Andy Warhol - Martha Graham F.S. II 387 jpg
Martha Graham Satyric Song by Andy Warhol out of frame
Andy Warhol - Satyric Festival Song F.S. II 287 wd jpg

Satyric Festival Song 387

Catalog Title: Satyric Festival Song (FS II.387)
Year: 1986
Size: 36" x 36"
Medium: Screenprint on Lenox Museum Board
Edition: Edition of 100, 25 AP, 5 PP, 10 HC, 25 numbered in Roman numerals, signed and numbered in pencil on verso. Printed by Rupert Jasen Smith. Published by the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance, Inc., New York.
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Satyric Festival Song 387 is one of three screenprints in Andy Warhol’s Martha Graham series. Known as the mother of the modern movement, Graham’s influence is immensely profound on performing arts culture. Ahead of her contemporaries, she was the first dancer to perform at the White House and founded the renowned Martha Graham Dance Company in New York. She once said, “I have spent all my life with dance and being a dancer. It’s permitting life to use you in a very intense way. Sometimes it is not pleasant. Sometimes it is fearful. But nevertheless it is inevitable” (New York Times, 1985). Since 1929, Graham danced professionally until her retirement in 1958; however, she continued to teach at her dance company until her death in 1991 at the age of 96.

Satyric Festival Song 387 by Andy Warhol as Part of his Larger Body of Work

Satyric Festival Song 387 is one of three screenprints produced in the Martha Graham series of 1986. The source image for the series was taken by American photographer Barbara Morgan, who was best known for her depictions of modern dancers. To commemorate the 16th anniversary of the Martha Graham Dance Center of Contemporary Dance in New York, Warhol created the portfolio in appreciation of her contribution to the performing arts discipline. Warhol’s portfolio compliments Graham by showing a variation of her abilities not just as a dancer, but as someone who communicates profound emotion through movement and physical expression.

Photo credit: Martha Graham performing “Satyric Festival Song” in 1940. Gelatin silver print by Barbara Morgan.

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