Action Picture 375 (Trial Proof) by Andy Warhol belongs to the Cowboys and Indians series. The series features many images of Native Americans in their traditional attire as well as traditional American cowboy heroes. In this print, Warhol has juxtaposed a cowboy, who is on his horse shooting a gun in the center of the image, and a Native American on the right, again on a horse but with a traditional weapon. Andy Warhol’s Action Trial Proof 375 is an elusive image, the sketch type style makes it hard to tell what the characters in the piece actually looked like, but instead leave us with a fleeting idea of their essence. The use of the pink, red and maroon-brown, along with the action theme make it a very enjoyable and lively piece to experience.
Action Picture (Trial Proof) 375 by Andy Warhol as Part of His Larger Body of Work
Action Picture 375 (Trial Proof), along with the entire Cowboys and Indians series, ties in very well with his bigger discourse about consumerism. In a sense, this series is a commentary on the heritage that has been exploited. The Native American has been removed from his historical landscape and put next to the cowboys with a plain background in Action Picture 375 (Trial Proof). This romanticized image is a very typical representation of the popular perception of the West. This familiar perception is the one that has been mass produced in a sense. The mass production of this myth through movies, TV series and novels however, is not necessarily true. But this version of the myth was nonetheless the one that was spread, because it was one people enjoyed.
