Andy WARHOL - Giant Panda (FS II.295)

WARHOL GIANT PANDA 295
Andy Warhol‘s Giant Panda 295 is one screenprint in a series of ten which make up Warhol’s Endangered Species portfolio. The full portfolio includes the African Elephant, the Pine Barrens Tree Frog, the Bald Eagle, the Giant Panda, the Siberian Tiger, the San Francisco Silverspot, the Orangutan, Grevy’s Zebra, the Black Rhinoceros and the Bighorn Ram.

GIANT PANDA 295 BY ANDY WARHOL AS PART OF A LARGER BODY OF WORK
In 1983, Warhol was commissioned by his friend and publisher, Ron Feldman and his wife Freyda, to create the Endangered Species series. Both Freyda and Ron were celebrated political activists and involved philanthropists. In 1983, they asked Warhol, whom they had grown somewhat close to, if he would create a portfolio of ten endangered animals in order to raise awareness. After its completion, Warhol fondly referred to this series as “animals in makeup,” given the bold, popart colors he used to portray the animals as larger than life.