Similarly to his Grapes Complete Portfolio, Space Fruit: Oranges 197 showcases Warhol’s signature techniques of screenprinting and abstraction of the mundane. During the 70s, Warhol began relying on shadowing and hand-drawn lines more heavily in his still-life portraits. Warhol adds color to the oranges in pairs; two in orange, two in the screen of the teal color block, and the last pair in simple black and white. With this technique, he adds more shadowing than seen in the Grapes series and Space Fruit: Lemons 196. By adding a modern touch to his screenprints of conventional objects, Warhol guides his audience to notice the overlooked materials in daily life.
Space Fruit: Oranges 197 by Andy Warhol as Part of His Larger Body of Work
Andy Warhol created his portfolio entitled Space Fruit in 1978, which derives from the traditional practice of the still life portrait. This type of representation, in which the artist typically depicts inanimate objects relating to everyday life (i.e. fruit, silverware, flowers, and insects). This artistic tradition traces its origins to ancient Greek and Roman art, but gained prominence in the fifteenth century in Northern Europe. Warhol alludes to this tradition with his portfolio of Space Fruits, a more classical subject matter that illustrates Warhol’s knowledge of the history upon which his artwork was founded.
