Andy Warhol “Uncle Sam”

February 25, 2009 at 1:50 am (Uncategorized)

Andy Warhol (Andrew Warhola) was born in August 6 1928. He was an American painter, filmmaker, and conceptual artist. Also he was best known for his Pop art. One of his art work “Uncle Sam” is also one of his famous pop arts. He became famous worldwide. What was unique about Andy Warhol was that he would pick something that we see commonly everyday and paint a magnificent artwork with it, just like how he made Uncle Sam.

Uncle Sam was painted in 1981. Surprisingly, there was not any war in issue during this period. The reason why he chose Uncle Sam is unknown. However, what I believe was the reason is that he experienced WW2, Korean war, and Vietnam war as he was growing up. He must have seen numerous Uncle Sam posters on the street. That must have been the reason why it inspired him to do this painting.

Unfortunately, his “Uncle Sam” artwork description is not available in the web. I was unable to find the tool and ink he used to produce such magnificent painting. However, what I do know is that he used pastel crayon to make it stand out as a pop artwork. The mood of the painting is very evident. It is very sharp while the pastel crayon makes it smooth. Straight lines were used rather than curved lines and Andy Warhol tried to use less colours as possible in order to emphasize “pop” feeling.

In my own version of “Uncle Sam”, I juxtaposed the painting by changing motto of Uncle Sam (War) into very peaceful person. Also, instead of making Uncle Sam American, I made him into a proud Canadian person. There is a peace sign on his left chest in order to emphasize that he is seeking for peace.