Hats
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? The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / DACS, London 2009

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Hats 1959
  • Artist Rooms
After arriving in New York in 1949, Warhol quickly became established as one of the most sought-after commercial illustrators, working for magazines such as Glamour and Harper?s Bazaar. His fashion illustrations and adverts, such as `Hats?, are quirky and playful, utilising his blotted-line technique and vivid colours. The colour was possibly added at one of Warhol?s colouring parties, hosted at the fashionable Serendipity 3 cafe after its opening in 1954. He would encourage his friends ? some of whom would have helped him create the original illustrations - to colour the works with an inventiveness that adds to their whimsical nature. This process looks forward to the production methods of Warhol?s legendary studio, the Factory, in the 1960s.

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Blotted-Line Technique

Andy Warhol first experimented with this form of print-making whilst a student and it would later characterise his commercial work of the 1950s. With two sheets of paper hinged together, a pencil drawing is made on one sheet which is subsequently traced over with ink. Whilst the ink is still wet the sheets of paper are pressed together, thus transferring the line. The result is a broken, yet apparently intuitive, line drawing.

Blotted-Line Technique

Details

  • Acc. No. AR00280
  • Medium Pen and ink and ink wash on paper
  • Size 43.80 x 58.40 cm
  • Credit ARTIST ROOMS National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. Acquired jointly through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund 2008

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