Lot 3677 - A215 Estampes & Multiples - jeudi, 27. novembre 2025, 10h00
ANDY WARHOL
(Pittsburgh 1928–1987 New York City)
Grevy's Zebra. 1983.
Colour screenprint. 123/150. Signed in pencil bottom center: Andy Warhol, as well as with the artist's copyright stamp on the reverse. Sheet 96.4 × 96.2 cm on Lenox Museum Board. Published by Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York City. Printed by Rupert Jasen Smith, New York City (with the blind stamp).
From the 10-part portfolio "Endangered Species".
From the 10-part portfolio "Endangered Species".
Provenance:
- Private collection, Switzerland, acquired from the above gallery in 2012.
Catalogue raisonné:
In 1983, in his series “Endangered Species”, Andy Warhol devoted himself to a subject that was at first unusual for him: he produced 10 colourful silkscreens of endangered animal species, including Grevy's zebra. The series was created at the suggestion of Ronald and Frayda Feldman, gallery owners and close friends of Warhol - avowed environmental activists who constantly encouraged Warhol to broaden his artistic repertoire to include political concerns.
Grevy's zebra pictured here, the rarest of all zebra species, is native to East Africa and is one of the most endangered large mammals in the world today - fewer than 2,000 of these animals remain in the wild. Warhol stages the animal using the iconic visual language of Pop Art: the powerful colours, the succinct, isolated detail and the serial presentation are deliberately redolent of his famous portraits of Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley. He not only depicts the zebra but also elevates the animals of the series to the status of ‘animal celebrities’ through the way they are portrayed - quasi stylised pop stars of biodiversity.
The choice of the silkscreen as a medium emphasises the paradoxical tension between the uniqueness of an endangered creature and the principle of mass reproducibility through the printing process - a dichotomy that runs through Warhol's entire oeuvre. As in his politically charged series, such as Ladies and Gentlemen (1975), a portrait cycle about the drag and transgender community, we see Warhol's ability to combine issues of social marginality with the aesthetics of pop culture and to make the often forgotten, because seemingly challenging, political themes socially acceptable again.
Grevy's Zebra, together with the other works in the “Endangered Species” series, is therefore more than just a depiction of an animal: it is a manifesto for the struggle for visibility of uncomfortable truths and a statement on the role of art in the charged interplay between society, the power of the media and political commitment.
Grevy's zebra pictured here, the rarest of all zebra species, is native to East Africa and is one of the most endangered large mammals in the world today - fewer than 2,000 of these animals remain in the wild. Warhol stages the animal using the iconic visual language of Pop Art: the powerful colours, the succinct, isolated detail and the serial presentation are deliberately redolent of his famous portraits of Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley. He not only depicts the zebra but also elevates the animals of the series to the status of ‘animal celebrities’ through the way they are portrayed - quasi stylised pop stars of biodiversity.
The choice of the silkscreen as a medium emphasises the paradoxical tension between the uniqueness of an endangered creature and the principle of mass reproducibility through the printing process - a dichotomy that runs through Warhol's entire oeuvre. As in his politically charged series, such as Ladies and Gentlemen (1975), a portrait cycle about the drag and transgender community, we see Warhol's ability to combine issues of social marginality with the aesthetics of pop culture and to make the often forgotten, because seemingly challenging, political themes socially acceptable again.
Grevy's Zebra, together with the other works in the “Endangered Species” series, is therefore more than just a depiction of an animal: it is a manifesto for the struggle for visibility of uncomfortable truths and a statement on the role of art in the charged interplay between society, the power of the media and political commitment.
CHF 60 000 / 80 000 | (€ 61 860 / 82 470)
Vendu pour CHF 162 500 (frais inclus)
Information sans garantie.