Andy Warhol

The Beatles

1980

© 2020 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Licensed by DACS, London

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Not on display

Artist: Andy Warhol 1928–1987
Medium: Screenprint on paper
Dimensions: Support: 313 × 915 mm
frame: 399 × 996 × 34 mm
Collection: ARTIST ROOMS Tate and National Galleries of Scotland
Acquisition: ARTIST ROOMS Acquired jointly with the National Galleries of Scotland through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund 2008
Reference: AR00409

Online caption

In 1980, a book called ‘The Beatles’ was published about the British pop group. Warhol designed the front cover which is based on a photograph by the celebrity photographer Dezo Hoffmann. Warhol has incorporated blocks of irregularly shaped colour, which, although screenprinted, appear like collaged fragments of coloured paper. The hand-drawn lines have also been printed. The vibrant, contrasting colours are characteristic of Warhol's work and evoke similarities with psychedelic album covers that The Beatles produced in the 1960s. Warhol is, however, more associated with The Rolling Stones than The Beatles, preferring their ‘bad-boy’ image to The Beatles' ‘squeaky clean’ look.