May 11, 2017 - Sale 2447

Sale 2447 - Lot 145

Price Realized: $ 6,500
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 8,000 - $ 12,000
ANDY WARHOL
Tom Royal.

Black ink blot drawing with gouache on paper, circa 1952. 557x355 mm; 21 3/4x14 inches. Signed and titled in ball-point pen and black ink, lower right recto. Ex-collection Tom Royal, California; thence by descent.

Tom (known professionally as "Victor") Royal was a yoga instructor who worked at Elizabeth Arden's "Golden Door" exercise and beauty spa in Escondido, California. Originally a model/actor, he resided in New York City in the late 1940s through the early 1950s. Royal was helping a friend with a window display at Bergdorf Goodman in 1950 when he met Andy Warhol, who at the time was working on shoe advertisements for the retail company, and they became close friends.

Another drawing of Tom Royal was offered at Sotheby's, New York, June 10, 2015, sale N09366, lot 33.