ANDY WARHOL, LEONARDO DA VINCI, THE ANNUNCIATION, 1472, DETAILS OF RENAISSANCE PAINTINGS SERIES, UNIQUE SCREEN PRINT ON ACETATE, 1984
Andy Warhol’s print Leonardo da Vinci, The Annunciation, 1472, from his Details of Renaissance Paintings series (1984) is a print based on an oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci,The Annunciation, and crops it to show only the key part of the painting, the two fingers of the Archangel Gabriel, raised in blessing towards the Virgin Mary’s hand grazing the Bible. The vista behind takes up most of Warhol’s print, showing a set of trimmed trees and a steep mountain.
Inspired by the first exhibition of the Mona Lisa in New York in 1963, and the subsequent media chaos that followed this, Warhol created his own version of the iconic portrait that same year. Warhol repeated the Mona Lisa’s face 30 times and titled it Thirty Are Better Than One. Reconsidering the concept with this print in 1984, Warhol used another iconic da Vinci painting to a similar effect, using cynical humour to play with the concept of mass produced objects that are reviled for their lack of originality.
Using his acclaimed screen print method, Warhol reduces the original da Vinci painting into a two-tone composition in dark teal and white. The stark contrasts and grainy quality are reminiscent of newspaper images and the tight crop of the image created an abstracted Pop Art version of the original masterpiece.
Find out more about Details of Renaissance Paintings by Andy Warhol.
ABOUT ANDY WARHOL
Andy Warhol (born Andrew Warhola) is a name synonymous with the celebrity culture and mass consumerism which coloured the boulevards of New York City in the Post World War II era. Born into a working class immigrant family in the urban landscape around the bustling metropolis, Warhol’s early life was characterised by a climb up the capitalist rungs of society.
The artist himself noted, “buying is more American than thinking, and I’m as American as they come”, this quote came to demarcate Warhol’s artistic practice as he embraced the commodification of the American Dream. The Pop artist’s beginnings in the business sector gave him the practical skill set to experiment with a more commercial approach to art throughout his career, particularly with regards to screen printing. Read more about Andy Warhol.
