Screenprint, 1979
Signed Print Edition of 150
H 76cm x W 101cm
Andy Warhol’s 1979 Apples (F. & S. II. 200) depicts three red apples on a golden-beige background. The three orbs, unrecognisable from a passing glance, are spread across the canvas. Long shadows, outlined in black and collaged in aqua, extend to the bottom of the frame. The red colouring of the apples extends beyond the photographic print, abstracting the image even further. The extended diagonals in this composition give the still life, typically a static genre, energy, and the primary colours provide vibrancy.
Apples are from Warhol’s larger series Space Fruit. This image in particular has unusual lighting in contrast to the other two, as the shadows extend almost directly downward. Space Fruit departs from Warhol’s usual consumer and celebrity images to return to the traditional subject matter of still life. However, he departs from the genre of still life by using hyper stylised and abstracted forms, in effect bringing the tradition of still life into the “future.” Warhol highlights this futuristic still life with his title, Space Fruit.