Edition of 250, plus 50 AP (artist proofs, 10 PP (printers proofs) signed and numbered in pencil lower right. 57 TP (trial rpoofs) signed in pencil lower right and unnumbered.

Vesuvius is a striking screenprint created by Andy Warhol in 1985, capturing the iconic Italian volcano located in the Gulf of Naples. The artwork's dramatic and chaotic portrayal reflects Warhol’s lesser-known talent for depicting landscapes and natural phenomena, despite his fame as a portrait artist. Commissioned by the Fondazione Amelio in Naples, Vesuvius was part of a collection of works inspired by the Neapolitan region, featured in an exhibition at the Museo di Capodimonte.
Warhol's depiction of the volcano is rendered in intense reds and blacks, mirroring the fiery eruptions and smoke associated with Vesuvius. This vivid use of colour and form conveys the inherent danger and catastrophic potential of the volcano. The artist's fascination with themes of destruction and mortality, seen in his Death and Disaster series featuring electric chairs and car crashes, is echoed here. For Warhol, Vesuvius, one of the world’s most perilous volcanoes, symbolised a pervasive sense of impending doom: “I realised that everything I was doing must have been death.”