With her lurid green skin, distinctive pointed hat and blood-red mouth, Andy Warhol’s The Witch presents the archetypal villain of Americana: the Wicked Witch of the West, from the 1939 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Against a flat purple background accentuating her acid skin, the heavy delineation emphasises the witch’s contorted facial features, her eyes almost invisible and lips curled in maniacal shrieks of laughter. Warhol would have been only eleven when the original Hollywood movie was released; the witch’s portrayal making a poignant mark on the artist’s young mind and his later depiction recalling a chilling sense of childhood fear. Alongside the heroines of Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, and Jackie Kennedy, the Wicked Witch of the West is the feminine anti-hero, more powerful in her broader function as a cultural villain than her specific role in Oz.
The Witch forms part of Warhol’s Myths portfolio, which assembled a cast of fantastical characters and imaginary heroes that typify and epitomise American childhood. Finding origin in allegorical tales, traditional media-adapted creations and ancient beliefs, the images include the figures of Mickey Mouse, Santa Claus and Dracula. Each depiction presents an immediately recognisable and identifiable icon and represents a nostalgic version of the American dream. As Greg Metcalf notes, “While these mythic figures carry a range of important cultural attributes, their shared celebrity stature arises from their being heroes of commercial art. Each of these cultural icons is also a commercial icon, a “logo,” the symbol of a corporate identity. Each is also an artistic creation from which the artist has been erased.” Reflecting Warhol’s profound understanding of how identity is manufactured, the Myths series is a powerful comment on the nature of twentieth century society, in which myths emerge from popular culture and inspirational figures are epitomised by commercialised celebrity status.
