Queen Beatrix Of The Netherlands (F. & S. II.339)
Queen Beatrix Of The Netherlands (F. & S. II.339)
Signed Print
Andy Warhol
Screenprint, 1985
Signed Print Edition of 40
H 100cm x W 80cm
Critical Review
Andy Warhol’s large-scale signed screen print Queen Beatrix Of The Netherlands (F. & S.II.339) depicts the Dutch monarch in pale tones of pink and green. To create this 1985 image, Warhol adapted an official image of the queen adorned in her tiara and gemstone earrings. He put his signature spin on this print by dramatically reducing contrast to flatten the image and overlaying pink outlines and orange accents. The viewer’s eyes are drawn to the monarch’s lips, whose deep red provides the only significant colour saturation. Queen Beatrix 339 comes from an edition of 40. Warhol produced this image on Lennox Museum Board as a part of his larger series, Reigning Queens.
The series Reigning Queens features four queens regnant at the time of production. Queen Beatrix is accompanied by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom,Queen Ntombi Twala of Swaziland, and Queen Margrethe of Denmark This late in life-series was monumental in size and scale—its images hang in collections like the Tate Gallery and Rijksmuseum. The series falls in line with Warhol’s lifelong fascination with power and fame as exhibited by his earlier works depictingJackie Kennedy andChairman Mao.
