Muhammad Ali (F. & S. II.181)
Muhammad Ali (F. & S. II.181)
Signed Print
Andy Warhol
£16,000-£24,000Value Indicator
$35,000-$50,000 Value Indicator
$30,000-$45,000 Value Indicator
¥160,000-¥230,000 Value Indicator
€19,000-€28,000 Value Indicator
$170,000-$260,000 Value Indicator
¥3,180,000-¥4,770,000 Value Indicator
$22,000-$35,000 Value Indicator
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102 x 76cm, Edition of 150, Screenprint
Medium: Screenprint
Edition size: 150
Year: 1978
Size: H 102cm x W 76cm
Signed: Yes
Format: Signed Print
Last Auction: April 2025
Value Trend:
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Meaning & Analysis
In Muhammad Ali (F. & S. II.181), Andy Warhol represents the fist and chest of the boxer, orator, and activist in screen print. The artist took polaroid photographs of Muhammad Ali in 1977. From these photographs, he created this screen print by cropping, highlighting, outlining, and adding pops of colour for emphasis.
Here, Warhol has emphasised the curled fist of the fighter by colouring it a reddish brown and outlining the thumb line with aqua. The outlines give the fist a sense of motion, as if it were poised to strike at any moment. This draws the viewer's attention to the famous hand as it curls against his muscular chest.
This particular print of Muhammed Ali comes from a larger series of images of Ali, entitled Muhammad Ali. Warhol first began to represent athletes with this series in the 1970s when Richard Weisman commissioned a sports series. The four images of Ali were accompanied by images of Pelé, Jack Nicklaus, and others. Although Warhol himself was not a sports fan, these images remain in line with his overarching obsession with celebrity and fame. This image of Ali’s fist particularly evokes this idea as it does not show the boxer's face but remains instantly recognisable as him.
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.
