Siberian Tiger 297 by Andy Warhol is a screenprint from the artist’s 1983 Endangered Species portfolio. The composition shows the tiger’s face in striking close-up, its blue eyes fixed directly on the viewer. Shades of burnt orange and red form the animal’s coat, while green and pale blue outlines carve its features in rhythmic lines. Warhol’s hand-drawn contours and layered colors flatten the form, turning fur and shadow into patterned abstraction. Against a deep green background, the tiger seems both majestic and fragile—an icon poised between beauty and extinction.
Warhol’s Environmental Focus and the Endangered Species Series
Warhol created Siberian Tiger 297 during a period of growing ecological awareness. The work was part of a commission from art dealer Ronald Feldman and his wife, Frayda, who were passionate advocates for conservation. Their collaboration followed the passing of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, which had established the first legal framework for identifying and protecting threatened species.
The Siberian tiger—one of several animals chosen for the series—was then facing near extinction. Native to Russia and northeastern China, it remains critically endangered, with fewer than a thousand individuals left in the wild. Warhol’s print gives the animal the same celebrity treatment he once reserved for Hollywood stars, positioning the tiger as both subject and symbol of survival.
The Feldmans would later commission Warhol’s Myths and Ads portfolios, confirming a productive and visionary collaboration between art and advocacy.
Color, Symbolism, and Movement
Siberian Tiger 297 is one of the most dynamic works in the Endangered Species series. Warhol experiments boldly with color and line. The tiger’s stripes—red, orange, and black—pulse with energy against the cool green background. At the left edge, bright blue lines interrupt the green, suggesting the tiger’s escape from its own frame. A band of deep red cuts across the lower section, separating the animal’s head from its body, while subtle gradients of yellow and white move across its face.
These choices create tension between stillness and motion. The tiger appears alive, yet frozen in a synthetic environment. Warhol’s drawn outlines, slightly offset from the color blocks, add a sense of vibration and immediacy. The blue eyes at the center of the composition capture the viewer’s attention, giving the tiger both a human presence and an otherworldly calm.
Siberian Tiger 297 in Warhol’s Larger Body of Work
By the early 1980s, Warhol had achieved full command of the silkscreen process. Siberian Tiger 297 reflects this maturity through its layered composition and controlled use of contrast. The work also embodies his evolving interest in global themes—environmentalism, mortality, and the commodification of nature.
Like his portraits of Marilyn Monroe or Mick Jagger, Warhol’s tiger commands attention through repetition and color. Yet this time, the “celebrity” is an animal on the verge of disappearance. In blending pop culture with ecological reflection, Warhol anticipated conversations that now dominate contemporary art and environmental discourse.
Today, Siberian Tiger 297 remains one of the most collected works from the Endangered Species series, valued for both its formal strength and emotional resonance.
Photo credit: Brownie Harris, photograph of Andy Warhol with Endangered Species screenprints, The Factory, NYC, 1982.
