Mao (F. & S. II.91)
Mao (F. & S. II.91)
Signed Print
Andy Warhol
£28,000-£40,000Value Indicator
$60,000-$80,000 Value Indicator
$50,000-$70,000 Value Indicator
¥270,000-¥380,000 Value Indicator
€30,000-€45,000 Value Indicator
$290,000-$420,000 Value Indicator
¥5,470,000-¥7,820,000 Value Indicator
$35,000-$50,000 Value Indicator
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92 x 92cm, Edition of 250, Screenprint
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Meaning & Analysis
Taken from his renowned Mao series from 1972, Mao (F. & S. II.91) is a print by Andy Warhol that features a striking portrait of the Chinese communist leader Chairman Mao Zedong. The print contrasts light blue hues in Mao’s face and yellow tunic against a baby pink background. The colours seep into his eyes and Warhol has deliberately created imperfections with the ink.
Warhol’s use of colour in Mao (F. & S. II.91) works within the aesthetic of Western kitsch and alludes to the appearance of makeup on Mao’s face. Baby pink is added to enhance the lips of the statesman and his darkly coloured mole is reminiscent of Marylin Monroe’s beauty mark. In the suggestion of makeup and use of fluorescent colours, Warhol makes a statement on the false veneer that the original propaganda image attempts to portray and at the same time revitalises Chairman Mao as an unlikely Pop icon to be distributed as an image in the mass-media.
Relying on his typical method of screen printing with the aim of mass-production, Warhol reflects the wide distribution of Mao’s image in communist China whilst also comparing this to the obsessive production of mass-media images in capitalist America. The result is a humorous social commentary on these opposing systems of power during the political tensions of the Cold War.
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.