“I want to be as famous as The Queen of England”
—Andy WarholIn 1985, the American Pop artist Andy Warhol turned his attention to royalty and embarked on his largest portfolio of screenprints, entitled the Reigning Queens series. Featuring Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and Queen Ntfombi Tfwala of Swaziland, the series paid homage to the four female monarchs who ruled at the time, having all assumed their respective thrones through birthright alone. In depicting some of the world’s most recognised female figures and appropriating their most widely-circulated images, the series encapsulates Warhol’s fascination with fame, mass-media and consumer culture.
Left: H.M. Queen Elizabeth II. Cigarette Card. New York Public Library. Image: New York Public Library
Right: George Gower, Elizabeth I (Armada Portrait), c. 1588, Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire. Image: Archivart / Alamy Stock PhotoWarhol’s portrait of Queen Elizabeth adds to an extensive lineage of royal portraiture, most often featuring monarchs bedecked with regalia. In keeping with this, Warhol used the Queen’s official Silver Jubilee portrait for his series, which was a photograph taken by Peter Grugeon at Windsor Castle in 1975 and released in 1977. Dressed in the Vladimir tiara, Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee necklace, Queen Alexandra’s wedding earrings, and King George VI’s Family Order pinned to her Garter sash, Warhol’s subject is adorned with her heritage. Grugeon’s portrait is one of the most recognisable images of Queen Elizabeth and it has been endlessly circulated on currency and postage stamps, as well as in the media and various commemorative merchandise. This widespread reproduction of the Queen’s image directly connects to Warhol’s fascination with mass replication and consumption of celebrity imagery. Warhol combines Grugeon’s traditional state portrait of Queen Elizabeth II – steeped in centuries of British history – with his iconic Pop aesthetic. Stylised with bold lines, bright colours and flat, graphic form, Warhol’s portrait is as much a portrait of the monarch as it is of late twentieth-century Pop culture.
Upon the completion of the portfolio, Sir William Heseltine, the Queen’s private secretary, wrote to George Mulder, Warhol’s European dealer, to acknowledge that Queen Elizabeth II was “most pleased and interested to see” Warhol’s portraits of her. Attesting to the importance of this modernised portrait of the Queen, The Royal Collection Trust purchased all four colourways of the series in 2012.
Provenance
Sotheby's, New York, Prints, 4 May 2002, lot 649
Acquired at the above sale by the present ownerLiterature
Frayda Feldman and Jörg Schellmann 334
Artist Biography
Andy Warhol
American • 1928 - 1987
Andy Warhol was the leading exponent of the Pop Art movement in the U.S. in the 1960s. Following an early career as a commercial illustrator, Warhol achieved fame with his revolutionary series of silkscreened prints and paintings of familiar objects, such as Campbell's soup tins, and celebrities, such as Marilyn Monroe. Obsessed with popular culture, celebrity and advertising, Warhol created his slick, seemingly mass-produced images of everyday subject matter from his famed Factory studio in New York City. His use of mechanical methods of reproduction, notably the commercial technique of silk screening, wholly revolutionized art-making.
Working as an artist, but also director and producer, Warhol produced a number of avant-garde films in addition to managing the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground and founding Interview magazine. A central figure in the New York art scene until his untimely death in 1987, Warhol was notably also a mentor to such artists as Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Property from a Private London Collection
123
Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, from Reigning Queens (F. & S. 334)
1985
Screenprint in colours, on Lenox Museum Board, the full sheet.
S. 100 x 80 cm (39 3/8 x 31 1/2 in.)
Signed and numbered 'AP 8/10' in pencil (an artist's proof, the edition was 40), with the artist's copyright inkstamp on the reverse, published by George C.P. Mulder, Amsterdam, framed.
Estimate
£120,000 - 180,000
Sold for £165,100
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Evening & Day Editions
London Auction 6 - 7 June 2024
