Open This End Cotton Dress After Andy Warhol Circa 1970-1980

Circa 1970-1980 United States or England Iconic Open This End stenciled cotton dress after Andy Warhol (1928-1987) dating from the first reissues of the 1970s. As in the original paper work in 1962, we clearly see the blood red paint smudges and flaws. The printed cotton bindings on the neck and sleeves are also faithful to the original paper. The background is a cheap ecru cotton. Trace of a cut label on the collar, it could be a manufacture of Mr Feedom (?) in England around 1971. All the seams are made with a sewing machine. Exceptionally good condition. Probably never worn. A rare collector's item. Dimensions: Equivalent size 38 France. Height 103cm, sleeve to sleeve amplitude 83cm, chest 90-95cm, waist 87-90cm, hips 95-100cm. Part of a small series depicting shipping and handling labels, Open This End is one of the first paintings in which Warhol used screen printing to reproduce commercial objects and images. repetitive. This technique suited Warhol well, allowing him to duplicate images at will in an artistic simulation of industrial production. A few months after making Open This End, the artist discovered that he could use screen printing to reproduce photographs. Open This End belongs to a group of paintings that Warhol executed from 1962 and which depict labels used in shipping: "Fragile", "Fragile Handle With Care", "Handle With Care Glass Thank You", "This Side Up" and "Open This End". The "Open This End" screen-printed label only appears in four works of Warhol's oeuvre. Three of them are small paintings screen printed on linen. The largest and most complex is the example Warhol chose to create on a paper dress from Waste Basket Boutique. The richness and density of the color field makes it clear that Warhol methodically cleaned and re-inked the serigraph after each image was applied. Open This End references and suggests affinities with other art movements that have taken everyday objects as subject matter, including conceptual art, performance art and Fluxus, and anticipates the role of written language in the work of Ed Ruscha, Jenny Holzer, Barbara Kruger and Bruce Naumann, among others.