Gertrude Stein (FS II.227) (Trial Proof) is a unique color variation artwork from his Ten Portraits of Jews of the 20th Century portfolio. Gertrude Stein was an American writer of novels, poetry and plays that eschewed the narrative, linear, and temporal conventions of 19th-century literature. Stein was also known to be a fervent collector of Modernist art.
She was born in West Allegheny Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, raised in Oakland, California. When she moved to Paris in 1903, she made France her home for the remainder of her life. For some forty years, the Stein home at 27 Rue de Fleurus on the Left Bank of Paris was a renowned Saturday evening gathering place. Expatriate American artists and writers, along with other noteworthy figures in the world of avant-garde arts and letters, frequented her salon—most notably Pablo Picasso. Entrance into the Stein salon became a sought-after validation. Stein served as a mentor, critic, and guru to those who gathered around her, including Ernest Hemingway, who described her salon in A Moveable Feast.
Gertrude Stein 227 as Part of Andy Warhol’s Larger Body of Work
Gertrude Stein 227 is a part of Warhol’s Ten Portraits of Jews of the 20th Century. Warhol built his reputation on prolific celebrity portraits and a deep fascination with fame. In many works, he emphasized surface and image, often reducing his subjects to their visual essence. But in this series, he deliberately shifts focus. Instead of glamor or notoriety, Warhol chose figures whose achievements shaped the arts, sciences, and law.
Photo Credit: Andy Warhol at the Jewish Museum, 1980. Photo by Bernard Gotfryd.
