Hamburger by Andy Warhol

This diptych, featuring the iconic American hamburger, is reminiscent of Warhol’s earlier screen prints of American popular culture. Yet it also resembles both a mushroom cloud (associated with nuclear explosions) and a glowing halo.

During the mid 1980s Warhol returned to the newspaper adverts that had informed his paintings of the early 1960s. They are mostly black and white and were created by tracing the original adverts by hand, which creates a looser, graphic quality. During the 1980s the U.S.A. was still in the depths of the Cold War. Within this context three themes emerge in these paintings: war, death and religion.

Created

1985

Size

12 x 10"

Medium

Synthetic polymer and silkscreen ink on canvas

Presentation

Signed, Inscribed

Genre

Pop

Signed

Yes

Description

Hamburger by Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol’s late period was characterized by a burst of artistic innovation and production. Those surrounding Andy Warhol during this time remarked on his tremendous vitality and enthusiasm as Andy Warhol re-immersed himself in painting. Andy Warhol embraced each new idea passionately, working tirelessly on his many projects.

More than twenty years after his death, Andy Warhol remains one of the most influential figures in contemporary art and culture. Warhol’s life and work inspires creative thinkers worldwide thanks to his enduring imagery, his artfully cultivated celebrity, and the ongoing research of dedicated scholars. His impact as an artist is far deeper and greater than his one prescient observation that “everyone will be world famous for fifteen minutes.” His omnivorous curiosity resulted in an enormous body of work that spanned every available medium and most importantly contributed to the collapse of boundaries between high and low culture.

A skilled (analog) social networker, Warhol parlayed his fame, one connection at a time, to the status of a globally recognized brand. Decades before widespread reliance on portable media devices, he documented his daily activities and interactions on his traveling audio tape recorder and beloved Minox 35EL camera.  Predating the hyper-personal outlets now provided online, Warhol captured life’s every minute detail in all its messy, ordinary glamour and broadcast it through his work, to a wide and receptive audience.

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