Screenprint, 1985
Signed Print Edition of 40
H 100cm x W 80cm
Queen Ntombi Twala of Swaziland (F&S.II.347) features Queen Ntombi Twala of Swaziland, queen regent and currently co-ruler of the African nation. Andy Warhol’s 1985 depiction of the queen draws from an official portrait. Warhol has produced an image saturated with warm colours, bringing a vibrancy to the portrait.
Reigning Queens features four queens who reigned while Warhol produced the series: Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, and Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. Produced late in his life, the series was one of Warhol’s largest. Queen Ntombi Twala, the only non-European queen, ruled as regent in her home nation of Swaziland until 1986, when her son came of age and ascended to the throne. Since then, she has ruled in the position of Queen Mother.