Flowers (Hand-Colored) 119 by Andy Warhol is one of ten hand-colored screenprints from the artist’s 1974 Hand-Colored Flowers portfolio. This print shows a fragile bouquet in a round vase, drawn with elegant, fluid lines. Moreover, Warhol adds pale pink and soft blue tones that bleed into the petals, bringing warmth and movement to the composition. The result is delicate yet deliberate—a study in how line and color can express emotion through simplicity. Warhol’s careful balance of spontaneity and structure gives the work a contemplative quality, inviting viewers to pause and appreciate its quiet elegance.
Color as Expression and Imperfection
Like the rest of the Hand-Colored Flowers series, this work grew from Warhol’s earlier Black and White Flowers, which focused purely on contour and form. In contrast, for this series, Warhol reintroduced color using Dr. Martin’s aniline watercolor dyes. He applied the pigments by hand, allowing each print to vary slightly. Consequently, the dyes flowed freely, creating small imperfections that gave each flower a distinct mood. This approach contrasts sharply with the mechanical precision of his silkscreens. Through it, Warhol explored how the human touch could coexist with repetition, turning small irregularities into a form of beauty.
Flowers (Hand-Colored) 119 in Warhol’s Broader Practice
Warhol created the Hand-Colored Flowers series during the mid-1970s, a period of quiet reflection in his career. Unlike the bold Pop Art of Campbell’s Soup or Coke, these prints recall his early commercial drawings and fashion illustrations. Each image feels personal, even intimate. By hand-coloring every work, Warhol reclaimed a sense of authorship within his process. Printed by Alexander Heinrici, Flowers (Hand-Colored) 119 blends Pop Art precision with lyrical sensitivity, reminding viewers that even Warhol’s simplest lines could hold emotional depth.
Photo credit: Andy Warhol at the opening of his “Flowers” exhibition, Galerie Ileana Sonnabend, Paris. Photo by Harry Shunk & János Kender, May 12, 1965.
