Andy Warhol Superman

Created in 1981, the idea for Andy Warhol’s Myths series was prompted by a Howdy Doody doll he found at a rural flea market. At the time, Warhol was accompanied by his art dealer and publisher, Ronald Feldman, who suggested that the artist ‘assemble a pantheon of mythological Americana’. Warhol invited actors to his studio, which was staged like a film set, and photographed them using his Big Shot Polaroid camera. These images became the basis of character portraits such as Santa Claus, Uncle Sam and The Witch, which feature alongside appropriated imagery of Mickey Mouse and Superman. Warhol himself appears in the portfolio in the guise of The Shadow, a mysterious narrator to 1930s pulp detective novels who evolved to become the focus of numerous comics, radio plays and films. 

Warhol’s depiction of Superman here derives from an original image by D.C. Comics. Originating from a comic book in this way, the artwork not only epitomizes a truly American concept of myth, but also engages with Warhol’s career-long interest in the mass reproduction and distribution of images.