DALLAS — Shepard Fairey’s iconic “Hope” collage realized a new artist’s auction record on May 19 at Heritage Auctions when one of the three original works made for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign sold for $735,000.
Of the innumerable iterations of Fairey’s posters made to support Obama’s first presidential run, there are but three original large-scale, mixed-media stenciled collages hand finished by the artist. One is in a private collection, and another resides in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery. The third, from a major American Art collector, now has a new home after it set an auction record in Heritage’s Modern & Contemporary Art Signature® Auction, which realized a total of $2,977,438, surpassing the sale’s estimate.
Fairey (b 1970) was a graphic-design star and revered activist long before his “Hope” spread across the country. As his Obey Giant website notes, he has been “manufacturing quality dissent since 1989,” when he created the equally iconic “Andre The Giant Has A Posse” street art while a student at the Rhode Island School of Design. The sticker and graffiti campaign, born out of the skateboarding scene, gave rise to his Obey empire.
All prices listed with buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, 214-528-3500 or www.ha.com.