Sunset

Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987)

Sunset

1972

Screen print

2013.50.2

In 1972, the architectural firm Johnson & Burgee commissioned Warhol to create a series of sunset prints to decorate the Hotel Marquette in Minneapolis. The resulting 632 prints, each one different and unique, exemplify Warhol’s utilization of the mechanized screen printing process, his obsessive production, and his fearless, sometimes counterintuitive, yet always dazzling color combinations. Also referred to as silkscreens or serigraphs, screen prints are created by stretching a porous material over a frame, blocking out portions using a stencil or a grease-like liquid ground, then forcing ink through the permeable spaces to create an image. The process can be repeated with multiple screens to create additional layers of ink.

Warhol’s Sunset prints were created using only three screens. One screen formed the sun, another the sinuous bands of background color, and the third a single-color overlaying dot pattern. By adjusting the color combinations of ink and the registration (the positioning of the screen in relation to already applied layers), Warhol created an astounding number of unique color patterns. This series is widely considered one of Warhol’s most expressive projects. In some Sunset prints, the sun glows red-orange, almost blinding. In others, muted purples and greens dominate the color palette. Of these prints, 472 were used to decorate the hotel, while 160 were sold in portfolios of four. This print, likely a trial proof, was in Warhol’s possession at the time of his death in 1987.

Extra, out of the edition. Designated for research and educational purposes only. The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. Photo by Bruce M. White 2018.