Andy Warhol, 
American 1928-1987,
La Grande Passion, 1984;
offset lithograph on thick paper, 
signed...

Andy Warhol, 
American 1928-1987,

La Grande Passion, 1984;

offset lithograph on thick paper, 
signed in pencil, 
published by Carillon Importers Ltd, 
sheet: 98.7 x 94.1 cm,
(framed)

Note: This is one of only 100 hand signed copies.

This work was based on a photograph by the artist and was based on an advertising campaign for Carillon Importers. La Grande Passion was a new exotic drink of a mix of Grand Marnier and Passion fruit hence the name. Throughout his career Warhol was obsessed with branding for example the famous Campbell's soup cans. This piece created in 1984, La Grande Passion is a late career example of Warhol's interest in product design and advertising. To create this, Warhol took Polaroids and created screenprints on both board and canvas. There is life and celebration in the image, with vivid shares of coral, yellow, aquamarine and the abstract passion fruit flower. In the centre there is the bottle of La Grande Passion, a bottle of passion fruit flavoured brandy (a sister to Grand Marnier), a tropical treat newly introduced to the American market, but now no longer made. Carillon Importers, the company that owned the liquor brand and commissioned Warhol to create the image for the advertising campaign, was so pleased with the results of La Grande Passion that they commissioned Warhol again to create a similar image for Absolut Vodka in 1985. This iconic piece is represented in numerous public collections such as The Tate Modern (London), The Whitney Museum of American Art, and the National Galleries of Scotland. There is a similar numbered print in an edition of 1000 copies, but these prints are not hand signed.

Provenance: UK Private collection | Clarendon Gallery, London

Literature: Andy Warhol, The complete commissioned posters 1964-1987, by Paul Marechal, no.38.