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Oversized color 36 x 36 screenprint entitled 'Sitting Bull,' executed at the same time as Warhol's 1986 Cowboys and Indians series, stamped on the reverse by the Andy Warhol Foundation and the Andy Warhol Estate. Printed on Lenox Museum Board by Rupert Jasen Smith, New York. Archivally matted and framed to an overall size of 46.5 x 47. In very fine condition.
Warhol portrays the famed Lakota leader in a classic front-facing pose, rendered with his signature use of bold, flat color and high contrast. Sitting Bull’s face is transformed into an arresting electric blue, punctuated by neon yellow highlights, while saturated reds and warm tones ground the ceremonial garments and symbolic elements. The effect is at once reverential and contemporary—elevating a historical figure into the realm of Pop iconography while alluding to the tension between lived history and its mediated representation.
The print derives from Warhol’s 1986 'Cowboys and Indians' series—an artistic exploration into the mythos of the American West—though he chose to exclude the image from the final, published version of the portfolio. By placing Sitting Bull within the same visual framework as American movie stars and Western archetypes, Warhol invites a reconsideration of who is mythologized in American culture and why. The result is a powerful late-career statement that blends portraiture, historical commentary, and Warhol’s enduring fascination with fame.
Reference: Andy Warhol Prints: A Catalogue Raisonné, Feldman & Schellmann IIIA.70.
