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The detail photograph of Warhol at the right, implies that he viewed himself as a master printmaker in the tradition of Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471-1528), the printmaking great of the Northern Renaissance. Dürer’s monogram, a combination of his initials, A and D, appears at bottom right. Warhol’s unusual jacket offers a second, subtler nod to Dürer. Not only indicative of Warhol’s fashion-forward style, the jacket’s shredded sleeves and high collar also recall the traditional attire of a landsknecht, a type of sixteenth-century German mercenary frequently depicted by Dürer.]]>
The detail photograph of Warhol at the right, implies that he viewed himself as a master printmaker in the tradition of Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471-1528), the printmaking great of the Northern Renaissance. Dürer’s monogram, a combination of his initials, A and D, appears at bottom right. Warhol’s unusual jacket offers a second, subtler nod to Dürer. Not only indicative of Warhol’s fashion-forward style, the jacket’s shredded sleeves and high collar also recall the traditional attire of a landsknecht, a type of sixteenth-century German mercenary frequently depicted by Dürer.]]>
To create Cowboys and Indians, Warhol and his Factory studio assistants produced 36 trial proofs of 14 images in various colors, tonalities, and positions. From these, Warhol selected his favorite versions of the 10 images that constituted the final series and ran an edition (a series of multiple originals) of 250 prints for each image. The Annie Oakley screen print at left was included in the edition, while the print at the right is an unfinished or perhaps discarded version that remained in Warhol’s possession. The editioned print is replete with detail, from the inticate medals pinned to Oakley’s shirt to her individual strands of hair. The unfinished print displays fewer layers of ink than the finished version, most obviously lacking Warhol’s characteristic photo reproduction layer. The result is striking. Simple outlines form Oakley’s face and subtly suggest the medals on her shirt, allowing the viewer to fill in detail or simply appreciate the unrestrained, yet minimalistic, composition of color and line.]]>