Beschreibung:

Andy Warhol Mao 1972 The complete set of ten screenprints in colours, on Becket High White paper. Each: 91.4 x 91.4 cm. (36 x 36 in). Each signed in ball point pen and stamp-numbered on the reverse, from the edition of 250, the colours bright and fresh, all in very good condition, unframed.
Provenance Castelli Graphics and Multiples, Inc., New York Literature F. Feldman and J. Schellmann, eds., Andy Warhol Prints: a Ca ogue Raisonné, New York, 1985, pp. 54–55, II. 90–99 (illustrated); F. Feldman and J. Schellmann, eds., Andy Warhol Prints: a Catalogue Raisonné, New York, 2003, pp. 82–83, II. 90–99 (illustrated); S. Bluttal & D. Hickey, eds., Andy Warhol “GIANT” Size, London, 2006, p. 507 (illustrated) Catalogue Essay “Every time I go out and someone is being elected President or Mayor or something, they stick their images all over the world, and I always think I do those. I always think it’s my work. Isn’t life a series of images that change as they repeat themselves?” (The artist in Cast a Cold Eye: The Late Works of Andy Warhol exh. cat., Gagosian Gallery, New York, 25 October – 22 December 2006, p. 144) “Aside from society portraits, the portraits could often pack a political punch. Such as the case with Vote McGovern (1972), which was a contribution to the presidential campaign of George McGovern. Instead of a portrait of McGovern, Warhol silk-screened a ghastly green image of President Richard Nixon, the incumbent, with the words “Vote McGovern” scrawled below. Warhol also painted several portraits of China’s Mao Tse-tung, as well creating an edition of wallpaper featuring the communist leader’s face, on which he hung other paintings. Warhol often stated that his goal was to obtain the patronage of the dictator, who would then mandate that Warhol’s portrait be place in every governmental office , school, and so on , ensuring the artist unlimited financial opportunities.” (K. Goldsmith, ‘Polaroids and Pictures’, in Andy Warhol “Giant Size”, London, 2006, p. 450) Although the Communist leader did not conduct business with the American artist, whose interest in commercialism bordered on the obsessive, the Mao series came to be a pivotal moment in his career. This lot, comprising ten prints, is a astonishing example of Warhol’s mastery over icons and ability to turn any image into an icon of his obsession with fame. Read More Artist Bio Andy Warhol American • 1928 - 1987 A seminal figure in the Pop Art movement of the early 1960s, Andy Warhol's paintings and screenprints are iconic beyond the scope of Art History, having become universal signifiers of an age. An early career in commercial illustration led to Warhol's appropriation of imagery from American popular culture and insistent concern with the superficial wonder of permanent commodification that yielded a synthesis of word and image, of art and the everyday. Warhol's obsession with creating slick, seemingly mass-produced artworks led him towards the commercial technique of screenprinting, which allowed him to produce large editions of his painted subjects. The clean, mechanical surface and perfect registration of the screenprinting process afforded Warhol a revolutionary absence of authorship that was crucial to the Pop Art manifesto. View More Works