A World Without Dolly Parton In It

an almost ethereal painting of dolly parton's face by andy warhol, her hair mostly white, her eyes and shadow electric blue, her lips popping red, and giant blue disc earrings, sold at christie's in 2012 by a failing atlanta real estate developer
The Estate of Andy Warhol & The Andy Warhol Visual Arts Foundation, Dolly Parton, 1984, acrylic and ink on canvas, 42 x 42 inches, sold at Christie’s in 2012 by a bankrupt Atlanta developer

It’s not clear how many people realized it in 1975 or 1984 when Andy Warhol made these portraits of her, or in 2012, when Christie’s sold them as a “prime example of American Kitsch” for failing real estate developers dodging a collateral call,

a 1975 color polaroid of dolly parton by andy warhol in which she has fluffy platinum blonde hair to her shoulders, gradient eye shadow, perfect skin, deep red lipstick, and a placid, even serious expression. she wears large pale scalloped disc earrings over bare shoulders and the ruffled edge of her yellow halter top peeks into the bottom left edge of the image, but ten years later, only her face and hair turn up in warhol's painted portraits of her. sold at christie's in 2015
Andy Warhol, Dolly Parton, 1975, Polaroid, 4 1/4 x 3 3/8 in., sold at Christie’s in 2015

or in 2015 to clear out the Warhol Foundation’s balance sheet. But the world was better because Dolly Parton was in it. Now, we’ll have to see how it does without her.

Donate to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to send free books to pre-k children [imaginationlibrary]