Andy Warhol, Details of Renaissance Paintings (Paolo Uccello, St. George and the Dragon, 1460), 1984 FS II.324 is part of a series of recreations of famous Renaissance masterworks Warhol worked on in the 1980s. Warhol was inspired by the Mona Lisa’s first exhibition in New York in 1963, and the ensuing chaos in the media. Warhol was fascinated by the American media and pop culture, and he was amused the intense attention the singular portrait gained. That same year, Warhol created his own version of the famous portrait and repeated Mona Lisa’s face 30 times, titling the work Thirty Are Better Than One. Warhol played with the concept of mass producing seemingly unique objects and revisited this idea to create the Details of Renaissance Paintings series in the 1980s.

This screenprint is a recreation of Paolo Uccello’s St. George and the Dragon, 1460. The original painting is housed in the National Gallery in London, and follows the legend of St. George and his quest to slay a dragon that was demanding human sacrifices, in turn saving a princess. It's a tale from the Middle Ages, dating back to the 11th and 12th centuries, and was portrayed in paintings in many different time periods. Other Renaissance artists also depicted the legend, such as Donatello, Giovanni Bellini and Raphael. Warhol decided to crop the original composition, instead focussing in on the upper body of the princess and part of the dragon. This was something he did in all of the works in his Details of Renaissance Paintings series, and results in an unrecognizable and abstracted work at first glance. Warhol uses bright, saturated contrasting colors of reds, greens, yellows, and purple set against a black background to turn this print into an abstracted, pop-art version of a Renaissance masterpiece. Captivating and enigmatic, this screenprint shows off Warhol’s artistry and skill in creating interesting compositions, and the cultural commentary that is present in nearly every work throughout his career.

Created in 1984, Andy Warhol Details of Renaissance Paintings (Paolo Uccello, St. George and the Dragon, 1460), 1984 FS II.324 is a screenprint on Arches Aquarelle (Cold Pressed) Paper. This work is hand-signed by Andy Warhol in pencil in the lower left. Numbered from the edition of 50, aside from 12 Artist Proofs marked 'AP,' 5 Printer's Proofs marked 'PP,' and 4 Hors Commerce marked 'HC.'

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:

Andy Warhol Details of Renaissance Paintings (Paolo Uccello, St. George and the Dragon, 1460), 1984 FS II.324 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, 4^th Ed. New York: Distributed Art Publishers, Inc., 2003. Catalogued and illustrated as no. II.324.

2. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this artwork.

About the Framing:

Framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, Andy Warhol Details of Renaissance Paintings (Paolo Uccello, St. George and the Dragon, 1460), 1984 FS II.324 is presented in a complementary moulding and finished with silk-wrapped mats and optical grade Plexiglas.