143
Andy Warhol
Geronimo, from Cowboys and Indians (see F. & S. 384)
- Estimate
- $50,000 - 70,000
Further Details
“I was disappointed that nobody in Dallas wears cowboy hats anymore. The cowboy look is dead, I guess.”—Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol’s final major portfolio Cowboys and Indians is truly a tour de force. Showcasing the artist’s fascination with pop culture, his appreciation of Indigenous art, and his almost prophetic, insight into the depths of the American imaginary, Warhol’s Cowboys and Indians remains an extraordinary series in the later part of Warhol’s career. With vivid color and thought-provoking juxtaposed images of U.S. Americana and Indigenous peoples’ culture, Warhol offers a new view of the frontier—one of centering performances, public opinion, and difficult historical exchanges. Looking beyond the prints to Warhol’s source imagery reveals an immense level of depth and consideration from the artist. Upon publication of the edition in 1986, a complete set of Cowboys and Indians was donated to the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.
A.F. Randall, Portrait of Geronimo, c.1886, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Image: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540
Geronimo (Goyaałé) is an immense figure in the mythos of the American Indian Wars. He first rose to public notoriety as a leader of Apache Chihuahua raids in the southwest. Warhol’s portrait is based on a photograph taken by A.F. Randall. In the original portrait, Geronimo is pictured with a rifle, surrounded by bits of southwestern brush. Yet in truth, Randall’s photo depicts Geronimo the prisoner, soon after his 1886 surrender. In the remaining years of his life, he would remain a prisoner of war, habitually making appearances as a public attraction: the 1904 World’s Fair, Teddy Roosevelt’s 1905 inaugural parade, and in wild west shows. Warhol’s Geronimo finally grants his subject the courtesy of a neutral background free of faux set pieces—a courtesy afforded to Warhol’s Cowboy subjects John Wayne, Annie Oakley, General Custer, and Teddy Roosevelt in their respective portraits that Warhol pull from as his source imagery. There is a greater dignity afforded to Geronimo in Warhol’s print, plucking his subject from the condescending, staged setting of the original photograph as a prisoner of war.
Full-Cataloguing
Andy Warhol
American | B. 1928 D. 1987Andy Warhol was the leading exponent of the Pop Art movement in the U.S. in the 1960s. Following an early career as a commercial illustrator, Warhol achieved fame with his revolutionary series of silkscreened prints and paintings of familiar objects, such as Campbell's soup tins, and celebrities, such as Marilyn Monroe. Obsessed with popular culture, celebrity and advertising, Warhol created his slick, seemingly mass-produced images of everyday subject matter from his famed Factory studio in New York City. His use of mechanical methods of reproduction, notably the commercial technique of silk screening, wholly revolutionized art-making.
Working as an artist, but also director and producer, Warhol produced a number of avant-garde films in addition to managing the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground and founding Interview magazine. A central figure in the New York art scene until his untimely death in 1987, Warhol was notably also a mentor to such artists as Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat.