Fine Art

The thing about the gorgeous and aromatic Warhol appropriation at Bellagio

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One of Warhol’s Dollar Sign works, in flowers.
Photo: Christopher DeVargas

Andy Warhol’s use of the dollar bill as an iconic symbol of American culture became more specific when he pared his focus down to just the dollar sign as the star of its own paintings, screen prints and drawings. Money and art went hand in hand for the artist, whose interest in consumerism defined so much of his work and whose businesslike attitude toward commissioned works was notable.

So seeing tourists posing with a floral rendition of his Dollar Sign, on display at the Bellagio Conservatory, somehow seems right, given that his “Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster)” diptych sold at Sotheby’s for $105.4 million this month. Even better is that the ornately framed Dollar Sign placed on a giant easel in the back corner of the conservatory is actually an advertisement (a very gorgeous, aromatic one) plugging the Warhol Out West exhibit at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art with a box of marketing leaflets nearby.

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