Queen Margrethe II of Denmark 342 was created by Andy Warhol in 1985 as part of his Reigning Queens series. Other queens in the series include Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Queen Ntombi Twala of Swaziland, and Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. The portfolio consists of sixteen screenprints. Warhol depicts these 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 the powerful matriarch are characterized by a collage style and colorful squares lining the images.
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark 342 as Part of Andy Warhol’s Larger Body of Work
Warhol created the Reigning Queens series during the mid-1980s, which 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. Warhol was deeply interested in political figures, such as presidents, dictators and monarchs. In addition to the Reigning Queens portfolio, Warhol created prints of leaders such as Alexander the Great, Vladimir Lenin and John F. Kennedy.
