Queen Elizabeth II 337 by Andy Warhol is part of the Reigning Queens series produced in 1985. The portfolio consists of sixteen screenprints. Warhol depicts four female monarchs in their own right, rather than as women who were married to a king. Warhol also did another series of Reigning Queens (Royal Edition), in which the images were accented with diamond dust. The portraits of Queen Elizabeth in Warhol’s portfolio are characterized by a collage style, which is also seen throughout the royal edition of Reigning Queens. This particular print uses muted blues and reds in the background to bring out the glamour of the queen’s jewelry in the foreground.
Queen Elizabeth II 337 by Andy Warhol as Part of his Larger Body of Work
Completed by Warhol in 1985, the Reigning Queens series includes Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and Queen Ntombi Twala of Swaziland. Warhol created the Reigning Queens series during the mid-1980s. This was arguably his most prolific period. During this time, Warhol was forming bonds with a number of younger artists in the New York art scene including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Julian Schnabel and David Salle. Warhol saw a re-emergence of critical and financial success during this period of his life.
