Golda Meir by Warhol form The Jews Portfolio (233)

Golda Meir by Warhol

Andy Warhol’s Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century (1980) depict renowned luminaries of Jewish culture: Sarah Bernhardt, Louis Brandeis, Martin Buber, Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, George Gershwin, Franz Kafka, the Marx Brothers, Golda Meir, and Gertrude Stein. Warhol referred to this pantheon of great thinkers, politicians, performers, and writers as his “Jewish geniuses.”

Presentation

Edition of 200, 30 AP, 5 PP, 3 EP, 25 TP

Created

1980

Size

40×32

Signed

Yes

Genre

Pop

Medium

Screen print on Lenox Museum Board

Description

Golda Meir by Warhol form The Jews Portfolio (233)

Golda Meir was an Israeli politician who became the fourth prime minister of Israel. She was Israel’s first and the world’s third woman to hold such an office. Meir was born in present day Ukraine. Her father moved to the United States in search of a job and found one in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1906, Meir and the rest of her family joined her father in the United States. Meir became dedicated to the Labor Zionist movement, and in 1921, Meir along with her husband and her sister, made aliyah and moved to Palestine to join a kibbutz. In 1948, Meir managed to raise millions of dollars in support of the new state of Israel. Meir served as Minister Plenipotentiary to Moscow, Labor Minister, and Foreign Minister before becoming elected as Prime Minister of Israel. Following the Yom Kippur War, Golda Meir resigned from premiership.

Golda is a part of Andy Warhol’s Ten Portraits of Jews of the 20th Century. Warhol was prolific in creating portraits of celebrities and was well known for his fascination with fame. It is noted that Warhol’s portraiture tends to reveal only the surface of a subject, just their image. In this series of portraits, the type of celebrity Warhol deals with is not so glamorous or typical of his usual pick of movie or rock stars.

Warhol’s iconic portraits attest to the lasting achievements and fame of these singular figures. Originally published as a portfolio of silkscreen prints on paper, Warhol was so pleased with the commercial success of his Ten Portraits that he decided to create additional versions of the series as silkscreen paintings on canvas. The Jewish Museum initially showed three sets of paintings and an edition of prints in the fall of 1980. On view in this exhibition are one of the five complete sets of ten paintings, an edition of the final print portfolio, several sketches, a preparatory collage, and the photographs that Warhol used as source images, offering new insights into their development and historical context.

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.

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