Bidspirit auction | Andy Warhol ”Electric Chair” Screenprint

Andy Warhol ”Electric Chair” Screenprint 1971 - Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987). Screenprint in colors titled ”Electric Chair, ” from the ”Death and Disasters” portfolio, 1971. Published by Bruno Bischofberger, Zurich. Pen signed and dated along the lower left corner of the verso; ink stamped 188/250 with copyright stamp along the lower right of the verso. Provenance: OK Harris Art Gallery, NY, 1977; Private Minnesota Collection. Reference: Feldman & Schellman II.74-83 Lot Essay: Andy Warhol, born Andrew Warhola in 1928 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, became a leading figure in the art movement known as Pop Art. As a child, Warhol was frequently kept home from school due to a chronic illness. During this time, Warhol immersed himself drawing and became captivated by the visual culture of the time, surrounded by snapshots of culture and celebrity in comic books, magazines, and commonplace items, laying the foundation for a later fascination with the intersection of artistic expression and commercial success. Warhol pursued formal art education at the Carnegie Institute of Technology and found initial success as a commercial illustrator in New York City during the 1950s. However, it was in the 1960s that Warhol catapulted to fame with the emergence of Pop Art. His Campbell's Soup Cans, Marilyn Monroe portraits, and Coca-Cola bottle paintings became iconic symbols of the movement. Warhol's unique approach drew inspiration from commercialism, mass media, and consumer culture, making him a distinctive voice in the 20th-century art scene alongside contemporaries like Roy Lichtenstein and Jasper Johns. His innovative studios, particularly ”The Factory, ” served as avant-garde hubs of creativity, attracting diverse talents. Here, Warhol embraced screen printing, a technique that allowed for mass production of art. This method became a hallmark of his work, enabling him to blur the boundaries between art and consumer culture. The series of ten Electric Chair screenprints, published in 1971 by Swiss dealer Bruno Bischofberger, is rooted in Andy Warhol’s broader ”Death and Disasters” body of work, which reflects on America’s media-fueled desensitization to violence. Using a 1953 press photograph of the execution chamber at Sing Sing, Warhol transforms this haunting symbol of state power into a repeated image that explores the intersection of mechanized death, mass media, and consumerism. Though devoid of the graphic violence present in other works in this series, the stark stillness and absence of human presence evoke a chilling silence, turning the electric chair into a disturbing yet strangely aestheticized object. In this work, Warhol heightens the emotional ambiguity through cropped compositions and vivid, varied color palettes, prompting viewers to contemplate the ethics of capital punishment and the commodification of tragedy. Height: 36 in x width: 48 in x depth: 1 1/2 in. Condition: Please email us at condition@revereauctions.com for a condition report or additional photos.