, lower left. Ex-collection William N. Copley, Sugar Loaf Key; his widow Cynthia Gooch, Key West; Suzanne Furman Fromm, Contemporary Gallery, Palm Beach; thence by descent to the current owner.
Copley (1919-1996) was an artist and art dealer in California during the late 1940s. He spent the 1950s in Paris, seeking greater appreciation for his surrealist inspired art work. He returned to America in 1961, to find that his work had gained popularity with the Pop Art movement, then in its burgeoning years, and he made friendships with some of the Pop Art founders like Warhol. Copley and Warhol were friends from the 1960s through the 1980s. His wife, Marjorie Copley, sat for a portrait which was painted by Warhol in 1980.
