Cowboys and Indians (Sitting Bull)

Based on an archival photograph of the Lakota chief Sitting Bull, this print reflects Warhol’s longstanding interest in the Battle of the Greasy Grass (also known as Little Bighorn or “Custer’s Last Stand”). The multiple color variations seen across the trial proofs point to aesthetic disagreements between Warhol and the series’ publisher, Kent Klineman. As the comparison here reveals, Warhol and his printing assistants also experimented with the scale and cropping of the figure, with the version on the right more tightly framed than the one on the left. Unusually for Warhol, Klineman retained final approval over the project, and although this image was conceived for the Cowboys and Indians portfolio, he ultimately chose to exclude it from the published edition.

Cowboys and Indians (Sitting Bull)

1986

University of WYoming Art Museum

2014.9.3

Gregory Allicar Museum of Art, Colorado State University

2013.8.7