Superman, from Myths (F. & S. II.260)

A sick boy and a comic book

At eight, Andy Warhol caught a streptococcal infection that progressed to rheumatic fever and then Sydenham's chorea, a neurological illness that left him confined to bed for long stretches. He spent the time drawing and cutting pictures out of the comic books his mother bought him. Superman, the mild-mannered reporter who was secretly the strongest man alive, became a favorite. A 2023 sale catalog said the Myths Superman took Warhol 'back to his childhood when the Superman comic books offered comfort and distraction from an immobilizing illness.'

Superman was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, two teenagers from Cleveland, and first appeared in American comic books in 1938. By 1981 he was the archetypal American hero, and Christopher Reeve had played him in the 1978 film Superman, shot back to back with its sequel. Warhol interviewed Reeve for Interview magazine.

Warhol had painted the character once before. In April 1961, before his first Pop show, his painting Superman was one of five comic and advertising canvases shown in the Fifth Avenue window of the Bonwit Teller department store as a backdrop for mannequins in spring dresses.

A pantheon of American myths

Ronald Feldman, a New York dealer who handled many of Warhol's print projects and their legal and licensing questions in the 1980s, commissioned a run of portfolios: Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century in 1980, Myths in 1981 and Endangered Species in 1983. According to one gallery account, Myths began when Warhol found a Howdy Doody doll at a rural flea market he visited with Feldman, who suggested he 'assemble a pantheon of mythological Americana.'

The ten prints are The Star (Greta Garbo), Uncle Sam, Superman, The Witch, Mammy, Howdy Doody, Dracula, Mickey Mouse, Santa Claus and The Shadow. For several of them Warhol had actors and friends dress up as the character and photographed them with a Polaroid; The Shadow is Warhol himself, half lost in darkness. Warhol said everyone has 'pieces of a fantasy America' assembled from movies, music and books, and the portfolio reads as his own.

Superman shows the hero mid-flight in red and blue against black, his fist raised, with a second, lighter outline of the same figure drawn over the first so he seems to be moving. The prints were made by Rupert Jasen Smith, the printer who also worked with Feldman on the 1985 Ads portfolio.

Diamond dust, and how to know the edition

Each Myths print is a screenprint on Lenox Museum Board, a heavy board rather than paper, finished with diamond dust: finely ground glittering particles applied to the wet ink. Warhol had begun using it in 1980; sources differ on whether the Diamond Dust Shoes or the Shadows paintings came first. One market writer notes the dust was inexpensive and mass-produced, glamour as illusion. It is also fragile, and rough handling, cleaning or glazing that touches the surface can knock particles loose.

The numbered edition is 200, signed and numbered in pencil, with the publisher's ink stamp on the reverse. There are also 30 artist's proofs, and one dealer lists 30 printer's proofs and 30 trial proofs as well. Trial proofs sell in their own market: trial proofs of Superman brought $536,400 in September 2023 and $831,500 in October 2023, and $444,500 in October 2025.

Authentication rests on the pencil signature, the publisher's stamp, the artist's copyright stamp, provenance and the catalogue raisonne by Feldman and Schellmann, where Superman is II.260. The Andy Warhol Authentication Board closed in 2012 and no longer issues opinions. The sheet is 38 by 38 inches (96.5 cm); some listings round it to 97 cm.

The hero at the top of the market

Myths prints have appeared at auction 366 times by one tracker's count, and Superman about 40 times since its first recorded sale in 1998. It is consistently the most valuable print in the portfolio; Mickey Mouse is a distant second and the other eight sell for far less.

In 2017 a Superman sold for more than $200,000, then an auction record for the print. On April 22, 2022, impression 23/200 sold at auction in New York for $277,200. In April 2023 impression 132/200 sold in New York for $241,300 against a $150,000 to $250,000 estimate. On February 14, 2025, Superman led an online single-artist sale of Myths prints with $252,000, 39 percent above its low estimate, in a sale where all ten lots sold.

On November 25, 2025, an artist's proof, numbered 3/30, sold at auction in London for £223,840, recorded by one tracker at about $290,000, to an American buyer after bidding on phones from the United States, Germany and London. The auction house said it was the first Superman artist's proof at auction in seven years. A complete Myths portfolio offered in October 2023 carried an estimate of $300,000 to $800,000.

The numbers

Medium

Screenprint in colors with diamond dust on Lenox Museum Board

Dimensions

38 x 38 in (96.5 x 96.5 cm), full sheet

Catalogue raisonne

Feldman and Schellmann II.260 (Myths, II.258 to II.267)

Edition

200 signed and numbered in pencil, plus 30 artist's proofs

Printer

Rupert Jasen Smith

Current owners

Dispersed among private collectors; no single public owner is documented in the sources

Timeline

1. Aug 6, 1928

   Andrew Warhola Jr. is born in Pittsburgh.

2. 1936

   At about eight, Warhol falls ill with Sydenham's chorea and spends long periods in bed with comic books.

3. 1938

   Superman first appears in American comic books.

4. Apr 1961

   Warhol's painting Superman appears in a Bonwit Teller window on Fifth Avenue.

5. 1978

   Christopher Reeve stars in the film Superman.

6. 1980

   Warhol begins using diamond dust in his work.

7. 1981

   The Myths portfolio, including Superman, is published in an edition of 200 plus proofs.

8. Feb 22, 1987

   Warhol dies in New York at 58.

9. 1998

   First recorded auction sale of the Myths Superman, by one tracker's count.

10. 2012

    The Andy Warhol Authentication Board closes.

11. 2017

    A Superman sells for more than $200,000, a record for the print at the time.

12. Apr 22, 2022

    Impression 23/200 sells at auction in New York for $277,200.

13. Apr 2023

    Impression 132/200 sells in New York for $241,300.

14. Oct 2023

    A Superman trial proof sells for $831,500.

15. Feb 14, 2025

    Superman tops an online single-artist Myths sale at $252,000.

16. Nov 25, 2025

    An artist's proof sells in London for £223,840 to an American buyer.

The world in 1981

• Jan 20, 1981

  Ronald Reagan is sworn in as president; minutes later Iran frees the 52 American hostages held for 444 days.

• Mar 30, 1981

  Reagan is shot outside a Washington hotel by John Hinckley Jr.

• Apr 12, 1981

  Space Shuttle Columbia launches on the STS-1 mission with John Young and Robert Crippen.

• Jun 5, 1981

  The CDC reports five cases of a rare pneumonia in Los Angeles, the first recognized cases of AIDS.

• Jul 7, 1981

  Reagan nominates Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman named to the Supreme Court.

• Aug 1, 1981

  MTV launches on cable television.

• Aug 12, 1981

  The IBM PC goes on sale at a base price of $1,565.

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, Superman, from Myths (F. & S. II.260) is number 34 of 100 in the art entries of the FLOAT 100. 88 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (34 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Warhol first painted Superman in 1961, for a department store window display behind mannequins in spring dresses.
• The Myths portfolio reportedly started with a Howdy Doody doll Warhol found at a rural flea market.
• The tenth Myths print, The Shadow, is a portrait of Warhol himself.
• Several Myths characters were posed by Warhol's friends and actors in costume and shot on Polaroid.
• The diamond dust on Myths prints was cheap and mass-produced, an illusion of luxury.
• A Superman trial proof, one of just 30, sold for $831,500 in October 2023.
• One Superman artist's proof carries an official DC Comics stamp on the reverse.