Artist Spotlight: Andy Warhol

  • Artist Spotlight
  • Modern + Contemporary

Andy Warhol’s Cowboys and Indians series was one of his last major works before his death in 1987.


Left: General Custer; Right: Geronimo
Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987), Cowboys and Indians (the complete set of ten screenprints), 1986, screenprints in colors, 36″ x 36″ each. Left: General Custer. Right: Geronimo.
Sold: $503,750

In 1986, Andy Warhol created the Cowboys and Indians series. In this portfolio, Warhol portrays a range of images that represent both the history and constructed lore of the American West, pulled from reality and fiction. Warhol interspersed portraits of world-famous Americans with those of anonymous Native Americans in his ironic commentary on America’s collective mythology of the historic West.


Left: Mother and Child; Right: Teddy Roosevelt
Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987), Cowboys and Indians (the complete set of ten screenprints), 1986, screenprints in colors, 36″ x 36″ each. Left: Mother and Child. Right: Teddy Roosevelt.
Sold: $503,750

Rather than portraying Native Americans within their historical landscape, or cowboys in their veritable forms, Warhol went with a stylized and romanticized version of the American West — already a favored lens in novels, films, and various television series popular during the 20th century.


Cowboys and Indians
Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987), Cowboys and Indians (the complete set of ten screenprints), 1986, screenprints in colors, 36″ x 36″ each. Left: Plains Indian Shield. Right: Northwest Coast Mask.
Sold: $503,750

Included in the composition are Native Americans and their authentic emblems — a mask, Kachina dolls, and a shield — alongside John Wayne, Annie Oakley, Teddy Roosevelt and General George Custer, the latter group exemplifying Warhol’s preoccupation with stardom.


Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987), Cowboys and Indians.
Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987), Cowboys and Indians (the complete set of ten screenprints), 1986, screenprints in colors, 36″ x 36″ each. Left: John Wayne. Right: Annie Oakley.
Sold: $503,750

At this point in his life, Warhol was forming bonds with a number of younger artists in the New York art scene including Jean-Michel Basquiat, David Salle, Keith Haring and Julian Schnabel.


Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987), Cowboys and Indians.
Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987), Cowboys and Indians (the complete set of ten screenprints), 1986, screenprints in colors, 36″ x 36″ each. Left: Indian Head Nickel. Right: Kachina Dolls.
Sold: $503,750

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