Hammer and Sickle (Special Edition) 170 by Andy Warhol is one of seven prints in the artist’s 1977 Hammer and Sickle (Special Edition) portfolio. This print depicts a sharply outlined hammer and sickle in black and white, layered over high-contrast negative space. The composition’s geometric tension and stark tonal contrast transform this symbol of labor into a striking Pop abstraction. As a result, the interplay of flat planes and gestural linework reveals Warhol’s technical precision and conceptual wit.
Warhol’s Inspiration and the Birth of the Series
Warhol was inspired to create the original Hammer and Sickle portfolio after seeing communist graffiti during a trip to Italy. The hammer and sickle symbolized the unity of industrial and agricultural workers under communism. Emphatically, for Warhol, the symbol’s meaning was stripped of political intent. He viewed it as a compelling piece of visual culture — bold, recognizable, and open to reinterpretation. Rather than making a political statement, Warhol approached the motif as a logo, applying the same lens he used for icons like the Campbell’s Soup Cans or Marilyn Monroe.
The Special Edition and Its Distinctive Technique
The Hammer and Sickle (Special Edition) portfolio illustrates the printing progression of Warhol’s original four-print Hammer and Sickle series. Each work in this edition isolates key stages of the silkscreen process, revealing how Warhol layered color, form, and texture to construct the final image. This process-oriented approach turns technical experimentation into subject matter itself. Viewers see the raw scaffolding of Pop Art: outlines, separations, and overlays that collectively produce the finished composition.
Through this experimentation, Warhol revisits his fascination with mechanical reproduction — the foundation of his art since the early 1960s. Much like his Flowers and Mao series, these prints blur the boundary between hand and machine, art and process. However, the Hammer and Sickle (Special Edition) works emphasize the construction of the image rather than its surface glamour, offering a behind-the-scenes look at Warhol’s Pop methods.
Hammer and Sickle 170 (Special Edition) in Warhol’s Larger Body of Work
Created during the late 1970s, Hammer and Sickle (Special Edition) 170 reflects Warhol’s ongoing dialogue with political and commercial iconography. By isolating and reinterpreting a symbol of global power, he transforms ideology into aesthetic. The result is both minimal and monumental — a modern relic of mass communication rendered through Warhol’s detached irony.
As in his other work, Warhol elevates everyday emblems to the level of fine art. Yet here, the industrial precision and monochromatic palette lend a sculptural intensity that sets it apart from his celebrity portraits. Hammer and Sickle (Special Edition) 170 stands as both a study in process and a meditation on how symbols evolve when detached from their political roots and placed within the realm of Pop Art.
Photo credit: Andy Warhol poses with Victor Hugo, who holds the original hammer and sickle artist used in the works, at the opening of his “Hammer & Sickle” show at the Castelli Gallery, New York, New York, January 11, 1977. Photo by Allan Tannenbaum/Getty Images.
