Buffalo Nickel from Cowboys and Indians
Artist
Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987)
Title
Buffalo Nickel from Cowboys and Indians
Date
1986
Medium/Dimensions
Screen print
Object Number
2013.50.5
Description
The screen prints and photographs seen here illustrate the breadth of Warhol’s documentation of American culture, from a surreptitious beach shot to the glitz of the high-fashion runway to his more reflective late works that forefront romanticized prototypes of the American West.
From the original 36 trial proofs of the Cowboys and Indians portfolio, comprised of 14 images each, Warhol chose only 10 for his final portfolio. Buffalo Nickel and Sitting Bull, seen here, were two of the four images removed. Buffalo Nickel depicts the reverse of the coin designed by sculptor James Earle Fraser and struck by the US Mint from 1913-1938. The coin was also known as the Indian Head nickel because of the profile image of a Native American seen on the coin’s face.
The Latin phrase e pluribus unum (“out of many, one”), appears on the coin and in the screen print. The motto is generally understood as representing the many states that form the United States of America or, alternately, many different people united under one flag. The phrase takes on a complicated, tragic meaning when applied to a coin that commemorates Native Americans, who suffered horrific loss of life during the late nineteenth-century American westward expansion. Likewise, the buffalo that had once been ubiquitous to the North American plains had been hunted to near extinction by the time the coin was produced.
From the original 36 trial proofs of the Cowboys and Indians portfolio, comprised of 14 images each, Warhol chose only 10 for his final portfolio. Buffalo Nickel and Sitting Bull, seen here, were two of the four images removed. Buffalo Nickel depicts the reverse of the coin designed by sculptor James Earle Fraser and struck by the US Mint from 1913-1938. The coin was also known as the Indian Head nickel because of the profile image of a Native American seen on the coin’s face.
The Latin phrase e pluribus unum (“out of many, one”), appears on the coin and in the screen print. The motto is generally understood as representing the many states that form the United States of America or, alternately, many different people united under one flag. The phrase takes on a complicated, tragic meaning when applied to a coin that commemorates Native Americans, who suffered horrific loss of life during the late nineteenth-century American westward expansion. Likewise, the buffalo that had once been ubiquitous to the North American plains had been hunted to near extinction by the time the coin was produced.
Credit Line
Extra, out of the edition. Designated for research and educational purposes only. The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
Rights
© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. Photo by Bruce M. White, 2018.
Citation
Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987), “Buffalo Nickel from Cowboys and Indians,” Michael C. Carlos Museum Collections Online, accessed April 26, 2024, https://digitalprojects.carlos.emory.edu/items/show/9220.
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