Andy Warhol Moonwalk Print: History, Edition Specifications, and Collector's Guide

Andy Warhol Moonwalk Print: History, Edition Specifications, and Collector's Guide

The Andy Warhol Moonwalk print occupies a position in his catalogue that no other work shares. Created in 1987 as part of a planned portfolio titled TV — intended to document defining moments from American television history — it was the only composition Warhol completed before his death on February 22, 1987. The TV portfolio never existed. What remained was a single pair of screenprints, in two colourways, depicting Buzz Aldrin's walk on the surface of the moon: the last finished work of one of the twentieth century's most productive artists.

That fact shapes everything about how this print trades. At Phillips New York in April 2024, a Moonwalk sold for $463,500 — 275% above the $120,000 low estimate, and the star lot of a sale that totalled $5.29 million across 305 works. This guide covers what the Moonwalk is, how it was made, what the editions consist of, and what collectors should understand before approaching the market.

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The Apollo 11 Moment: Why 1969 Mattered

On July 20, 1969, the Apollo 11 mission achieved the first crewed lunar landing. Buzz Aldrin descended from the lunar module and became the second human to walk on the surface of the moon. Neil Armstrong, who had landed first, photographed Aldrin during the extravehicular activity. One of those photographs — NASA designation AS11-40-5875 — shows Aldrin in full spacesuit, visor down, standing on the lunar surface with the American flag visible in the background.

The image Armstrong captured was not broadcast on live television. It was a still photograph, part of the documentation record of the mission. In the context of Warhol's TV portfolio — which was specifically concerned with American television history — this is an important distinction. Warhol chose an image that was culturally definitive but technically outside the scope of his stated subject. The moon landing was the event; the photograph was how most of the world eventually came to picture it.

Warhol combined two separate NASA photographs taken by Armstrong — one of Buzz Aldrin and one of the American flag — into a single composite composition. The resulting image is not a direct reproduction of a single frame but a constructed picture, consistent with Warhol's longstanding practice of working with found source material and reconstituting it into something new.

In 1969, the moon landing was the largest single shared television event in American history. An estimated 600 million people watched the broadcast. For an artist whose entire practice was oriented around the intersection of American mass culture, celebrity, and media spectacle, the moon landing was the obvious subject — the moment when a government programme became, through television, the most-watched performance in human history.

Warhol and the TV Series That Never Was

The TV portfolio was planned as a collection of screenprints depicting key moments in the history of American television. The proposed subjects included the first episode of I Love Lucy, Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, and the Beatles' first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964. Each was a moment when television proved it could be the primary medium through which Americans experienced shared national events.

Warhol completed only the Moonwalk before his death on February 22, 1987, following complications from gallbladder surgery. He was 58 years old. The prints were produced at the studio of Rupert Jasen Smith in New York — Warhol's longtime print collaborator — and represent the last creative work Warhol brought to a finished state.

The incompleteness of the TV portfolio is not incidental to how the Moonwalk is valued. A completed portfolio from this period would have been an important late Warhol. An unfinished portfolio with a single surviving composition, from the final weeks of his life, is something considerably rarer: a terminated series with no parallel and no sequel.

Because Warhol died before the prints were signed by hand, all editions carry a printed (stamped) signature rather than a hand-signed one. This is a known and catalogued fact about the work — not a defect — and is reflected in the Feldman & Schellmann catalogue raisonné, which is the primary reference for Warhol print authentication.

Technical Specifications: FS II.404 and FS II.405

The Moonwalk was published as a portfolio of two screenprints, each produced on Lenox Museum Board. The two prints are differentiated by colourway, and each carries its own Feldman & Schellmann catalogue designation:

FS II.404	Radiant yellows and aquamarine colourway
FS II.405	Vivid pinks and electric blues colourway
Sheet size (each)	38 × 38 inches (96.5 × 96.5 cm)
Medium	Screenprint on Lenox Museum Board
Printer	Rupert Jasen Smith, New York
Year	1987
Edition	160 prints
Artist's Proofs	31 (designated AP)
Printer's Proofs	5 (designated PP)
Exhibition Proofs	5 (designated EP)
Trial Proofs	66 individual proofs (each unique; designated IIB.404-405)
Signature	Printed (stamped) — Warhol died before hand-signing

The complete portfolio consists of both FS II.404 and FS II.405 together. They were published as a pair and are catalogued as a single portfolio, though individual prints from the edition have been separated and sold individually at auction.

The prints were exhibited by Govinda Gallery, whose owner and director Chris Murray presented Buzz Aldrin himself with a copy of the Moonwalk screenprint — one of the more straightforwardly documented instances of an artwork being presented to its subject.

The Trial Proofs: Unique Works Within the Edition

The 66 trial proofs are catalogued separately in the Feldman & Schellmann reference as IIB.404-405. Each trial proof is unique — produced during the printing process as Warhol and Rupert Jasen Smith worked through colour combinations and compositional decisions. No two trial proofs are identical. They are individual works, not variants of a standardised edition.

This uniqueness is the defining characteristic of the trial proof market. A collector acquiring a trial proof is acquiring a one-of-a-kind object: same source image, same format, but a specific colour configuration that exists in exactly one example. For collectors who want proximity to Warhol's process — the working decisions behind the final edition — trial proofs offer something the standard edition cannot.

The trade-off is liquidity. The main edition (FS II.404 / FS II.405) has a deeper auction history and a more established price range. Trial proofs trade less frequently, and their pricing is more dependent on the specific colour configuration and condition of the individual example.

The Photograph: NASA's AS11-40-5875 and the Hidden Initials

The source for the Moonwalk composition is NASA photograph AS11-40-5875, taken by Neil Armstrong during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity on July 20, 1969. Armstrong photographed Aldrin, and in doing so produced an image of himself — reflected in Aldrin's visor. Aldrin's visor acts as a mirror, and Armstrong's figure is visible in its surface.

Warhol's version of this goes one step further. In the screenprinted composition, Warhol's own initials — "AW" — are visible in the reflections on Buzz Aldrin's visor. The initials are subtle, but they are there: a deliberate act of self-insertion into the imagery of the moon landing, analogous, as has been noted, to the placement of the American flag on the surface of the moon itself.

This is consistent with Warhol's broader practice of signature as a conceptual act. His works frequently embed authorial identity in unexpected places, and the Moonwalk's visor reflection is among the most elegant examples of this — a private mark in a public image, visible only to those who look closely enough.

Warhol combined two separate Armstrong photographs — one of Aldrin and one of the American flag — into the final composition. The resulting image is a construction, not a reproduction, which places it squarely in his long tradition of working with found material to produce something that is neither documentary nor purely invented.

Auction Records

The Moonwalk has a relatively concentrated auction history given the size of the edition, which tends to concentrate price discovery in a smaller number of high-profile sales.

Sale	House / Location	Date	Result	Notes
Moonwalk (individual print)	Phillips, New York	April 16–17, 2024	$463,500	275% above $120,000 low estimate; star lot of the sale ($5.29M total, 305 works)
Complete portfolio (FS II.404 + FS II.405)	Christie's	October 2022	£388,829	Record price for complete portfolio
Moonwalk (individual print)	Clars Auction Gallery	September 17, 2021	$350,000	Pre-sale estimate $100,000–$200,000
Printer's Proof PP 3/5	Sotheby's Prints & Multiples Evening Sale, New York	April 29, 2019	Estimate: $150,000–$250,000	Printer's Proof designation
FS II.405 (individual, signed print)	Five-year range	2020–2024	£119,048 – £293,510	Low: March 2020; High: April 2024
Peak hammer price (series)	—	—	£462,832	Highest recorded hammer across all Moonwalk sales

The Phillips April 2024 result — $463,500 at 275% above estimate — reflects both the strength of the Warhol market in that period and the particular status of the Moonwalk within his late catalogue. The Clars result in September 2021 ($350,000, again substantially above estimate) confirms that the pattern of exceeding pre-sale estimates is consistent rather than anomalous.

The Christie's October 2022 result for the complete portfolio (£388,829) is significant because it represents what the two prints together achieve when sold as published — a useful reference point for collectors considering either individual prints or the complete set.

Authentication: What Collectors Need to Know

The Andy Warhol Authentication Board (AWAB) closed in 2012 and no longer operates. There is no equivalent body that currently issues authentication stamps for Warhol works.

For the Moonwalk, authentication now relies on three factors:

1. Feldman & Schellmann catalogue raisonné inclusion. The Moonwalk is catalogued as FS II.404 (yellow/aquamarine) and FS II.405 (pink/electric blue), with trial proofs referenced as IIB.404-405. Inclusion in the catalogue raisonné is the primary reference for establishing the work's legitimacy. Collectors should verify catalogue designation against the specific work offered.
2. Documented provenance. A clear, unbroken ownership record substantially reduces authentication risk. Provenance tracing back to the original Rupert Jasen Smith printing studio, Govinda Gallery, or a major auction house provides the strongest foundation.
3. Receipts and sale documentation. Original purchase receipts, auction catalogues with lot descriptions, and gallery records all contribute to the provenance chain. In the absence of a functioning authentication board, this paper trail is the primary tool available to buyers and their advisors.

Note on the printed signature: Because Warhol died on February 22, 1987, before the Moonwalk prints were hand-signed, all editions carry a stamped (printed) signature rather than an autograph. This is documented in the Feldman & Schellmann catalogue and is a known characteristic of this work — not a defect or an indication of inauthenticity. Collectors should be aware of this from the outset.