Description: Queen Margrethe II of Denmark was originally created in 1985 as part of a portfolio of 16 screenprints on Lenox Museum Board. It is from the rare Royal Edition series which features diamond dust along the outline of the entire print. Also featured in this series: Queen Beatrix, Queen Elizabeth II, and Queen Ntombi Twala; there also exists another Reigning Queens edition from the same year in which diamond dust was excluded from the screenprint during production. Printed by Rupert Jasen Smith, New York and published by George C. P. Mulder, Amsterdam.
Warhol addresses his fascination with the extremes of social hierarchy in this series of Reigning Queens, specifically with the iconography of Queen Margrethe II. This is the perfect example of Warhol's ability to transform the entire medium of traditional portraiture and translate it to contemporary, political relevance. The scale of her is all-consuming; the size of this work is perhaps paramount to her grandeur and position in society. She is larger-than-life, a Queen with respectable notoriety and a prominent history and social standing among the Danish people. This portrait of Queen Margrethe II also details Warhol's playfulness with line and color while also exhibiting his view on conventional portraiture. The vibrant shades of pink, white, violet, and teal create radical images of the Queen, perhaps transforming her from the view of the bourgeois upper class to a more palpable, everyday poster image we can all relate to. She now falls into the category of popular kitsch culture, while her elegant features continue to be accented by the drawn line of Warhol's hand and further accentuated by the stunning diamond dust with glistens and twinkles throughout. The prominent pixilation of the print details elaborate shading and highlights of the portrait and also serves to highlight the effect of the diamond dust and its ability to bring out each color, feature, and detail of the portrait.
Frayda Feldman describes this series best:
"Warhol intended his portraits to be seen - as vanitas images, history paintings, or simply glamour poses - he did more than any other artist to revitalize the practice of portraiture, bringing renewed attention to it in the avant-garde art world. He reflected the desires and dreams of a new decade and expanded his cast to include the latest characters from the world of sports, television, and politics and also dramatically escalated his portrait commissions" (Feldman 3rd ed. pg. 22-3) .
Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
It is fully documented and referenced in (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that I will enclose with the sale of the work) :
1) Feldman, Frayda and J
