Warhol addresses his fascination with the extremes of social hierarchy in this series of Reigning Queens, specifically with the iconography of Queen Margrethe II. This is the perfect example of Warhol’s ability to transform the entire medium of traditional portraiture and translate it to contemporary, political relevance. The scale of her is all-consuming; the size of this work is perhaps paramount to her grandeur and position in society. She is larger-than-life, a Queen with respectable notoriety and a prominent history and social standing among the Danish people. This portrait of Queen Margrethe II also details Warhol’s playfulness with line and color while also exhibiting his view on conventional portraiture. The vibrant shades of pink, white, violet, and teal create radical images of the Queen, perhaps transforming her from the view of the bourgeois upper class to a more palpable, everyday poster image we can all relate to. She now falls into the category of popular kitsch culture, while her elegant features continue to be accented by the drawn line of Warhol’s hand and further accentuated by the stunning diamond dust with glistens and twinkles throughout. The prominent pixilation of the print details elaborate shading and highlights of the portrait and also serves to highlight the effect of the diamond dust and its ability to bring out each color, feature, and detail of the portrait.

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark was originally created in 1985 as part of a portfolio of 16 screenprints on Lenox Museum Board.  This particular work is from the rare Royal Edition series which features diamond dust along the outline of the entire print.  Also featured in this series are Queen Beatrix, Queen Elizabeth II, and Queen Ntombi Twala; there also exists another Reigning Queens edition from the same year in which diamond dust was excluded from the screenprint during production.  Hand-signed by Andy Warhol (Pennsylvania, 1928 - New York, 1987) in pencil in the lower left, this work is out of the total edition of 30 prints (aside from 5 AP, 2 PP, and 2 HC) signed and numbered with an ‘R’ preceding each in pencil in the lower left, all from the Royal Edition of 1985 with Diamond Dust.  Printed by Rupert Jasen Smith, New York and published by George C. P. Mulder, Amsterdam.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
This work 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 final 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. II 342A.
2. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this work

About the Framing:
This work is framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, presented in a complimentary moulding and finished with silk-wrapped mats and optical grade Plexiglas.