In his Grapes portfolio, Andy Warhol experiments with the theme of the still life image. For the print Grapes 195, Warhol implemented vibrant colors, heavy black shading and repetition in which he superimposes an identical image of the grape bunch. This otherwise dark composition is broken up by a bright block of yellow. The color blocking uses strips of color that are superimposed onto the grapes in the background while still revealing the lines underneath. This application gives the image a collage-like effect, where the colors are pasted one on top of the other.
Grapes 195 by Andy Warhol as Part of His Larger Body of Work
Warhol’s Grapes series was a part of the several still life portraits he began to produce in the 1970s. He also produced a special edition Grapes series that is accented with diamond dust and features much darker color schemes of the same imagery. For his still lifes he used traditional, everyday objects such as fruits and flowers. Along with the increase of still life production, Warhol also began to incorporate more hand drawn lines into his compositions. This, along with his signature color prints, made for beautiful pieces that imbued modern conventions on an ages old artistic tradition.
