ANDY WARHOL, FLOWERS (F. & S. II.69), FLOWERS SERIES, SIGNED SCREEN PRINT IN COLOURS ON WOVE PAPER, 1970
Flowers (F. & S. II.69) is a print from Andy Warhol’s Flowers series (1970), a set of 10 screen prints showing one of his most recognisable motifs, four hibiscus flowers flattened and set against a backdrop of greenery. This print is rendered in excessively saturated hues of pink, purple and yellow, the flowers flattened into the blocked colour and the grassy undergrowth manipulated into a contrasting two-toned pattern of yellow and pink.
First appearing in his 1964 solo exhibition at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York, entitled Flower Paintings, Warhol revisited the hibiscus motif and the subject of flowers more widely throughout his entire career. In this series, Warhol appropriates a photograph from a 1964 issue of Modern Photography by Patricia Caulfield, dramatically heightening the contrast and adding vivid colour to create a more abstract image exploring pattern and form. As a ground-breaking example of appropriation art at its best, Flowers (F. & S. 69) reflects Warhol’s obsession with the commercial process of screen printing and the ‘machine-like’ aesthetic consumer culture.
Manipulating the original photograph to its extremes by turning the hibiscus flowers into splashes of unnaturalistic colour against a fluorescent pattern of undergrowth, Warhol questions traditional notions of fine art, originality and authorship. Using a synthetic colour palette of brilliant colours, Warhol reduces to subject of nature to the kitsch aesthetic of mass-produced consumer products.
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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.
