Jacqueline Kennedy II (Jackie II)

Part of a small group of unique works on paper that Warhol completed in 1965 and 1966, Jacqueline Kennedy II (Jackie II) is a rare chance to witness Warhol’s creative process as he created one of his most memorable series. In keeping with his working method of the period, the artist created works that utilized repetition, serial imagery and a layout that allows us to experience the emotional narrative of the events as they unfolded in the media. In Jacqueline Kennedy II (Jackie II), the closely cropped image of Jackie in mourning is enveloped in an unusual field of purple. While Warhol chose a variety of colors in which to set his images of the grieving widow of President John F. Kennedy, it is his choice of purple which is perhaps his most personal. It is rich with religious and cultural symbolism. In the West, the color purple is often associated with royalty, nobility, luxury, and power, yet in a religious sense it is also associated with piety and faith.