Andy Warhol
Saint Apollonia - Portfolio of four screen-prints
1984

About the Item

Saint Apollonia - Portfolio of four screen-prints 1984, each signed Andy Warhol Numbered 248/250. 4 colored screen-prints on Essex offset kid finish paper, 76.2 x 55.9 cm, Printed by Rupert Jasen Smith, New York. Published by Frank Braun, Düsseldorf. Provenance: Private collection, Germany Literature: Freyda Feldman, Jörg Schellmann, Claudia Defendi, Andy Warhol Prints, A Catalogue Raisonné 1962-1987, New York 2015, II. 330-333, p.141 Saint Apollonia 1984 In the early 1980s, Warhol was increasingly inspired by Renaissance artists: his Saint Apollonia series is a perfect example. It is based on a panel painting attributed to Piero della Francesca. The 15th-century panel is now in the National Gallery of Art in Washington. Saint Apollonia, depicted in the work, is considered the patron saint of dentistry and she carries a pair of pliers with a tooth, in both the panel painting and in Warhol’s version. Compared to the panel by Piero della Francesca’s workshop, there is very little cropping in Warhol’s prints, which also preserve the craquelé of the original painting. This gives them an optical texture that is true to the original. Saint Apollonia 333 by Andy Warhol is a screenprint from his 1984 Saint Apollonia portfolio. In the series, the “Prince of Pop” brings the patron saint of dentistry and toothaches into the 21st century, rejuvenating her by way of his Pop Art treatment. By recreating Saint Apollonia’s image, Warhol formally recognizes her greatness in the same way he immortalized celebrities and other famous figures in his artwork. The original portrait of Saint Apollonia is attributed to the Italian painter, Piero della Francesca, circa 1455-1460. Warhol’s Saint Apollonia 333 depicts one of the many virgin martyrs that suffered violent uprisings against Christians in Alexandria, Egypt in the middle of the 2nd century. According to the Catholic Church, Alexandrian mobs tortured Apollonia by breaking and pulling out all of her teeth. Because of the nature of her gruesome martyrdom, she has been venerated as the patron saint of dentistry and specifically, toothaches. As such, in Warhol’s Saint Apollonia, she is shown holding a tooth with a pair of pliers. A letter written by Dionysius, the Bishop of Alexandria, to Fabios, the Bishop of Antioch, details her fate: “These men seized her also and by repeated blows broke all her teeth. They then erected outside the city gates a pile of wood and threatened to burn her alive if she refused to repeat after them impious words (either a blasphemy against Christ, or an invocation of the heathen gods). Given, at her own request, a little freedom, she sprang quickly into the fire and was burned to death.” As opposed to Warhol’s other Saint Apollonias, the Saint Apollonia 333 print bears the most resemblance to the painting it took inspiration from, using similar colors to the original, while adding a vibrancy that is not apparent in Francesca’s version. Warhol attended church growing up and maintained his Catholic faith throughout his life. His devotion to Catholicism is likely what inspired works like Saint Apollonia 333. Unlike some of Warhol’s other renaissance recreations, (see Birth of Venus, St. George and the Dragon, and The Annunciation), Saint Apollonia involves very little cropping of the original painting. The print even retains the “cracks” from the original, and Warhol chose not to use vibrant, thick swathes of color that overlap like in many of his other works. Whether Warhol preferred the original cropping, or held particular admiration for Saint Apollonia and her original portrait is anyone’s best guess. But, as someone who was plagued by physical ailments, Saint Apollonia is an apt choice for Warhol, after all. The original, five-century-old Saint Apollonia painting currently hangs in the National Gallery in Washington.

Creator:
Andy Warhol (1928 - 1987, American)
Creation Year:
1984
Dimensions:
Height: 30.01 in (76.2 cm)Width: 22.01 in (55.9 cm)
Medium:
Screen
Movement & Style:
Pop Art
Period:
1980-1989
Condition:
Gallery Location:
Tallinn, EE
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU2243211410772
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Andy Warhol

The name of American artist Andy Warhol is all but synonymous with Pop art, the movement he helped shape in the 1960s. He was phenomenally prolific, and the archive of original photography, prints, drawings, paintings and other art that he left behind is beyond vast.

Andy Warhol is known for his clever appropriation of motifs and images from popular advertising and commercials, which he integrated into graphic, vibrant works that utilized mass-production technologies such as printmaking, photography and silkscreening. Later in his career, Warhol expanded his oeuvre to include other forms of media, founding Interview magazine and producing fashion shoots and films on-site at the Factory, his world-famous studio in New York.

Born and educated in in Pittsburgh, Warhol moved to New York City in 1949 and built a successful career as a commercial illustrator. Although he made whimsical drawings as a hobby during these years, his career as a fine artist began in the mid-1950s with ink-blot drawings and hand-drawn silkscreens. The 1955 lithograph You Can Lead a Shoe to Water illustrates how he incorporated in his artwork advertising styles and techniques, in this case shoe commercials.

As a child, Warhol was often sick and spent much of his time in bed, where he would make sketches and put together collections of movie-star photographs. He described this period as formative in terms of his skills and interests. Indeed, Warhol remained obsessed with celebrities throughout his career, often producing series devoted to a famous face or an object from the popular culture, such as Chairman Mao or Campbell’s tomato soup. The 1967 silkscreen Marilyn 25 embodies his love of bright color and famous subjects.

Warhol was a prominent cultural figure in New York during the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s. The Factory was a gathering place for the era’s celebrities, writers, drag queens and fellow artists, and collaboration was common. To this day, Warhol remains one of the most important artists of the 20th century and continues to exert influence on contemporary creators.

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