Hammer and Sickle (Special Edition) 168 by Andy Warhol is the fourth of seven prints in the 1977 Hammer and Sickle (Special Edition) portfolio. The series isolates individual screenprinting layers from Warhol’s original Hammer and Sickle works, revealing how form and meaning emerge through process. Rather than presenting a finished image, the portfolio dissects construction itself, allowing viewers to follow the image as it develops step by step.
Origins of the Hammer and Sickle Series
Warhol conceived the original Hammer and Sickle portfolio after encountering communist graffiti during a trip to Italy in 1976. By that time, organized communist power in Italy had declined, and the symbol often appeared detached from ideology. For Warhol, the hammer and sickle had become visual motifs circulating through public space, closer to pop imagery than propaganda. This ambiguity, rather than politics, drew his interest.
Although Warhol was not a communist, journalists frequently questioned him about the symbol. He responded with irony, once joking that communist paintings might sell well in Italy. That distance—neither endorsement nor critique—defines the series and reflects Warhol’s broader habit of separating images from fixed meaning.
Process, Layering, and Abstraction
To generate source material, Warhol asked assistant Ronnie Cutrone to locate images. Printed reproductions felt too flat, so Warhol instead had Cutrone purchase real tools and photograph them from multiple angles. These photographs formed the basis for Warhol’s sketches and screens, grounding the series in physical objects rather than symbols.
In Hammer and Sickle (Special Edition) 168, only the underlying color blocks remain. Against a black background, flat swatches of red, gray, and gold roughly define the tools’ shapes. Without linework or shading, the image approaches abstraction. At the same time, the dominant red form recalls the simplified communist emblem, creating tension between object and symbol.
Hammer and Sickle (Special Edition) 168 in Warhol’s Larger Body of Work
As the fourth print in the sequence, 168 represents an intermediate stage in the screenprinting process. Earlier impressions introduce metallic tones, while later works add linework or remove color entirely. By 169, the composition is complete. By 171, only the sketch remains.
Exhibited in 1977 under the neutral title Still Lifes at the Castelli Gallery, the series deliberately avoided political framing. Instead, Warhol treated the hammer and sickle as ordinary objects, echoing the still-life tradition while exposing how symbols acquire power. In this way, Hammer and Sickle (Special Edition) 168 reflects Warhol’s late-career focus on process, repetition, and the instability of meaning during the Cold War.
Photo credit: Andy Warhol poses with Victor Hugo at the opening of his “Hammer & Sickle” exhibition, Castelli Gallery, New York, January 11, 1977. Hugo holds the original hammer and sickle used in the works. Photo by Allan Tannenbaum/Getty Images.
