Black Rhinoceros 301 by Andy Warhol is a screenprint from his 1983 Endangered Species portfolio. The composition presents a rhino crouched low against a flat, peach-colored background. Its skin is rendered in deep blue and turquoise tones, while a vivid red horn dominates the image. The contrast between the muted ground and intense coloration gives the creature a haunting immediacy—part monument, part warning. Warhol transforms the endangered black rhino into an emblem of both strength and vulnerability.
Warhol’s Environmental Vision and the Endangered Species Series
Warhol began the Endangered Species series at the request of gallerists and environmental advocates Ronald and Frayda Feldman. They encouraged him to depict ten species facing extinction to raise awareness about conservation. The series coincided with global concern over habitat loss and poaching, which had escalated since the passage of the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Warhol approached the project with the same sensibility he used for his celebrity portraits—elevating animals to the realm of icons.
Within the series, Black Rhinoceros 301 represents one of Africa’s most threatened species. The black, or hook-lipped, rhinoceros once roamed across sub-Saharan Africa. Today, only small populations remain, mostly in eastern and southern regions. Poaching for horn, loss of habitat, and political conflict reduced its numbers dramatically. Several subspecies have already disappeared. By 1983, when Warhol completed this work, the black rhino had become a symbol of ecological crisis.
Mood, Color, and Symbolism in Black Rhinoceros 301
Warhol found inspiration for this print in a 1982 New York Times article about the devastating impact of poaching. The rhino in his print appears both exhausted and defiant. Its body leans forward, weight pressing onto its right forelimb, as if preparing to charge. The animal’s eyes, wide and unflinching, meet the viewer’s gaze directly. Blue and teal tones envelop its body, suggesting melancholy, while the red horn cuts through the image like a warning flare.
The contrast between color and composition creates emotional tension. Against the soft peach background, the rhino seems displaced—an isolated survivor in a vanishing world. The red horn, though, resists despair. It points upward with energy, becoming a symbol of persistence and power. As a result, through this interplay of mood and form, Warhol captures the paradox of the species itself: endangered yet indomitable.
Black Rhinoceros 301 in Warhol’s Larger Body of Work
Black Rhinoceros 301 exemplifies Warhol’s mature Pop Art technique and his ability to merge art, activism, and mass imagery. By the early 1980s, Warhol had perfected his layered silkscreen process, combining bold color fields with photographic precision. He applied these same methods to the Endangered Species portfolio, extending his commentary on fame and commodification into the natural world.
Like Siberian Tiger 297 and Giant Panda 295, this piece turns environmental tragedy into visual spectacle. Warhol’s Pop treatment invites reflection on how media transforms even loss into image. Today, Black Rhinoceros 301 stands as both a call to protect the natural world and a reminder of how art can confront extinction through visibility.
Photo credit: Brownie Harris, photograph of Andy Warhol with Endangered Species screenprints, The Factory, NYC, 1982.
