Title: Electric Chair 79
Medium: Screenprint on Paper
Year: 1971
Size: 35 ½” x 48”
Edition: Edition of 250 signed and dated ’71 in ballpoint pen and numbered with a rubber stamp on verso; some signed in pencil. Portfolio of 10.
Andy Warhol created Electric Chair 79 for his Death and Disaster series. This print is one of the most somber in the portfolio because of the dark colors chosen by Warhol. The dark blue and black create almost a monochromatic image that forces the viewer to focus on the print to see the subject matter. The electric chair subject matter caused an uproar in the media when it was first exhibited. The media picked up this portfolio because it happened to be released the same year that New York’s Sing Sing State Penitentiary performed its final execution by electric chair. The high profile subject matter of this portfolio draws collectors to acquire these prints.
