Reigning Queens (Royal Edition): Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Grugeon’s portrait of Queen Elizabeth II provided the basis for this work by Andy Warhol, part of an ambitious portfolio of screenprints, entitled Reigning Queens. Warhol has bleached out details, and instead overlaps vibrant colours and graphic shapes, simplifying the sitter to a symbol of monarchy.

This print is from a special Royal edition of the portfolio featuring ‘diamond dust’ (in reality fine particles of crushed glass), applied to the portrait when wet.