| Myths | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Andy Warhol |
| Year | 1981 |
| Medium | Screenprint with diamond dust on Lenox Museum Board |
Myths is a 1981 series of ten paintings by American Pop artist Andy Warhol. The portraits feature popular characters from 20th-century films and television as well as traditional folklore.
Warhol began working on the Myths series in October 1980, a project commissioned by gallerist Ronald Feldman. [1] [2] The ten works include Margaret Hamilton reprising her role as the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz ; models transformed into Uncle Sam, Santa Claus, Mammy, and Dracula; the original Howdy Doody puppet; and Warhol himself as The Shadow. [3] Rendered in vivid color, energetic line, and diamond-dust accents, the series marked Warhol's first print portfolio devoted to fictional characters and recalls his early 1960s paintings based on comic-strip figures. [4]
The Myths series was first exhibited at Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, Downtown in New York City in September 1981. [5]
In October 1981, Myths was on view at the NorthPark National Bank art gallery in Dallas, presented together with a three-print study of boxer Muhammad Ali and Warhol’s early Campbell's Soup Cans works. [6]
Weinstock's department store in Sacramento incorporated Myths into its holiday promotion, displaying the serigraphs in-store and granting an art scholarship in Warhol's name to the University of California, Davis. [7] Weinstock commissioned Warhol to create work for the cover of its 1981 Christmas magazine, The Art of Giving, which featured his Santa Claus serigraph from the Myths portfolio. [8] The print later became part of the store's permanent collection. Warhol traveled to San Francisco in November 1981, where he appeared at the store to sign reproductions from the Myths series. [9]
In 1982, Myths was exhibited at the Reconnaissance Gallery in Fitzroy, Victoria. [10]
In May 1988, the Pittsburgh Children's Museum opened the Andy Warhol Myths gallery, featuring Warhol's Myths series, which were acquired for the museum's permanent collection, and a hands-on silkscreening studio. [11]
Art critic Robert Rooney wrote for The Age: "'Myths' is essentially a slick, commercial package that combines the marketing expertise of its publisher Ronald Feldman and Warhol's habit of never saying no to any suggestion. Considered as such, the series works well with some reservations. … The 10 prints are immaculately printed and carefully color coordinated, particularly in 'Dracula' and 'Mammy' where close tones and black-on-black are used with subtlety. … If you prefer Warhol's classic icons of the 60s, with their clogged screens and other processed accidents, you will probably be repelled by the slickness of the Myths." [10]
In 1981, Weinstock's department store offered its customers a set for $15,000 or individual serigraphs for $1,500. [8]
In October 2018, a suite of 10 screenprints from the Myths portfolio sold for $780,500 at Christie's in New York. [12]
In February 2025, individual paintings from a set were sold for a total of $832,900 at Christie's online "Andy Warhol Myths" single-artist auction. [13] [3]
