Portraits Of The Artists (F. & S. II.17)
Portraits Of The Artists (F. & S. II.17)
Signed Print
Andy Warhol
Screenprint, 1967
Signed Print Edition of 200
H 51cm x W 51cm
Critical Review
Portraits of the Artist (F. & S. II.17) is a screen print by Andy Warhol from the Ten from Leo Castelli portfolio (1967), a set of multiples created by ten different artists that the famous gallerist Leo Castelli represented at the time. Castelli became involved in the Pop Art movement very early on and was famed for his combination of both critical and commercial success in the art world. Warhol was a key part of this elite group of artists that Castelli represented.
In this print Warhol depicts the portraits of himself alongside Robert Morris, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Larry Poons, James Rosenquist, Frank Stella, Lee Bontecou, Donald Juddand Robert Rauschenberg. In his trademark repetitive style, Warhol has multiplied the portraits of each artist by ten, showing them in a square that measures 51 x 51 cm. Each portrait is rendered in a different vivid colour, producing a kaleidoscopic all-over composition. The print was originally produced on 3-D polystyrene boxes, each measuring approximately 5 x 5 cm and when held up to the light, the colours and portraits were magnified.
Characteristic of Warhol’s repetitive printing style, this print simplifies the form of the photographic portraits, creating a flattened pictorial surface. Distinct from other works in the collaborative series, Warhol employed his renowned, cynical humour and decided to take the series title quite literally by repeating the 10 artist’s portraits in 10 different colours.
