.jpg?w=1)
拍品专文
The bold and vibrantly colored portrait of Chairman Mao Zedong, the leader of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, reveals Andy Warhol's fascination with China in the 1970s as the People's Republic renewed relations with the United States. Mao, one of the most recognizable visages of his time, also fulfilled Warhol's fascination with celebrity.
In 1979, Warhol began working on his Reversal Series, in which he reversed the screen, creating an effect similar to looking at a photo negative. The Reversals were executed over a seven year period, and most of them are assigned the somewhat nebulous date of 1979-86. The present lot was signed and dated in 1979, making this one of the artist's first examples of this Reversal subject.
The Reversal process served to give the subject a ghostly quality, which in the case of Mao, gave this powerful world leader and even more daunting mien. At the same time, Warhol would realize his Reversals in bright colors -in this case, a rich turquoise- creating an effect that is equally haunting and whimsical.
Although Warhol appropriates the image of Mao from the frontispiece of the doctrine of contemporary Communism "Little Red Book," The Quotations of Chairman Mao, the composition of 15 Blue-Green Maos (Reversal Series) celebrates the American appetite for consumerism. The repeating portrait of the Communist leader alludes to Warhol's earlier silkscreen images of celebrities and mass produced goods from Marilyn Monroe to Campbell Soup Cans. To Warhol, the ubiquitous images of popular culture were a great equalizer, inviting viewers from all walks of life to experience the same phenomena. "What's great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest" (A. Warhol, quoted in K. McShine, Andy Warhol Retrospective, exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1989, p. 458).
Warhol reveled in the fact that Mao would have certainly found his irony an insult to his government, most likely landing him in prison in China. "The Maos were calculated to cause a delicious shudder among his patrons, for whom these subjects were emblematic of foreign and unwelcome ways of life. Collectors could hang such images on their walls and believe they had demonstrated bravery and wit in exorcising a troublesome and menacing nemesis of free enterprise" (D. Bourdon, Warhol, New York, 1989, p. 354).
In Warhol's eyes, fame was a great equalizer, which brought to the same level everyone from Hollywood stars, unsavory characters and heads of state. At the time of the work's creation, America was flooded with stories and images of China, while in China, the image of Mao was displayed in storefronts and street corners throughout China. Arguably, the photograph appropriated by Warhol was one of the most popular portraits of all time. Warhol commented, "I've been reading so much about China, they're so nutty. They don't believe in creativity. The only picture they ever have is of Mao Zedong. It's great. It looks like a silkscreen" (A. Warhol, quoted in Ibid, p. 317).
In 1979, Warhol began working on his Reversal Series, in which he reversed the screen, creating an effect similar to looking at a photo negative. The Reversals were executed over a seven year period, and most of them are assigned the somewhat nebulous date of 1979-86. The present lot was signed and dated in 1979, making this one of the artist's first examples of this Reversal subject.
The Reversal process served to give the subject a ghostly quality, which in the case of Mao, gave this powerful world leader and even more daunting mien. At the same time, Warhol would realize his Reversals in bright colors -in this case, a rich turquoise- creating an effect that is equally haunting and whimsical.
Although Warhol appropriates the image of Mao from the frontispiece of the doctrine of contemporary Communism "Little Red Book," The Quotations of Chairman Mao, the composition of 15 Blue-Green Maos (Reversal Series) celebrates the American appetite for consumerism. The repeating portrait of the Communist leader alludes to Warhol's earlier silkscreen images of celebrities and mass produced goods from Marilyn Monroe to Campbell Soup Cans. To Warhol, the ubiquitous images of popular culture were a great equalizer, inviting viewers from all walks of life to experience the same phenomena. "What's great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest" (A. Warhol, quoted in K. McShine, Andy Warhol Retrospective, exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1989, p. 458).
Warhol reveled in the fact that Mao would have certainly found his irony an insult to his government, most likely landing him in prison in China. "The Maos were calculated to cause a delicious shudder among his patrons, for whom these subjects were emblematic of foreign and unwelcome ways of life. Collectors could hang such images on their walls and believe they had demonstrated bravery and wit in exorcising a troublesome and menacing nemesis of free enterprise" (D. Bourdon, Warhol, New York, 1989, p. 354).
In Warhol's eyes, fame was a great equalizer, which brought to the same level everyone from Hollywood stars, unsavory characters and heads of state. At the time of the work's creation, America was flooded with stories and images of China, while in China, the image of Mao was displayed in storefronts and street corners throughout China. Arguably, the photograph appropriated by Warhol was one of the most popular portraits of all time. Warhol commented, "I've been reading so much about China, they're so nutty. They don't believe in creativity. The only picture they ever have is of Mao Zedong. It's great. It looks like a silkscreen" (A. Warhol, quoted in Ibid, p. 317).