Andy Warhol / Jacqueline Kennedy (Jackie) I

ANDY WARHOL – Jacqueline Kennedy (Jackie) I
Techinque: screenprint on paper
Year: 1965
Dimensions: cm 61 x 50.8
Edition: 200+50 in roman numerals.

This work comes directly from the artist's studio and it's annotated in pencil "NFS- Proof" (Not For Sale proof); it's indeed a copy that originally was reserved to the artist.

The Jacqueline Kennedy (Jackie) series is one of the most iconic and the most touching set of works done by Andy Warhol.

These works combine two of his signature themes—celebrities and fatal disasters. The images of Jackie were sourced directly from the newspapers and therefore do not have the glamour touch which Warhol widely used as the basis for his other works.

The three prints were published in 1965 as part of the portfolios “11 works by 11 artists” in an edition of 200 + 50 in roman numbers.

Even though they are an editioned work, the three Jackies immediately became a key work in the Warhol production and started to be exhibited in the most important retrospectives dedicated to the artist.

As mentioned, the series (Jackie I, Jackie II and Jackie III) is based on press images that Warhol collected on the newspapers and magazines after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963.

Warhol chose photos of Jacqueline Kennedy in the presidential car -just a few minutes before the assassination-, at the Capitol ceremony and at the funeral; three paramount moments.

He cropped the photos very closely around Jacqueline’s face and dissolved the background with flat, metallic colours, focusing the whole print on Jackie herself; on her different facial mimics and emotions.

In Jackie I, Warhol focused on the moments before the assassination. Jacqueline and the President are in the car, smiling and waving to the crowd. JFK is barely visible in the background, as the focus needs to stay on Jacqueline. The silver metallic colour of the screenprint makes this scene ghostly and blurred, like it is suspended in time, anticipating the tragical moments that will follow.