Andy Warhol Kachina Dolls, from the Cowboys and Indians Series, 1986 depicts the echoing figure of a carved kachina, a spirit believed by the Hopi people to control various natural elements. The geometric marks on its face and body are here depicted in a glowing orange set against a lime-green. The feather decorating its head are buzzing with an electric turquoise outline.  In his unique pop-art style, Warhol reimagines a cultural symbol and draws the viewer's attention to an important element of the Hopi lifestyle by structuring it in a bold and graphic aesthetic.

In the Cowboys and Indians Series, Warhol makes the familiar choice of favoring popular imagery over what is historically accurate. In each of the ten screenprints, the cowboys and Native Americans are stripped of their historical context and presented as pop culture icons. Warhol therefore creates an ironic commentary on the mass mythologizing of the American West.

Created in 1986, this color screenprint on Lenox Museum Board is hand signed by Andy Warhol (Pennsylvania, 1928 - New York, 1987) in pencil in the lower right. A unique work inscribed ‘TP’ (trial proof) and numbered from the edition of 36 unique trial proofs; aside from the edition of 250; published by Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, Inc., New York; printed by Rupert Jasen Smith, New York.

Andy Warhol Cowboys and Indians Series:

Andy Warhol’s Cowboys and Indians series of 1986 consists of ten prints each depicting their own respective subject—John Wayne, Annie Oakley, Kachina Dolls, Geronimo, Buffalo Nickel, Tonto, Theodore Roosevelt, General George Custer, Plains Indian Shield, and Northwest Coast Mask. Featuring images of famous American Western icons, Warhol’s series explores the relationship between Native Americans and Hollywood's portrayal of them in Western films. Warhol, being fascinated with celebrity culture, uses these famous figures to examine ways in which fame and popular culture intersect with history and myth.

The Cowboys and Indians series was also created during a time at which Warhol was exploring his own Native American heritage. His mother was of Ruthenian and Carpatho-Rusyn descent, but Warhol claimed that his father was of Slovakian and Native American ancestry.

Overall, the Cowboys and Indians series reflects Warhol's interest in American culture and history, as well as his fascination with celebrity and the intersection of art and commerce.

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 Custer, Sitting Bull, Kachina Dolls, Geronimo, Annie Oakley, War Bonnet Indian, Buffalo Nickel, Action Picture, Northwest Coast Mask, Plains Indians Shield, Mother and Child, Indian Head Nickel, and Teddy Roosevelt.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
Andy Warhol Kachina Dolls, from the Cowboys and Indians Series, 1986 Unique Trial Proof 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. Other variants are listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné IIB.381.
2. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this artwork.

About the Framing:
Framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, Andy Warhol Kachina Dolls, From the Cowboys and Indians Series, 1986 Unique Trial Proof is presented in a complementary moulding and mats and optical grade Plexiglas.