Andy Warhol, Flowers 73, from Flowers Portfolio, 1970

Artist: Andy Warhol (1928 - 1987)
Title:Flowers 73, from Flowers Portfolio, 1970
Reference:FS IIB.73
Series:Flowers Series, 1970
Medium:Color Screenprint on Lenox Museum Board
Image Size:36 in x 36 in (91.4 cm x 91.4 cm)
Sheet Size:36 in x 36 in (91.4 cm x 91.4 cm)
Edition:Numbered from an edition of 250 in ball-point pen on verso. There are 26 AP signed and lettered A-Z in ball-point pen on verso. Each print is unique; published by Factory Additions, New York; printed by Aetna Silkscreen Products, Inc., New York.
Signature:This work is hand signed by Andy Warhol (Pennsylvania, 1928 – New York, 1987) in ball-point pen on verso.
Condition:This work is in excellent condition.
ID #w-6876

Historical Description

Andy Warhol’s Flowers 73 (1970) is part of Andy Warhol’s Flowers portfolio. The hot pink, yellow, and periwinkle flowers have an imposing presence against verdant greenery. Each of these colors are arresting on their own, and the viewer’s eyes can’t help but move between each of these colors and thus, each of the image’s elements. This technicolor rendition of Andy Warhol’s Flowers portfolio is a recognizable and well-loved Warhol work.

Andy Warhol’s Flowers is based on a photo by Patricia Caulfield that appeared in the June 1973 issue of the magazine Popular Photography. The original image was cropped and the colors inverted before Warhol added washes of vibrant dyes to the flower petals by hand. The flowers depicted are hibiscus flowers, specifically the mandrinette. Flowers is often viewed as a departure from Warhol’s typical work, which is known for centering around celebrities and well-known brands. The original image was not particularly famous before his appropriation of it, and the floral subject matter is not particularly related to pop culture or commercialism. However, flowers are a subject that Warhol continually revisits in his ouevre. His work with advertisements are made powerful due to their contexts, but flowers are timeless. This is undoubtedly a reason why the Flowers series remains one of Warhol’s most popular portfolios.

Created in 1970, Andy Warhol’s Flower 73 is a color screenprint on Lenox Museum Board and is hand signed in ballpoint pen on verso. It is a unique work of an edition of 250, published by Factory Additions, New York and printed by Aetna Silkscreen Products, Inc., New York.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
Andy Warhol, Flowers 73, from Flowers is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the sale of the work).

1. Feldman, Frayda and Jörg Schellmann. Andy Warhol Prints: A Catalogue Raisonné 1962 – 1987, 4th Ed. New York: Distributed Art Publishers, Inc., 2003. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. FS IIB.73.
2. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this artwork.

About the Framing:
Framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, Andy Warhol’s Flower 73, 1970 is presented in a complementary moulding and finished with silk-wrapped mats and optical grade Plexiglas.

Subject Matter: Flowers