Ingrid Bergman As Herself (F. & S. II.313)

Warhol flattens the image by using dark outlines against bright highlights thus creating an eye-catching image to be reproduced by the screen print technique and widely disseminated. This idea of the proliferation of the image reflects Warhol’s ideas on the cult of mass-media and the way in which Bergman’s face was available to see everywhere in America. In his clever wording of the title As Herself, Warhol emphasises the way in which pop icons like Bergman perform a character for the mass-media machine that is not necessarily true to her authentic self. Warhol makes clear that we can never know the real Bergman.

Bergman’s elegant profile is set against a stark, black background, illuminating her face, thus accentuating the beauty that she is famed for. Warhol uses two-toned colours to create shadow, drawing attention to her high cheekbones. The highly saturated colour palette and flattening of both colour and form through dark hand-drawn lines, works to mirror the way in which her beauty is unattainable. Her look away from the viewer also makes her seem distant and removed.