Andy Warhol, 'Ladies and Gentlemen' Silkscreen '75

Limited edition of 125 silkscreen prints from the 'Ladies and Gentlemen' series 1975, by Andy Warhol (Amer, 1928-1987), on Arches wove paper. No visible signature or edition number, but has not been removed from the frame. Encouraged to produce a series of screen prints of drag queens by the art dealer Luciano Anselmino, Warhol invited a number of transvestites to his studio to be photographed. Under Warhol's instruction, Bob Colacello recruited a number of willing black and Hispanic participants from the night club The Gilded Grape in Greenwich Village.Warhol considered drag queens to be the ultimate expression of the movie star presence he sought to capture. These individuals drew heavily on the Hollywood idols before them and dedicated their lives to the performance of their self-fashioned personas, becoming manufactured cultural icons in their own right. Overall size: 34 x 47 1/2 in. Sight size: 24 1/2 x 34 1/2 in.