Andy Warhol’s Goethe (F&S II.271) forms part of a 1982 portfolio that reinterprets the celebrated 19th-century portrait of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe by Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein. Warhol sourced the image from the canonical painting Goethe in the Roman Campagna (1787), a defining representation of Germany’s most famous literary and philosophical figure.

Rather than depict Goethe in classical terms, Warhol recontextualises him as a Pop icon. Using his signature silkscreen technique, Warhol flattens and abstracts the portrait, distancing it from its Romantic origins and repositioning Goethe as a symbol—a face to be consumed and circulated. This translation of a revered intellectual into the visual logic of celebrity reflects Warhol’s enduring interest in fame, repetition, and cultural memory.

Goethe is one of Warhol’s few engagements with European historical figures, and it stands apart from his more commercial or contemporary subjects. The series was originally commissioned for a German audience and was first exhibited at Galerie Börjeson in Malmö, Sweden.

This print is signed and numbered in pencil lower right and is offered by Coskun Fine Art in excellent condition. Full authentication and provenance are available upon request.