Andy Warhol Shadows Portfolio II (F & S II.210 - 215) For Sale

Shadows II  is the second portfolio of six screenprints published by Warhol in 1979. Among the most abstract and rare prints in Warhol’s career, each print is a unique impression of two colourised shadows. 

Warhol elegantly showcases the multiplicity of shapes and tones in his shadows: some appearing curved, rectangular and fragmented. Something of an outlier in his previous works, these prints show Warhol’s forays into pure abstraction. The object that creates the shadow has been omitted, and what remains is the infinite possibility of light and dark. As well as employing printed colour, the artist has embellished the paper with a layer of diamond dust, creating further light in a stunning glistening effect, one that Damien Hirst would later use and copy in his silkscreens decades later. 

The Shadows portfolio can be seen through the lens of Warhol’s fascination with looking and seriality. Throughout his career, the artist famously repeated images in different colour renditions, holding the belief that the more an image was repeated, the more it calls upon the viewer to see differently. Here, Warhol has gone a step further in presenting us with what can be seen as an abyss-like image, breaking apart notions of objectivity and subjectivity and representation and non-representation.