What Is an Andy Warhol? by Richard Dorment The question Warhol asked is not "What is art?" but "What is the difference between two things, exactly alike, one of which is art and one of which is not?" This is at the heart of a lawsuit against the Andy Warh

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/23153

 http://www.myandywarhol.eu/my/my_story.asp

Anthony d'Offay, who was Warhol's dealer in London, writes in his statement about the "Bruno B Self-Portrait":

When Andy Warhol came to London for his show with us in 1986, he signed in my presence our copy of Crone's book in two places: one signature was across the dust-wrapper [cover] which reproduces our "Bruno B" Self Portrait eight times. The other was on the book's half-title.

It is important to realise that Crone and Warhol together chose the "Bruno B" Self Portrait for the cover of the book and Andy Warhol's signature across the "Bruno B" image on the dust jacket is further unequivocal evidence that Warhol not only was authenticating the work, but remained extremely proud of it.

On page 294, the catalog entry (no 169) for the "Bruno B" Self Portrait makes it clear that this is the picture that appears on the front cover of the book and was owned at the time by Bruno Bischofberger.

It is unthinkable that Warhol would have signed the book and the image if there was the smallest doubt in his mind that the work was not authentic. The combination of the dedication on the back of the painting with the choice of that image for the cover of the catalog raisonné, together with his further endorsement of the image by signing across it leave no room whatsoever for any doubt as to the authenticity of the work and the artist's intention.

This may be the first time in history that a signed, dated, and dedicated painting personally approved by an artist for the cover of his first major monograph, which included a catalogue raisonné of his works, has been removed from his oeuvre by those he did not personally appoint. Although Rainer Crone has worked closely with the artist and possesses an important archive of the work they did together, at no time was he consulted by the compilers of the 2004 catalogue raisonné. In a statement of August 14, 2009, Crone writes, "I am aware of no other instance in which a revised catalog raisonné omits a hitherto accepted work without explanation."

When challenged to explain why it continues to deny the authenticity of works in this series, the board replied in a letter of October 2004 that it

knows of no independent verifiable documentation from the period in question, 1964 through to 1965, to indicate or suggest that Warhol sanctioned or authorized anyone to make the work.

But how is it possible to say this? Quite apart from his signature and dedication, there are on record numerous statements from Warhol employees, assistants, and his manager all supporting the evidence regarding Warhol's intentions about the series.

 Innovation has to start somewhere, and it is precisely because the 1965 Red Self Portraits were made without Warhol's on-the-spot supervision that they are so critically important. They are the kind of transitional works museums and collectors particularly value because they show Warhol groping toward the working method he would adopt in the following decade, when his participation in the creation of his own paintings was often limited to choosing the image and signing the picture.

The Andy Warhol Foundation is packed with lawyers, and with hundreds of millions of dollars it has all the time in the world to fight lawsuits like Joe Simon's, drawing them out until their opponents run out of money.

So far, it has been impossible for ordinary people to challenge its decisions.

One person who will be following the case with close attention is Tate director Sir Nicholas Serota. In 2008 Anthony d'Offay sold his collection of contemporary art to the English nation (accepting £28 million for a collection then conservatively estimated to be worth £125 million), an act Prime Minister Gordon Brown called "the greatest gift this country has ever received from a private individual." Among the many works d'Offay included in the donation was the self-portrait signed by Warhol and dedicated to "Bruno B." Until its status is resolved, d'Offay has been forced to withdraw the painting.