Andy Warhol, War Bonnet Indian, from the Cowboys and Indians Series, 1986

Artist: Andy Warhol (1928 - 1987)
Title:War Bonnet Indian, from the Cowboys and Indians Series, 1986
Reference:FS IIB.373
Series:Cowboys and Indians Series, 1986
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)
Framed Size:Approx. 44 13/16 in x 44 13/16 in (113.8 cm x 113.8 cm)
Edition:Numbered from the edition of 36 in pencil in lower left. Each print is unique; published by Gaultney, Klineman Art, Inc., New York; printed by Rupert Jasen Smith, New York.
Signature:This work is hand signed by Andy Warhol (Pennsylvania, 1928 – New York, 1987) in pencil in the lower left.
Condition:This work is in excellent condition.
ID #w-6780

Historical Description

Andy Warhol War Bonnet Indian (1986) portrays a Native American figure. The figure’s stoic nature as he gazes into the distance is coupled with Warhol’s use of vibrant colors, his body and clothing articulated with pink, purple, and yellow against a relatively stark background. These same colors are used to trace details in his clothing, face, and hands.

Part of the Cowboys and Indians series, Andy Warhol’s War Bonnet Indian is part of a set of works that depict an idealized version of the American historic West. Cowboys and Indians is the first series done by Warhol that includes both figures and objects. By juxtaposing Native American figures, American heroes associated with the historic West, and Native American objects such as Kachina dolls, Warhol explores the ways that Native American culture has been appropriated and romanticized by Western culture. This is exemplified in War Bonnet Indian — based off a Hollywood film still, Warhol explores the tension between Native American people and their popular representation.

Created in 1986, Andy Warhol’s War Bonnet Indian is a color screenprint on Lenox Museum Board and is hand signed in the lower left corner in pencil. It is a unique work of an edition of 36, published by Gaultney, Klineman Art Inc., New York and printed by Rupert Jason Smith, New York.

This screenprint is part of a portfolio of works Warhol created in 1986 titled Cowboys and Indians. Other works in the Cowboys and Indians Series include General CusterSitting BullKachina DollsGeronimoAnnie OakleyBuffalo Nickel, Action Picture, Northwest Coast Mask, Plains Indians Shield, Mother and Child, Indian Head Nickel, Teddy Roosevelt, and John Wayne.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:

Andy Warhol War Bonnet Indian, from the Cowboys and Indians Series, 1986 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.
2. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this artwork.

About the Framing:
Framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, Andy Warhol War Bonnet Indian, from the Cowboys and Indians Series, 1986 is presented in a complementary moulding and finished with silk-wrapped mats and optical grade Plexiglas.