Mammy (F. & S. II.262)
Mammy (F. & S. II.262)
Signed Print
Andy Warhol
POA
This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
Screenprint, 1981
Signed Print Edition of 200
H 97cm x W 97cm
Critical Review
Mammy (F. & S. II.262) is a signed screen print in colours with diamond dust made by the renowned artist Andy Warhol in 1981. Coming in an edition size of 200 the print depicts a portrait of a woman rendered in Warhol’s characteristic Pop Art style. Set against a black backdrop, the artist draws the outlines of the woman with brightly coloured gestural lines. The woman’s face is delineated with turquoise and green eyes, and Warhol adds a pair of large hoop earrings rendered yellow which stand out against the dark background. Warhol gives the woman a red head band which matches her bold red lips.
The woman in Mammy (F. & S. II.262) is based on a known character, Mammy, that takes various archetypal features from women depicted in popular culture. The first appearance of Mammy was in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852). Mammy has become a largely mythologised character that plays an important role in American popular culture.
Mammy (F. & S. II.262) is part of Warhol’s Myths collection, a series of ten screen prints, all of which depict idols from the American entertainment industry. Many of the people and characters that Warhol choses as subjects for this collection are taken from 1950s television shows or old Hollywood films.
