Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987)
Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century, 1980
(Feldman & Schellmann II.226–235)
The complete portfolio of ten screenprints in colors on Lenox Museum Board
Sheet size (each):
40 × 32 in. (101.6 × 81.3 cm)
Edition: From the numbered edition of 200, plus 30 artist’s proofs
Printer: Rupert Jasen Smith, New York
Publishers: Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, Inc., New York, and Jonathan A. Editions, Tel Aviv
Nine sheets bear the blindstamp of the printer, Rupert Jasen Smith, with publisher inkstamps on the versos.
Catalogue Raisonné: Feldman & Schellmann II.226–235
The complete portfolio comprises:
Albert Einstein
Sigmund Freud
Franz Kafka
George Gershwin
Golda Meir
Gertrude Stein
The Marx Brothers
Louis Brandeis
Martin Buber
Sarah Bernhardt
Conceived as a unified series, Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century is among Andy Warhol’s most ambitious and culturally significant portrait portfolios.
Rather than depicting the celebrities and entertainment figures most commonly associated with his work, Warhol turned his attention to ten individuals whose achievements profoundly influenced twentieth-century science, philosophy, literature, music, law, politics, theater and popular culture.
Working from historic photographs, Warhol transformed each sitter through his characteristic combination of photographic screenprinting, vivid color and freely drawn graphic elements. The resulting portraits are immediately recognizable as Warhol while retaining the individuality and historical importance of each subject.
The series was first exhibited in 1980 at the Jewish Museum in New York and has since become an important component of Warhol’s graphic oeuvre.
Of particular importance, the present portfolio remains a complete, matching-number set of all ten portraits, each numbered from the edition 200. Complete portfolios offer collectors the opportunity to experience the series as Warhol originally conceived it, preserving the visual and conceptual dialogue among all ten subjects.
A significant opportunity to acquire one of Warhol’s most recognizable complete graphic portfolios from the mature period of his career.
