Mammy (FS II.262)

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Andy Warhol
Mammy (FS II.262)
1981

About the Item

This print is from the regular edition of 200, signed and numbered in pencil with diamond dust. The specific edition number will only be provided to the buyer at the actual point of sale. Please message us to request this information at the point of purchase. Mammy 262 by Andy Warhol is one of ten screenprints from the Myths portfolio created in 1981. Warhol’s enduring grip on popular culture inspired collections of consumerist and celebrity imagery that made him famous, featuring the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Mick Jagger, and iconic commodities like Campbell’s soup. The artist ventured out in terms of subject matter to portray political and community leaders, professional athletes, scholars, inventors, and iconic fictional characters. The Myths collection expands the artist’s interests in the preservation of fame. Straying from the realm of reality, the series depicts globally-recognized figures from old Hollywood films, Walt Disney cartoons, folklore, classic literature, and more. Though these characters derive from numerous sources, they share a common thread in that they transformed the world of entertainment in tremendous ways. Their fame and ubiquity have withstood the test of time, as they remain integral to the intricate legacy of 20th-century American popular culture. Mammy 262 depicts the outlines of a woman with striking turquoise eyes and golden hoop earrings. Like with Uncle Sam 259, Warhol invited a sitter to embody Mammy: former director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art, Sylvia Williams. Her ruby lips match the warm colors of her embellished headband and she regards the viewer with a gentle smile. Set against a plain black background, the subject is rendered entirely in muted gestural lines. Unlike some of Warhol’s prints that spotlight colorful figures against equally vivid backgrounds, such Santa Claus and The Witch, Mammy blends into the shadows. The print is decorated with diamond dust, a material Warhol used frequently to enhance the mystique and luster of his artworks. His signature can be seen in the bottom right corner. “Mammy” does not refer to a distinct character, but a historical archetype—the positive maternal black woman, the devoted caregiver. She appears in various mediums including Victor Fleming’s Civil War drama Gone With the Wind (1939) and Harriet Bleecher Stowe’s anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852). The subject had massive popular appeal, but also a personal association with the artist: each image in the Myths series represents a facet of Warhol’s personality. While Warhol never explicated his reasons for including Mammy 262 in his collection, he possessed an unerring sense of the zeitgeist of his time and understood the importance of her role. Though there are powerful racial controversies surrounding the Mammy caricature, the character dominated American television and is an essential player in Warhol’s narrative of popular culture.

Creator:
Andy Warhol (1928 - 1987, American)
Creation Year:
1981
Dimensions:
Height: 38 in (96.52 cm)Width: 38 in (96.52 cm)
Medium:
Screen
Movement & Style:
Pop Art
Period:
1980-1989
Condition:
Gallery Location:
West Hollywood, CA
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU26312674912

Shop All Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol

The name of American artist Andy Warhol is all but synonymous with Pop art, the movement he helped shape in the 1960s. He was phenomenally prolific, and the archive of original photography, prints, drawings, paintings and other art that he left behind is beyond vast.

Andy Warhol is known for his clever appropriation of motifs and images from popular advertising and commercials, which he integrated into graphic, vibrant works that utilized mass-production technologies such as printmaking, photography and silkscreening. Later in his career, Warhol expanded his oeuvre to include other forms of media, founding Interview magazine and producing fashion shoots and films on-site at the Factory, his world-famous studio in New York.

Born and educated in in Pittsburgh, Warhol moved to New York City in 1949 and built a successful career as a commercial illustrator. Although he made whimsical drawings as a hobby during these years, his career as a fine artist began in the mid-1950s with ink-blot drawings and hand-drawn silkscreens. The 1955 lithograph You Can Lead a Shoe to Water illustrates how he incorporated in his artwork advertising styles and techniques, in this case shoe commercials.

As a child, Warhol was often sick and spent much of his time in bed, where he would make sketches and put together collections of movie-star photographs. He described this period as formative in terms of his skills and interests. Indeed, Warhol remained obsessed with celebrities throughout his career, often producing series devoted to a famous face or an object from the popular culture, such as Chairman Mao or Campbell’s tomato soup. The 1967 silkscreen Marilyn 25 embodies his love of bright color and famous subjects.

Warhol was a prominent cultural figure in New York during the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s. The Factory was a gathering place for the era’s celebrities, writers, drag queens and fellow artists, and collaboration was common. To this day, Warhol remains one of the most important artists of the 20th century and continues to exert influence on contemporary creators.

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