Prints and Multiples

Feldman & Schellmann IIB.268

Lot Essay:

I’ve never met a person I couldn’t call a beauty.

                                                      -Andy Warhol

Fame, celebrity, politics, and repetition -- themes synonymous with the artwork of Andy Warhol.  Nowhere can this be seen more clearly than in his celebrity portraits.  The artist began painting commissioned portraits in the early 1960’s and continued throughout his career creating a steady and constant stream of income which helped fuel his varied artistic endeavors.  His portrait commissions would begin by taking polaroid photographs of the sitter which were then enlarged and silkscreened onto canvas or museum board.   

Jane Fonda’s portrait, presented here, was published to raise funds for her then husband Tom Hayden’s political campaign.  He was creating an edition of 100, so Warhol knew that he needed to create an editioned image, however before choosing what exact color combination to use in the edition, he experimented with different colors, added drawn lines, or inserted color blocks.  These unique experimental combinations he called Trial Proofs which he numbered and released in conjunction with the regular edition.  The Trial Proof is an important concept in Warhol’s output as it firmly establishes the fact that later in Warhol’s career, he did not consider print making a machine-like process of reproducing images, but rather a dynamic means to creation.  ‘Warhol was able to subvert the concept of the print as an identical unit.  He used prints as other artists might use drawing – as a way to visualize ideas – and printmaking became a mechanical extension of his hand.’ (Donna de Salvo, God is in the Details: The Prints of Andy Warhol, in Feldman & Schellmann, 2003 pg. 19)

The present lot consists of three of the 25 unique trial proofs that Warhol released for this image.  Arranged as a triptych with connecting frames, this combination embodies the spirit of the most recognizable themes of Warhol’s career: fame, celebrity, politics, and repetition.  This gridded style of portraiture is signature Warhol and imbues the sitter with his unmistakable commentary on fame itself.