Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987)
Mao from The New York Collection for Stockholm, 1973
Sequential Xerox print on Perpetual Bond typewriter paper
Sheet: 11 x 8.5 in.; Frame: 15.25 x 12.25 in.
This is number 102 from the 300 unique prints in the series
Hand signed and numbered verso, Stamped with Warhol’s copyright verso
Mao (FS II.89), created in 1973 using a Xerox machine on ordinary typewriter paper, belongs to a limited edition of 300, yet each print is unique. Every copy bears its own distortions, subtle shifts in ink, and the imperfect marks of mechanical reproduction.
By choosing an office copier as his tool, Warhol deliberately plays with the idea of mass production and propaganda. Mao’s image, once an instrument of control in China, is here reproduced cheaply, like a disposable document. The result is both a critique and an embrace of media’s power to shape public perception. Warhol, ever the master of irony, transforms the machinery of political influence into an artistic statement, questioning how icons are made, repeated, and ultimately distorted in the modern world.
The New York Collection for Stockholm was a fundraising initiative in which 30 leading New York artists, including Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Donald Judd, and Robert Rauschenberg, contributed works to a limited-edition portfolio. The proceeds from the portfolio were used to support the Moderna Museet in expanding its collection of contemporary American art.
