ANDY WARHOL, JACQUELINE KENNEDY I (F. & S. II.14), JACKIE KENNEDY SERIES, SIGNED SCREEN PRINT, EDITION OF 200, 1966
Jacqueline Kennedy I (F. & S. II.14), is a screen print from Andy Warhol’s Jackie Kennedy series (1965) showing a doubled press photograph of Jacqueline Kennedy just moments before the assassination of her husband, President John F. Kennedy. Left largely untouched by the artist, the image is rendered in black and purple, maintaining a grainy quality, like that of the original newspaper image.
Warhol crops the original image so as to focus in on Kennedy’s face and produce an image that resembles his Pop Art icons of Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe. Famed for his depictions of historical events through the appropriation and enlargement of mass-media images, Warhol’s prints of Jackie Kennedy, following her husband’s assassination, are one of the earliest examples of this kind of subject in the artist’s oeuvre. By enlarging and repeatedly printing Kennedy’s image, Warhol transforms the grieving First Lady into a cultural icon of the 1960s.
Enthralled with the concept of fame and celebrity, Warhol delved into the theme of political celebrity throughout his entire career. As well as focusing on the Kennedy’s, Warhol produced prints of Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. The Jackie Kennedy portfolio is one of Warhol’s most famous explorations into the political celebrity and focuses on themes of desensitisation of celebrity and the hidden reality of the lives of those in the spotlight.
Find out more about Jackie Kennedy 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.
