ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987)
JACQUELINE KENNEDY III (JACKIE III), 1966
Silkscreen on paper 101.5 x 76 cm
Ed 200
On the 22nd of November 1963, the U.S. president John F Kennedy was shot to death in Dallas, an event that shocked not only the American people, but the entire world. The news spread quickly and Abraham Zapruder's amateur film, capturing the murder and cementing the moving image as the medium of the future, spread just as fast. A world was shocked, and printed journalism got to witness the breakthrough of television journalism. The visual impact of television was, from now on, an integral part of news coverage, no longer relegated to just entertainment and advertising.
These events coincide with the breakthrough of Andy Warhol (1928-1987). The year before Kennedy's death, Warhol had had his first solo exhibition in New York, with what the world soon would be talking about as Pop art. It was at The Stable Gallery that he had shown works with, among others, Campbell soup cans, Coca Cola bottles, and US dollar bills. During these years in the mid 60’s, Warhol created his unforgettable works not only with iconic American products, but but also with celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Mohammed Ali, Elvis Presley and Jackie Kennedy to name a few.
Warhol if anyone understood the width and power in the birth of the mass media image. "Jacqueline Kennedy III (Jackie III)" was created in 1966. The images of Jackie Kennedy that Warhol had used for this silkscreen were images taken in time close to her husband's death. They were first published in Life Magazine on December 6, 1963 and were taken by photographer Fred Ward. Warhol chose to enlarge and put focus on Jackie Kennedy's various facial expressions; as a mirror towards the reader and towards the viewer of the images. One image shows her smiling, the others show a woman in grief. Andy Warhol made Jackie Kennedy immortal through his works and he consolidated her position as an unforgettable American icon.
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