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Title: Electric Chair 78
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 78 as part of his Death and Disaster series. This print is the most eerie in the portfolio. Warhol uses only black and white ink in this print. The bright white highlighting the chair, produces a haunting feeling within the viewer. Unlike the other prints in this portfolio, these color choices divert from the traditionally bright pop art colors. Warhol chose the controversial subject matter for this portfolio to comment on how society has become numb to tragedies that are shown in mass media so often. The release of this portfolio coincided with the final executions by electric chair at New York’s Sing Sing State Penitentiary. Collectors enjoy this portfolio for the controversial subject matter and the uproar that they created in the media.
