Circa 1970-1980

USA or England

Iconic Open This End Screen Print cotton dress by Andy Warhol (1928-1987) dating from the first reeditions of the 1970s. As in the original 1962 paper work, the blood-red paint smudges and defects are clearly visible.  The printed cotton bias on the neck and sleeves is also true to the original paper one. The background is a cheap unbleached cotton. Trace of a label cut on the collar, this could be a Mr Feedom (?) manufacture in England circa 1971. All seams are machine sewn. Exceptionally good condition. Probably never worn. A rare collector's item.

Dimensions: Equivalent size 38 France. Height 103 cm, range sleeve to sleeve 83 cm, chest 90-95 cm, waist 87-90 cm, hips 95-100 cm. Amplitude bottom of dress 130 cm

Open This End, part of a small series depicting shipping and handling labels, is one of the earliest paintings in which Warhol used screen printing to reproduce commercial objects and repetitive images. The technique suited Warhol well, allowing him to duplicate images at will in an artistic simulation of industrial production. A few months after making Open This End, the artist discovered that he could use screen printing to reproduce photographs. Open This End belongs to a group of paintings Warhol made from 1962 onwards, which depict labels used in shipping: "Fragile", "Fragile Handle With Care", "Handle With Care Glass Thank You", "This Side Up" and "Open This End". The screen-printed label "Open This End" appears in only four works in Warhol's oeuvre. Three of these are small screen-printed paintings on linen. The largest and most complex is the example Warhol chose to create on a Waste Basket Boutique paper dress. The richness and density of the colour field makes it clear that Warhol methodically cleaned and re-inked the silkscreen after each image was laid down.

Open This End references and suggests affinities with other art movements that have taken everyday objects as their subjects, including conceptual art, performance art and Fluxus, and anticipates the role of written language in the work of Ed Ruscha, Jenny Holzer, Barbara Kruger and Bruce Naumann, among others.