
Andy Warhol 1928-1987
Andy Warhol’s Myths portfolio, created in 1981, consists of ten screen prints that portray iconic figures from American popular culture. The series includes The Star (Greta Garbo), The Witch, Howdy Doody, Uncle Sam, Superman, Mammy, Dracula, Santa Claus, The Shadow, and Mickey Mouse. Each figure is treated not as character or narrative, but as symbol—part of a shared, media-shaped consciousness.
Warhol’s Myths series is less about fantasy than about the construction of fame and archetype. Many of the figures were drawn from the artist’s own childhood memories, television, and film. Others—like Dracula, Uncle Sam, or The Star—represent broader ideas of identity, nationalism, nostalgia, and mass perception. Warhol himself appears in the portfolio, disguised as The Shadow, reinforcing the blurred line between persona and publicity.
Most works in the portfolio incorporate diamond dust, a fine industrial-grade glitter that Warhol began using in the early 1980s to emphasise glamour and surface appeal. All prints in the regular edition contain diamond dust with the exception of Dracula. The prints are signed and numbered in pencil, either on the recto or verso, depending on the work: The Star, The Witch, and Howdy Doody are signed on the verso; Uncle Sam, Superman, Mammy, Dracula, Santa Claus, and The Shadow on the lower right; Mickey Mouse on the lower left.
More than a tribute to cultural storytelling, the Myths portfolio is a meditation on American identity, celebrity, and collective imagination. These works are now considered among Warhol’s most conceptually rich and visually iconic prints of the 1980s.
Literature
Feldman & Schellmann II.258–267