This provocative linear drawing depicts a young man injecting drugs. It is one of several works that Warhol made relating to the radio programme, ‘The Nation’s Nightmare’ in 1951. A similar drawing to this was printed on the cover of an album of the show and published as a full-page advert in the New York Times – for which Warhol received his first Art Directors Club Medal in 1952. Although employing his blotted-line technique, this work is clearly different from his other commercial drawings of the time. Renowned for quirky illustrations of shoes and handbags, ‘The Nation’s Nightmare’ reveals the darker side of American culture - an aspect which would feature in much of his later work, such as the 'Death and Disaster' series and some of his films of the mid 1960s.