Holiday snaps of artist Warhol in China to go on display

LONDON — A selection of private photographs taken by iconic US artist Andy Warhol on a holiday to China are to be displayed in Britain for the first time ever.

Warhol, best known for his striking image of actress Marilyn Monroe and his oneliner “everyone will be famous for 15 minutes”, took the blackand-white images in Hong Kong and Beijing in 1982, just five years before he died.

The set of 35 intimate photographs which have never been shown in a public art gallery before, will be exhibited until early next month as part of a forthcoming exhibition called “Trooping the Color”.

Taken on a Chinon 35mm point-and-focus compact camera and printed on silver gelatin, the collection includes shots of food, his hotel room, urban landscapes and selfies.

One image presents the iconic Jumbo Kingdom floating restaurant, while in another Warhol is seen mimicking a tai chi pose.

“The images reveal a highly personal side to the artist, and will also be familiar to today’s Instagram generation,” said a spokesperson at the gallery.

Warhol had initially been invited to Hong Kong by young businessman and entrepreneur Alfred Siu. Siu had commissioned the artist to create portraits of the heir to the British throne, Prince Charles and his then wife Princess Diana — the world’s most famous couple at the time — for his private members club, the I Club.

Virtually unknown

Siu subsequently sent Warhol on a surprise three-day trip to Beijing, where Warhol, despite being one of the most famous names in Western popular culture at the time, was virtually unknown, and was able to roam the city with freedom.

Warhol took over 200 photographs on the holiday, which also left a profound legacy on his work, according to the gallery.

The exhibition will run at the RedHouse Originals Gallery, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, until July 7.

The images reveal a highly personal side to the artist, ... will also be familiar to today’s Instagram generation.”

A spokesperson at the gallery