Andy Warhol
Skulls, 1976 (FS.II.159)
1976

About the Item

Skulls (FS.II.159) is a screenprint on paper with an image size of 30 x 40 inches, signed 'Andy Warhol' and annotated lower left. From the edition of 60, numbered 50/50 (there were also 10 APs), and framed in a custom, closed-corner, gold-leaf frame. Catalogue - Feldman Schellmann, #159 (II.159 Skulls 1976) Andy Warhol’s Skulls from 1976 are part of the transition he began initially in 1972 with the Mao series – incorporating hand-drawn lines into the image – and with Ladies and Gentlemen and Mick Jagger in 1975 where he began the print process with his own photographs rather than appropriated ones. Additionally, in the 1975 prints, he began using collaged elements – torn paper, photographic elements, etc. Donna de Salvo writes about the Skulls series, “Skulls (II.157 – 160) lies somewhere between the genres of still life and portraiture and is based on a photograph of a skull taken by Warhol’s studio assistant, Ronnie Cutrone. The theme of skulls became a major preoccupation for Warhol, and he produced numerous versions of it in paintings. In this image, Warhol combined all three pictorial forms – photography, collage, and drawing – creating a highly complex, even confusing, surface. Is this a photograph of a skull, a photograph of a drawing of a skull, or a drawing traced from a photograph of a skull? Or perhaps all three? (Frayda Feldman and Jörg Schellmann, Andy Warhol Prints: A Catalogue Raisonné 1962-1987, New York, 2003, pg. 27).

Creator:
Andy Warhol (1928 - 1987, American)
Creation Year:
1976
Dimensions:
Height: 39.25 in (99.7 cm)Width: 49 in (124.46 cm)
Medium:
Screen
Movement & Style:
Pop Art
Period:
20th Century
Condition:
generally excellent condition with scattered surface scratches, minor crease with ink loss lower right red and creased corner lower left.
Gallery Location:
Greenwich, CT
Reference Number:
Seller: 1881stDibs: LU2664213425332
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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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