Fine Pop Art limited edition print – good Vesuvius, Andy Warhol, signed & numbered – Estate stamp

Offering a fine artwork:

Vesuvius

- offset lithograph from Vesuvius series
- limited edition print. ed. 500, numbered in pencil on verso
- hand signed in pencil in the lower right
- dimensions: 21.0 x 29.6 cm
- reference stamp on verso from the publisher Total Color, New York
- on fine quality, archival, matte, thick paper, in very good condition
- sold as after the artist, as-is
- accompanied by a short bio of the artist

Vesuvius is one of only a handful of works from small eponymous series by Andy Warhol. Enshrining the menacing energy of the iconic Neapolitan volcano at the moment of violent eruption, this image purports the looming threat of annihilation in bold Pop art colour. The Vesuvius series was conceived for Warhol's solo exhibition at the prestigious Museo di Capodimonte in 1985 – a hallowed exhibition space usually reserved for Old Masters such as Titian and Caravaggio. In this way, the works were innately steeped in art historical import. Furthermore, to take on this famous volcano as a subject was to take up the mantle of a long line of artists who had historically engaged with its depiction. During the era of the Grand Tour in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, the Volcano became a key trope to convey the awesome and sublime power of nature and was captured in paint by artists such as JMW Turner and Joseph Wright of Derby. In its high key palette of pink, turquoise and volcanic red, the present work can be interpreted as an idiosyncratically irreverent Warholian reinterpretation of this art historical legacy. In this respect, the Vesuvius series can be aligned with Warhol's contemporaneous Art after Art: paintings of appropriated art historical masterpieces by Leonardo da Vinci, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Raphael, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and others. In these, Warhol certified the notion that artworks and iconic images were also party to the fame and celebrity that fascinated him endlessly.

The Museo good di Capodimonte exhibition was organised following Warhol's participation in a group show curated by the leading Neapolitan dealer, Lucio Amelio, some four years previously. Lucio Amelio commissioned several international artists including Warhol, Joseph Beuys, Keith Haring and Jannis Kounellis, to produce works for an exhibition entitled Terrae Motus, which was held in response to an earthquake in Empoli, just south of Naples. The show firmly placed Naples on the map of the contemporary art world and Warhol's experience of the city made a lasting impression on him. Through a typically Warholian confluence of death and art history, Vesuvius pays tribute to the totem of natural beauty and latent destruction that renders Naples an extraordinary and unique place.

Andy Warhol was one of the most influential artists of the second half of the 20th century, creating some of the most recognizable images ever produced. Challenging the idealist visions and personal emotions conveyed by abstraction, Warhol embraced popular culture and commercial processes to produce work that appealed to the general public. He was one of the founding fathers of the Pop art movement.
Warhol pioneered the development of the process whereby an photographic image is transferred to a silk screen that is then placed on a canvas and inked from the back. Each Warhol silkscreen used this technique that enabled him to produce the series of mass-media images – repetitive, yet with slight variations – that he began in 1962. Of his prints, Warhol has said “the reason I'm painting this way is that I want to be a machine, and I feel that whatever I do and do machine-like is what I want to do.”
To reinforce this statement Andy Warhol launched his print publishing company that he named Factory Additions. The enterprise was timely; the past five years had seen Warhol rise from graphic illustrator to silver-haired art star, celebrated for blurring the boundaries between high and low culture by making everyday objects seem beautiful and aspirational
It could be argued that printing was central to the way Warhol saw the world. The silkscreens and other media prints are the works Warhol is best know for, these Andy Warhol prints include such iconic images as Campbell's Soup cans, dollar bills, Coca-Cola bottles, and the faces of celebrities. Still today, these massively recognizable images serve as a beacon of popular culture.


The artwork will make a great gift or can be a valuable new addition to your art collection or interior.

Perfect size for reasonably priced mat and frame.

Quick & reliable shipping next business day after order is placed & cleared. Shipped as signed for mail with tracking.
Regular delivery times are approximately:
US: 15 - 25 days
EU : 10 - 20 days (may vary country to country)
Japan: 15 days
Asia: 20 - 25 days (may vary country to country)
Australia: 30+ days
Latin America and Arabia: shipments available only by DHL, for exceptions please contact us

Delivery times for national post may change due to various conditions affecting air traffic.

Express shipping available upon request, with delivery times usually around 5 business days, in this case please contact us.

Packed with care using various protective layers to ensure safe delivery.

Thank you for viewing :)