Reigning Queens is a 1985 series of silkscreen portraits by American artist Andy Warhol. The screen prints were presented as a portfolio of sixteen; four prints each of the four queens regnant. The subjects were Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Queen Ntfombi Twala of Swaziland and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.
Reigning Queens portrays the four ruling queens at the time – Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, and Queen Ntfombi Twala of Swaziland. The images used by Warhol to make the screen prints were derived from official photographs. The images were then overlaid with Warhol's trademark abstract blocks of color.
A separate 'Royal edition' was issued of the portfolio; with the portraits featuring diamond dust or 'ground up glass' applied to the portrait when wet. Tate Galleries described the dust as having "a sparkly, extravagant effect". Thirty sets of the Royal edition were produced. [1] Time wrote that Warhol's portraits of Queen Elizabeth II "treat her like any other celebrity, frozen in time and bright colours". [2]
The portrait of Queen Elizabeth II was based on the official photograph released for her Silver Jubilee in 1977, taken by Peter Grugeon at Windsor Castle on April 2, 1975. The British Royal Collection wrote in a description that "Warhol has simplified Grugeon's portrait so that all that remains is a mask-like face. All character has been removed and we are confronted by a symbol of royal power". [3]
Four prints from the Royal edition of Queen Elizabeth II from the Reigning Queens series were acquired by the Royal Collection of the British royal family in 2012. [4] These prints are the only ones in the Royal Collection that Queen Elizabeth did not sit for or commission. [3]
Reigning Queens was shown at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York City from September 1985 to October 1985. [5] Warhol was upset about the exhibition. He wrote in the Andy Warhol Diaries , "I just hate George Mulder for showing here in America. They were supposed to be only for Europe—nobody here cares about royalty and it'll be another bad review." [6]
According to art critic Wayne Koestenbaum, the show represented, in Warhol's eyes, his "rock bottom." [7]
Alfredo Jaar felt the series was a "monument to kitsch" in a 2012 interview for the book Regarding Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. [8] Anthony Haden-Guest wrote that the series "had been correctly seen as a shameless assault on the rich kitsch market" in his 1998 book True Colors: The Real Life of the Art World. [9]
Andy Warhol was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol is considered one the most important artists of the second half of the 20th century. His works explore the relationship between artistic expression, advertising, and celebrity culture that flourished by the 1960s, and span a variety of media, including painting, sculpture, photography, and filmmaking. Some of his best-known works include the silkscreen paintings Campbell's Soup Cans (1962) and Marilyn Diptych (1962), the experimental film Chelsea Girls (1966), the multimedia events known as the Exploding Plastic Inevitable (1966–67), and the erotic film Blue Movie (1969) that started the "Golden Age of Porn".
Margrethe II is a member of the Danish royal family who reigned as Queen of Denmark from 14 January 1972 until her abdication on 14 January 2024. Having reigned for exactly 52 years, she was the second-longest reigning Danish monarch after Christian IV. She is also the world's most recent female reigning monarch.
Roy Fox Lichtenstein was an American pop artist. He rose to prominence in the 1960s through pieces which were inspired by popular advertising and the comic book style. Much of his work explores the relationship between fine art, advertising, and consumerism.
Beatrix is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013.
Mswati III is the Ngwenyama (King) of Eswatini and head of the Swazi royal family. He heads an absolute monarchy, as he has veto power over all branches of government and is constitutionally immune from prosecution.
Sobhuza II was Ngwenyama (King) of Swaziland for 82 years and 254 days, the longest verifiable reign of any monarch in recorded history.
A queen regnant is a female monarch, equivalent in rank, title and position to a king. She reigns suo jure over a realm known as a kingdom; as opposed to a queen consort, who is married to a reigning king; or a queen regent, who is the guardian of a child monarch and rules pro tempore in the child's stead or instead of her husband who is absent from the realm, be it de jure in sharing power or de facto in ruling alone. A queen regnant is sometimes called a woman king. A princess, duchess, or grand duchess regnant is a female monarch who reigns suo jure over a principality or (grand) duchy; an empress regnant is a female monarch who reigns suo jure over an empire.
Ntfombi has been Queen Mother of Eswatini since 1986. She was also regent of Eswatini from 1983 to 1986. She is the mother of King Mswati III.
Ndlovukati is the siSwati title for the female monarch of Eswatini. The title is given preferentially to the mother of the reigning king, or to another female royal of high status if the king's mother has died. The title is roughly equivalent to a queen mother, though she is jointly head of state, ruling alongside the Ngwenyama. The title can also mean doctor. When there is no king, the Ndlovukati rules as queen regent. The current Ndlovukati is Queen Ntfombi Tfwala, the mother of Ngwenyama Mswati III and wife of Sobhuza II. She was also queen regent from 1983 until 1986 when Mswati became king. The most notable queen regent was Ndlovukati Labotsibeni Mdluli who ruled Swaziland from 1899 until 1921 when she abdicated for Sobhuza II.
Christopher Makos is an American photographer and visual artist. Makos is known for his photographs of queer icons and pop stars, and of the male body. Makos apprenticed with photographer Man Ray, and assisted and collaborated with artist Andy Warhol.
Campbell's Soup Cans is a work of art produced between November 1961 and June 1962 by the American artist Andy Warhol. It consists of thirty-two canvases, each measuring 20 inches (51 cm) in height × 16 inches (41 cm) in width and each consisting of a painting of a Campbell's Soup can—one of each of the canned soup varieties the company offered at the time. The works were Warhol's hand-painted depictions of printed imagery deriving from commercial products and popular culture and belong to the pop art movement.
Ileana Sonnabend was a Romanian-American art dealer of 20th-century art. The Sonnabend Gallery opened in Paris in 1962 and was instrumental in making American art of the 1960s known in Europe, with an emphasis on American pop art. In 1970, Sonnabend Gallery opened in New York on Madison Avenue, and in 1971 relocated to 420 West Broadway in SoHo where it was one of the major protagonists that made SoHo the international art center it remained until the early 1990s. The gallery was instrumental in making European art of the 1970s known in America, with an emphasis on European conceptual art and Arte Povera. It also presented American conceptual and minimal art of the 1970s. In 1986, the so-called "Neo-Geo" show introduced, among others, the artist Jeff Koons. In the late 1990s, the gallery moved to Chelsea and continues to be active after Sonnabend's death. The gallery goes on showing the work of artists who rose to prominence in the 1960s and 1970s including Robert Morris, Bernd and Hilla Becher and Gilbert & George as well as more recent artists including Jeff Koons, Rona Pondick, Candida Höfer, Elger Esser, and Clifford Ross.
The image of Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms and Head of the Commonwealth from 1952 to 2022, was generally favourable throughout her years as a reigning monarch. Conservative in dress, she was well known for her solid-colour overcoats and matching hats, which allowed her to be seen easily in a crowd. She attended many cultural events as part of her public role. Her main leisure interests included horse racing, photography, and dogs, especially her Pembroke Welsh corgis. She ate jam sandwiches every day since childhood. Some of her other favourite foods were fish and chips, chocolate perfection pie, scones with jam and clotted cream, salmon from the River Dee and Morecambe Bay potted shrimp. Her views on political issues and other matters were largely subject to conjecture. She never gave a press interview and was otherwise not known to discuss her personal opinions publicly.
Prince Mfanasibili of Swaziland was the son of Prince Makhosikhosi who was brother to King Sobhuza II. He was a cabinet minister during the reign of Sobhuza II and became a powerful member of the Liqoqo council during the subsequent regency (1983–1986). He orchestrated the removal of Queen Dzeliwe Shongwe as Regent and saw that the Queen Ntfombi Tfwala replaced her. After Prince Makhosetive was installed on the throne, Mfanasibili was convicted of "defeating the ends of justice", by attempting to use "muti" to "take away the (supernatural) powers" of King Mswati III, during the regency and sentenced to seven years in prison. Mfanasibili was later given a royal pardon.
The royal descendants of Queen Victoriaand of King Christian IX, monarchs of the United Kingdom and Denmark, respectively, have become members of multiple European royal families. This was partially achieved by the marriage of Victoria's progeny with Christian's. By the time of her Diamond Jubilee in 1897, Victoria was known as the "grandmother of Europe". Also, Christian IX was nicknamed the "father-in-law of Europe".
A queen mother is a former queen, often a queen dowager, who is the mother of the reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since the early 1560s. It arises in hereditary monarchies in Europe and is also used to describe a number of similar yet distinct monarchical concepts in non-European cultures around the world. The rank does not go to all mothers of monarchs though. A mother of a ruling monarch may only be referred to as queen mother if she was a queen consort as opposed to a princess consort.
Elizabeth II owned a historic collection of jewels – some as monarch and others as a private individual. They are separate from the gems and jewels of the Royal Collection, and from the coronation and state regalia that make up the Crown Jewels.
Cartrain, often stylised cartяain, is a British artist associated with the graffiti urban art movement.
Revolver Gallery is a Los Angeles-based art gallery with a one-artist program focused on Andy Warhol's pop art career. With over 400 Warhols in its collection, Revolver houses the largest gallery-owned collection of Andy Warhol's artwork world-wide.
Ladies and Gentlemen is a 1975 series of paintings by Andy Warhol. Commissioned by Italian dealer Luciano Anselmino in 1974, the paintings depict Black American and Latinx transgender women and drag queens. The series consists of 284 silkscreen prints.
