Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol’s Sunset series, published in 1972, was created for the newly opened Marquette Hotel in Minneapolis, following a commission from the architects Johnson and Burgee. The project reflects Warhol’s long-standing connection with Philip Johnson, who was both a friend and an important collector of the artist’s work. In deliberate contrast to the hotel’s crisp modernist 70’s interior, the vividly coloured prints brought a bold, atmospheric energy to each room.

The edition stands among Warhol’s most ambitious printed projects; the series comprises 632 impressions in unique colour combinations. Of these, 472 were made for installation in the hotel, while 160 were reserved for portfolios of four. This impression is one of 472 impressions installed in the Marquette Hotel. The hotel examples can be identified by an additional ink stamp on the reverse reading “Hotel Marquette Prints,” marking their original use in the building. Following refurbishment of the hotel in 1981, the prints installed there were removed and returned to Warhol.

Composed from just three screens, Warhol’s Sunset demonstrates his exceptional mastery of colour screenprinting. Layers of vivid ink blend into an atmospheric ombre sky, using colour to move beyond naturalistic representation. The image was reworked from an unfinished film project begun in 1967, commissioned by the de Menil family for the Rothko Chapel, in which Warhol filmed sunsets across America. Although the film was never completed, the motif found new expression in this print series, which captures the fleeting, ephemeral quality of sunset through endless variation in tone and intensity.