| Presentation | Signed and numbered Edition of 250 |
|---|---|
| Created | 1986 |
| Size | 36×36 |
| Medium | Screen print on Lenox Museum Board |
| Signed | Yes |
| Genre | Pop |
Buffalo Nickel by Andy Warhol
Buffalo Nickel by Andy Warhol
In 1986 Andy Warhol created the Cowboys and Indians portfolio. In this portfolio, Andy Warhol depicts the popular version of American Western history. Strategically placing icons such as General Custer, Annie Oakley and Geronimo together in one portfolio, these ten silkscreens by Andy Warhol are intended to challenge and expose the controversies surrounding America’s perception of cowboys and indians.
Description
Buffalo Nickel by Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol’s Cowboys and Indians series is a fascinating amalgamation of imagery that Warhol felt was heavily associated with and defined the American West. The series included images of objects related to native culture, like Northwest Mask and Kachina Doll. The series also included portraits of historical notoriety, like Geronimo and Annie Oakley.
Andy Warhol’s typically witty and critically incisive screen print comes from his “Cowboys and Indians” series, completed just a year before his death. Through this series, Warhol illustrates the popular version of Western American history, a myth of sorts, depicting heroic American figures such as Geronimo, Annie Oakley, John Wayne, Teddy Roosevelt, and General Custor. This particular print is known as the Buffalo Nickel. This coin was designed by the sculptor James Earle Fraser and distributed between 1913 and 1938. If American currency crystallizes its ideologies of heroism, the Indian Head Nickel was an attempt to re-inscribe Native Americans heroes into America’s history, recognizing their political and national importance. Andy Warhol, however, approaches the Nickel as a type of media stunt, inserting the historically important and rare coin into the context of American popular culture – the series is, after all, called “Cowboys and Indians.”
Andy Warhol created the Cowboys and Indians series during the mid-1980s, arguably his most prolific period. During this time, Warhol was forming bonds with a number of younger artists in the New York art scene including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Julian Schnabel and David Salle. Warhol saw a re-emergence of critical and financial success during this period of his life.
Andy Warhol was an American artist who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. Andy Warhol’s works explore the relationship between artistic expression, celebrity culture and advertisement that flourished by the 1960s. Andy Warhol’s Marilyn and Andy Warhol’s Soup Cans are some of the most recognized and collectible of his artworks. From Andy Warhol Paintings to Andy Warhol Prints and unique pieces, the artist’s works are available for sale from Guy Hepner.
