Vesuvius (F. & S. II.365)
Vesuvius (F. & S. II.365)
Signed Print
Andy Warhol
£35,000-£50,000Value Indicator
$70,000-$100,000 Value Indicator
$60,000-$90,000 Value Indicator
¥340,000-¥490,000 Value Indicator
€40,000-€60,000 Value Indicator
$370,000-$530,000 Value Indicator
¥6,940,000-¥9,920,000 Value Indicator
$45,000-$70,000 Value Indicator
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60 x 79cm, Edition of 250, Screenprint
Medium: Screenprint
Edition size: 250
Year: 1985
Size: H 60cm x W 79cm
Signed: Yes
Format: Signed Print
Last Auction: December 2024
Value Trend:
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Meaning & Analysis
Completed for a solo exhibition in the esteemed Museo di Capodimonte in Naples, Vesuvius (F. & S. II.365) is a print from Andy Warhol’s Vesuvius Cycle series (1985). The print features an image of the legendary Mount Vesuvius erupting to create an energetic and dynamic composition. On display in a space typically reserved for the old masters and classical landscapes, Warhol reworks the traditional, romanticised Neapolitan imagery of Vesuvius and transforms it into a Pop Art icon.
Produced towards the end of his career, Vesuvius (F. & S. II.365) is characteristic of Warhol’s later prints that extend beyond the established screen printing method and mark a return to hand painting. Warhol applies expressionist brushwork over a flat, screen printed base, using different colours for each print to unfailingly give the impression that the image has just been painted.
Using colour fields of bright red, contrasted against black and multicoloured lines to show the eruption, Warhol creates a powerful image that combines his two most renowned themes: the legacy of art history and the enduring presence of death. Reconsidering the grave display of death in his powerful images of electric chairs, car crashes, and suicides in the early 1960s, Vesuvius (F. & S. II. 365) embodies this sense of impending doom and destruction in a more vivacious and dramatic style. By using an image from the past to create a revitalised Pop Art icon of the present, this print can also be seen in the context of Warhol’s appropriations of art historical subjects like his Mona Lisa (1963) works and Details Of Renaissance Paintings series (1984).
Andy Warhol was a leading figure of the Pop Art movement and is often considered the father of Pop Art. Born in 1928, Warhol allowed cultural references of the 20th century to drive his work. From the depiction of glamorous public figures, such as Marilyn Monroe, to the everyday Campbell’s Soup Can, the artist challenged what was considered art by blurring the boundaries between high art and mass consumerism. Warhol's preferred screen printing technique further reiterated his obsession with mass culture, enabling art to be seen as somewhat of a commodity through the reproduced images in multiple colour ways.
