Andy Warhol and Queen Elizabeth II
Warhol's Portrait of Elizabeth II is a limited edition silkscreen print by Andy Warhol from his 1985 series Reigning Queens, which features large portraits of four reigning queens: Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, and Ntfombi Tfwala of Swaziland (now Eswatini). Canadian auction house Heffel broke all previous records in 2022 by selling one of these portraits - part of the Royal Edition, a deluxe edition of just 30 with diamond dust - for around €820,000!
ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987)
Queen Elizabeth II, from: Reigning Queens (Royal Edition)
Color silkscreen with diamond dust, 1985
Courtesy: Heffel Fine Art
The original photograph of Elizabeth II used for Andy Warhol’s portrait was taken by Peter Grugeon at Windsor Castle in 1975, published in 1977 for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. According to auction house experts, the Queen is wearing the Grand Duchess Vladimir's diamond and pearl tiara, a diamond and pearl necklace, and a blue sash with a medallion featuring a portrait of her father, George VI. Her expression, reminiscent of the Mona Lisa, is warm but dignified, and she appears to be looking beyond the photographer.
The story behind the creation of the Reigning Queens series has been documented. In 1982, Warhol’s European dealer and publisher, George C.P. Mulder, wrote to Queen Elizabeth’s private secretary, Sir William Heseltine, to express Warhol’s desire to produce a series of screen-printed portraits of the monarch. The initial response was polite but not entirely positive – “Although the Queen certainly does not wish to hinder Mr. Warhol, she would not dream of offering any comment on this idea.” However, three years later, the Queen saw photographs of Warhol’s screenprints and was delighted. In 1985, Warhol created the Reigning Queens series, which included the portrait of Elizabeth II.
Over the years, the Queen has shown great appreciation for Warhol’s series. In 2012, she purchased the suite of four prints from the Royal Edition with diamond dust and then displayed them at Windsor Castle in the exhibition The Queen: Portraits of a Monarch, alongside other famous works of art depicting the Queen, such as those by Annie Leibovitz, Dorothy Wilding, and Lucian Freud.
As mentioned earlier, one of Andy Warhol’s artworks featuring Queen Elizabeth II’s portrait was sold by the Canadian auction house Heffel Fine Art in 2022 for approximately €820,000, in an auction that started with an estimate about half the final price, far surpassing the previous record set by Sotheby’s at €640,000.