(Pittsburgh 1928–1987 New York)
“25 Cats name(d) Sam and one Blue Pussy”, c.1954, the complete set of 18 hand-coloured offset lithographs, including cover, offset lithography and watercolour on paper, from the edition of 190, each 22 x 14.5 cm, printed by Seymour Berlin, each framed, (PS)

Literature:
Frayda Feldman/Jörg Schellmann, Andy Warhol Prints, A Catalogue Raisonné 1962–1987, Munich 1997, no. IV 52A-68A

“25 Cats name(d) Sam and one Blue (Pussy)” was executed in 1954 and was intended to be printed as an edition of 190 offset prints by Seymour Berlin. However, it is assumed that fewer than 150 copies were made. Charles Lisanby is named as the author and Andy Warhol’s mother worked on the project as a calligrapher. Hers was the mistake with the missing “d” in the title which Warhol didn’t have corrected, enjoying the random imperfections in his works which usually resulted from the techniques he used. The work was based on the Warhols’ own cats. Julia Warhola called all her cats Sam and only one Hester. Andy Warhol took as the model for the lithographs not his own cats, but rather photographs from the New York Public Library. He used his own blotted line technique, one he had been experimenting with in the previous semesters at the Carnegie Institute. Years later he would say, “I always wanted to find out how my sketches would look as prints”. Every single “Cats” print was coloured differently, by Warhol and his friends, and the number of coloured sheets varied from set to set. Andy Warhol gave most of the prints away, each numbered and with a personal dedication, to friends and customers. Others were commissioned by influential Americans as presents for friends.