Andy WARHOL (1928-1987)
Cats and Dogs (Factory)
Late 1975- early 1976
Acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas.
26 x 32 in. / 66 x 81 cm.
(with frame: 37 1/2 x 42 3/4 x 4 in. / 95 x 107 x 10 cm.)
Stamp “Estate Andy Warhol” on the reverse
Identification Number : PA 27 008
Certificate by the Warhol Foundation
Provenance:
– The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., NY
– Stellan Holm Gallery
– Galerie de Bellecour, Lyon
– Private collection, USA
Literature:
– “The Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonné”, Neil Printz and Sally King-Nero, eds., vol. 04, no. 3223
“I never met an animal I didn’t like.”- Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol had a deep personal and artistic lifelong affinity for animals, particularly cats and dogs, which often served as both companions and muses for his iconic Pop Art. He is most famous in this theme for his early illustration book “25 Cats Name Sam and One Blue Pussy” (inspired by the 25 Siamese cats he and his mother lived with in their New York apartment in the 1950s) and his stylized Cats and Dogs (1976) silkscreen paintings series.
The later was born from a suggestion by art collector Peter Brant and Warhol’s manager Fred Hughes to open new avenues for commissioned pet portraits. Warhol embraced the idea and initially worked from his collection of taxidermied animals, including his stuffed Great Dane Cecil, that stood near the bulletproof door at his studio, and his stuffed cat called Factory, using his signature technique of blowing up Polaroid photographs to create vibrant, vividly colored compositions. Warhol later turned to living subjects, among them his beloved dachshunds Archie and Amos and Broadway the cat.
Andy Warhol’s love for animals would later inspire his “Endangered Species” series (1983), a portfolio of ten vivid screenprints that elevated at-risk animals to the equal “superstar” status as his famous celebrity portraits, using the same vibrant, iconic treatment he gave to Marilyn Monroe.