(Pittsburgh 1928-1987 New York)
Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, from Reigning Queens, 1985, signed in pencil and numbered 9/40, screenprint in colours on Lenox Museum Board with the blindstamp of the printer Rupert Jasen Smith, New York, published by George C.P. Mulder, Amsterdam, 100 x 80 cm, In plexiglass case

This is no. 9 from an edition of 40 + 10 artist’s proofs

Provenance:
Martin Lawrence Limited Editions, Inc., New York (label on the reverse)
European private collection

Literature:
F. Feldman & J. Schellmann, Andy Warhol Prints, A Catalogue Raisonné 1962-1987, II. 334-349, p. 138 with ill.

For the realisation of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, a photograph taken on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee, the 25th anniversary of her reign, was used as a reference. The sitter's pose remains unaltered, retaining the structure and grandeur that are typical of classical portraiture. Warhol adds the commercial medium, emphasising it. His are classical depictions that praise the importance and solemnity of the subject depicted.

The same image of the queen appears in each of her four prints but they vary in colour. This one in particular has a primarily red background, and features graphic shapes printed from separate screens. Warhol began working in this style in the mid-1970s, fragmenting the image with various overlayed shapes and patches of colour.

The association of commercial medium and traditional portraiture is key, allowing Warhol to create a product that would subsequently be hailed as a work of art. Seriality, consumerism, the concept of fame and social hierarchy emanate from the superimposition of colour fields that enhance the subject's femininity. The pronounced make-up and bright colours denote the Pop character of mass culture, emphasising appearance and conveying a certain frivolity - unlike traditional portraits, where character and gravitas prevailed over aesthetics. Despite beginning with an impersonal approach and a mechanical reproduction of the subject, these interventions in the image gave the work a deliberately ‘artistic’ look. In many of his female portraits, such as here, the multicoloured surfaces and suggestion of make-up enhance the glamour and femininity of the subjects. With characteristic ambivalence, Warhol explained his additions to these later prints as immaterial:

‘I really would still rather do just a silkscreen of the face without all the rest, but people expect just a little bit more. That’s why I put in all the drawing.’ (Barry Blinderman, ‘Modern Myths: An Interview with Andy Warhol’, Arts, October 1981, p.145.)

This work is published in an edition of forty with ten artist’s proofs, five printer’s proofs and three hors commerce. The work is also published as a Royal Edition with diamond dust on the drawing lines, published in an edition of thirty with five artist’s proofs, two printer’s proofs and two hors commerce.