ANDY WARHOL, SARAH BERNHARDT (F. & S. II.234), TEN PORTRAITS OF JEWS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY SERIES, SCREEN PRINT ON LENOX MUSUEM BOARD, 1980
Andy Warhol’s Sarah Bernhardt (F. & S. II.234) is a print from his Ten Portraits Of Jews Of The Twentieth Century series, depicting a portrait of the eponymous French stage actress. The graphic style is both characteristic of Warhol’s later screen printing style and reminiscent of his days as an illustrator.
The portrait shows Bernhardt’s beautiful, ethereal face beneath layered, tilted squares of red and blue colour fields, as though collaged onto the print. The result is decidedly geometric and produces a jarring and electric image. Much like other prints in this series, the bright colours bring the original photograph to life, transporting it into the context of the 1980s.
The Ten Portraits Of Jews Of The Twentieth Century series focuses on deceased subjects thus characterising the prints with the inescapable theme of mortality. The posthumous depictions of these famous faces appear as if behind a veneer of modernity, their person belonging to the past whilst their image endures in the present. Using a mixture of hand drawn lines, abstracted geometric shapes, bright colours, and the original photographic image, Warhol sustains the tension between representation and reality that points to the artificial surface image of fame in the 1980s.
Discover more artwork 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.
