Alice Cooper has unearned an Andy Warhol masterpiece which could be worth millions that was stored among props used for his elaborate stage sets from the 70s.
The red Little Electric Chair silkscreen is from Warhol’s Death And Disaster series and was discovered in a storage locker which also contained the electric chair used by the shock rocker during his live shows.
Cooper’s manager Shep Gordon tells The Guardian: “It was back in 72 and Alice had moved to New York with his girlfriend Cindy Lang. Andy was kind of a groupie and so was Alice. They loved famous people. So they started a relationship and they loved to hang out.
“Alice says he remembers having a conversation with Warhol about the picture. He thinks the conversation was real, but he couldn’t put his hand on a Bible and say that it was.”
The image is based on a photograph from 1953 of Sing Sing prison’s death chamber. The newspaper report that Lang had approached Warhol to purchase one of the silkscreens from 1964 for $2500.
Following a conversation with LA art dealer Ruth Bloom, Gordon was urged to find the print. He adds: “Alice’s mother remembered it going into storage, so we went and found it rolled up in a tube.”
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A green version of Little Electric Chair fetched $11.6 million in 2015, but Cooper’s version is unsigned so is unlikely to fetch the same amount at auction.
However, Warhol expert Richard Polsky tells The Guardian: “I’m 100%. It looks right, and the story just makes too much sense. It’s hard to appreciate how little Warhol’s art was worth at the time.
“Twenty-five hundred was the going rate at the time. Why would Andy give him a fake? He had plenty of electric chairs – they were not an easy sell. They weren’t decorative in the conventional sense. It’s a brutal image.”
Gordon adds: “You should have seen Alice’s face when Polsky’s estimate came in. His jaw dropped and he looked at me. ‘Are you serious? I own that!’”
See an image of Cooper’s Little Electric Chair print below.
Cooper will release his new studio album Paranormal on Friday, July 29 via earMUSIC.
The follow-up to 2011’s Welcome 2 My Nightmare was once again produced by Bob Ezrin and will come bundled with a bonus CD featuring studio recordings with original Alice Cooper band members Dennis Dunaway, drummer Neal Smith and guitarist Michael Bruce.
Alice Cooper Paranormal tracklist
- Paranormal
- Dead Flies
- Fireball
- Paranoiac Personality
- Fallen In Love
- Dynamite Road
- Private Public Breakdown
- Holy Water
- Rats
- The Sound Of A
Bonus CD
Studio recordings with the Original Alice Cooper Band
- Genuine American Girl
- You And All Of Your Friends
Live in Columbus with the current Alice Cooper band
- No More Mr. Nice Guy
- Under My Wheels
- Billion Dollar Babies
- Feed My Frankenstein
- Only Woman Bleed
- School’s Out
Alice Cooper 2017 tour dates
Jul 26: Gothenburg Liseberg, Sweden
Jul 27: Stockholm Grona Lund, Sweden
Jul 29: Onlu Qstock Festival, Finland
Jul 31: Vilnius Traku Pilis, Lithuania
Aug 02: Dresden Junge Garde, Germany
Aug 03: Szekesfehervar Fezen Fest, Hungary
Aug 06: Lokeren Lokerse Feesten, Belgium
Aug 12: Las Vegas The Chelsea At The Cosmopolitan, NV
Aug 13: Los Angeles The Greek Theatre, CA
Aug 15: Phoenix Ak-Chin Pavilion, AZ
Aug 16: Albuquerque Isleta Amphitheatre, NM
Aug 18: The Woodlands Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, TX
Aug 19: Dallas Starplex Pavilion, TX
Aug 21: Atlanta Chastain Park Amphitheatre, GA
Aug 23: Bristow Jiffy Lube Live, VA
Aug 24: Camden BB&T Pavilion, NJ
Aug 26: Wantagh Nikon At Jones Beach Theatre, NY
Aug 27: Mansfield Xfinity Center, MA
Aug 28: Holmdel PNC Bank Arts Center, NJ
Aug 30: Indianapolis Klipsch Amphitheatre, IN
Sep 01: Pittsburgh KeyBank Pavilion, PA
Sep 02: Toronto Budweiser Stage, ON
Sep 03: Clarkston DTE Energy Music Theatre, MI
Sep 06: Chicago Tinley Park, IL
Sep 08: St Louis Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, MO
Sep 09: Cuyahoga Falls Blossom Music Center, OH
Sep 10: Cincinnati Riverbend Music Center, OH
Sep 21: Rio Cidade Do Rock, Brazil
Sep 23: Curitiba Live, Brazil
Sep 26: Sao Paulo Allianz Parque, Brazil
Oct 17: Perth Arena, Australia
Oct 19: Adelaide Thebarton Theatre, Australia
Oct 20: Melbourne Margaret Court Arena, Australia
Oct 21: Moore Park Hordern Pavilion, Australia
Oct 23: Bruce AIS Arena, Australia
Oct 24: Broadmeadow Newcastle Entertainment Centre, Australia
Oct 25: Brisbane Convention And Exhibition Centre, Australia
Oct 27: Auckland The Trusts Arena, New Zealand
Oct 28: Wellington TSB Bank Arena, New Zealand
Nov 08: Dublin Olympia Theatre, Ireland
Nov 09: Dublin Olympia Theatre, Ireland
Nov 11: Leeds First Direct Arena, UK
Nov 12: Glasgow The SSE Hydro, UK
Nov 14: Birmingham Barclaycard Arena, UK
Nov 15: Manchester Arena, UK
Nov 16: London The SSE Wembley Arena, UK
Nov 18: Krefeld Konigpalast, Germany
Nov 20: Aurich Sparkassen- Arena Aurich, Germany
Nov 21: Frankfurt Jahrhunderthalle, Germany
Nov 23: Berlin Tempodrom, Germany
Nov 24: Neumarkt Grobe Jurahalle, Germany
Nov 25: Ludwigsburg MHPArena LB, Germany
Nov 27: Vienna Wiener Stadthalle, Austria
Nov 29: Zurich Samsung Hall, Switzerland
Nov 30: Milan Alcatraz, Italy
Dec 01: Lyon L’Amphithetare, France
Dec 03: Paris Salle Pleyel, France
Dec 04: Tilburg 013, Netherlands
Dec 07: Paris L’Olympia, France
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