Executed in 1963, Double Elvis is one of several paintings that Warhol made of America's leading pop star, Elvis Presley. Warhol used a publicity still from Elvis's 1960 Western movie, Flaming Star, to produce a provocative, defiant portrait of the star as a cowboy on a silver background--a "silver screen" as big as life. The single screen was overprinted to produce a serial image reminiscent of stop-action photography.

Warhol had begun to use the silkscreen technique in 1962, and over the course of the next two years, he used the process almost exclusively to produce the paintings which "secured his position as one of the most important artists of his time" (D. Bourdon, Andy Warhol, New York 1989, p. 123). The mechanical nature of the process allowed him to concentrate on the image, and it is the images of Elvis, Marilyn, Liz, Marlon, and other Pop Icons of the 60's for which he has become best known.

Elvis was a particularly interesting subject for Warhol. His star quality and control of the Hollywood publicity machine further piqued Warhol's intense interest in him. His persona as a rebellious, alienated rock and roll star in the 50's perfectly expressed the rejection of the status quo by the youthful generation of the 60's.