Marilyn, Jackie, Mao, and the Queen—Andy Warhol’s iconic depictions of celebrities have become part of our collective memory in bold, vibrant colors and as icons of the 20th century. Throughout his life, Warhol was not only a master of provocation but also of selection. Using his Polaroid Big Shot Camera, he became a keen observer and chronicler of his time. To this day, his ability to identify visual material with the special quality and depth to preserve a singular moment of contemporary history from the flood of images in mass media remains unrivaled. Not only Warhol, but also his art quickly became a brand name with international recognition. Vibrantly colorful, striking, and serial in nature, his epic work has earned him a permanent place in the history of international art. In his iconic portrait series “Marilyn Monroe” (1967), Warhol made serial reproduction his artistic trademark. The nonconformist Warhol dared to take the bold step of a radical artistic new beginning in New York. Merging art and commerce with confidence and courage, he left behind all traditional notions of art and the artist. Provocative and subtle, Warhol’s art plays with originality and aura—until then the central characteristics of art—which he questions and deftly puts to the test through his sequential works. It is precisely his legendary serial portraits “Marilyn,” “Mao,” and “Queen Elizabeth II” —motifs that would make Warhol’s name in art history and which are celebrated as icons of American Pop Art today —that exude—seemingly paradoxically—a very special aura.
Not least because of its unique, sparkling materiality—which distinguishes the extremely rare prints in the diamond-dust-enriched Royal Edition—this portrait of “Queen Elizabeth II” holds a prominent place within Warhol’s oeuvre. Warhol first experimented with the sparkling diamond dust in the “Shadows” silkscreen portfolio from 1979; a year later, he took it to the next level in his shimmering “Shoes” Deluxe Edition, and finally brought it to perfection in his glamorous “Queen Elizabeth II” Royal Edition from 1985. Warhol’s plan for this iconic portrait—which he created based on a widely reproduced portrait photograph taken on the occasion of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977—dates back as far as 1982, as evidenced by correspondence with the British Royal Family: “I am instructed by The Queen to acknowledge your letter […] regarding Mr. Warhol’s plans to paint portraits of Their Majesties the Queens of Great Britain, Denmark, and the Netherlands. While The Queen would never wish to place any obstacles in Mr. Warhol’s way, she would not dream of offering any comment on this idea.” Such is the regal, cautious response that Sir William Heseltine drafted on behalf of the Queen regarding this project. Warhol’s art is necessarily parasitic on the myths of his time and, by extension, on the machinery of fame and advertising. Yet, it has made transience its central artistic principle and, in doing so, seems to have overcome it. Drawing on the rapid flood of images in the print media of his time, Warhol succeeded in creating auratic Pop Art icons and, with this rare, glamorously sparkling silkscreen print, in creating a lasting monument, not only to the Queen but also to himself, two years before his unexpected death. [JS]