Triple Elvis is a 1963 painting by American artist Andy Warhol. The work depicts three repeated images of singer and actor Elvis Presley derived from a publicity still for the 1960 Western film Flaming Star. Created at the height of Warhol's early PopArt career, Triple Elvis is part of a broader series of Elvis Presley paintings that explore celebrity, repetition, and mechanical reproduction. In 2014, the painting sold for $81.9 million at Christie's, ranking it among the most expensive paintings ever sold.[1]
Andy Warhol produced the Elvis series in 1963, drawing on a publicity photograph of Elvis Presley dressed as a gunslinger, sourced from promotional material for Flaming Star (1960). The image was transferred to canvas using silkscreen techniques, reflecting Warhol's increasing reliance on industrial methods of image production and his move away from hand-painted imagery. In Triple Elvis, the figure appears three times in overlapping succession, a strategy that suggests motion while simultaneously flattening the image through repetition. Executed in silkscreen ink on canvas—often left partially unprimed—the work emphasizes process, surface, and mechanical reproduction.[2]
Measuring approximately 208.3 × 175.3 cm (82 × 69 in), the painting presents Presley in a frontal pose holding a revolver, with the repeated, ghosted impressions creating a cinematic effect that evokes both movement and visual erosion. Its largely monochromatic palette reinforces the mechanical quality of the image and draws attention to seriality as a defining formal device. By repeating Presley's likeness, Warhol situates him within the same framework as his contemporaneous portraits of movie stars Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor, positioning Elvis as both a cultural icon and a reproducible commodity and underscoring Warhol’s ongoing exploration of the tension between individuality and mass culture.[2]
Triple Elvis was first shown from September to October 1963 at Warhol's exhibition at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles.[10] The exhibition, which featured multiple Elvis works installed side by side, marked a pivotal moment in Warhol's career and helped establish his reputation on the West Coast. The paintings were originally sold for prices ranging from $300 to $500.[10]
In 2014, the German casino operator WestSpiel, a subsidiary of the state bank of North Rhine-Westphalia, consigned two Warhol paintings—Triple Elvis [Ferus Type] (1963) and Four Marlons (1966)—to Christie's in New York.[11] The decision prompted objections from museum directors and cultural figures, who warned that monetizing publicly owned artworks could establish a problematic precedent.[11] Despite the controversy, both works sold on November 14, 2014, with Triple Elvis leading the evening and achieving $81.9 million, contributing to a combined total of $151.5 million for the two paintings.[12][13][14] The result exceeded presale estimates and reflected sustained market demand for Warhol's pop art portraits. Although WestSpiel officials initially denied that proceeds would be used to cover losses, later financial reports indicated that the sale helped address WestSpiel's debts and fund casino renovations.[15]
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