Andy Warhol’s Cowboys and Indians series was one of the artist’s final portfolios before his death in 1987. It is a historically important series that critically examines American history, cultural stereotypes, and the mythology of the American West. The series includes ten individual works reflecting popular imagery of the Western United States. Cowboys and Indians was the first instance in which Warhol combined portraiture and objects in a series. This series is not only visually innovative, but also historically and politically challenging.
The piece available at Woodard Lipe’s September 14, 2024 Auction is called “Kachina Dolls.” Native Americans from southwest North America, known as “Pueblos,” believed that Kachinas were spirits living in nature that connected humans and gods. Kachinas also described the men who dressed to represent the Kachina spirit during ritual dances. Finally, Kachinas figures are dolls given to young girls at Pueblo ceremonies to represent the connection between the spiritual and natural worlds.
The Kachina figures were discovered as rock art as early as 1350AD. The most noticeable features of Kachinas are their colors and their specific details, which have particular symbolism. For example, black symbolizes the underworld, while all of the colors together symbolize heaven. Animal tracks, and other specific images represent different spirits. Each figure is a unique expression of a Pueblo religion and culture.
Andy Warhol’s “Kachina Dolls” depicts the echoing figure of a carved Kachina drawn with Warhol’s signature pop art sensibility. In his re-working of this sacred symbol, the figure is stripped of its historical context and is presented as a pop culture icon without background. The Cowboy and Indian series, including the “Kachina Dolls” reflect Warhol’s critique of the the mass mythologizing of the American West by pop culture and examines the manner in which popular culture intersects with history.
Andy Warhol's Kachina Dolls offered at Woodard Lipe on September 14, 2024 is a screenprint on Lenox Museum Board and is hand signed by Andy Warhol in pencil in the lower right. This work is numbered 232 from the edition of 250; published by Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, Inc., New York; printed by Rupert Jasen Smith, New York and was created in 1986.
Other works in the Cowboys and Indians Series are similarly uniquely Warhol and important historical images. They include General Custer, Sitting Bull, Geronimo, Annie Oakley, War Bonnet Indian, Buffalo Nickel, Action Picture, Northwest Coast Mask, Plains Indians Shield, Mother and Child, Indian Head Nickel, and Teddy Roosevelt.