Andy Warhol - Hammer and Sickle (FS II.162 - Black and White - Unique)

Hammer and Sickle 162 (Black and White) Unique Print by Andy Warhol

Hammer and Sickle (FS II.162 – Black and White – Unique) is a unique screenprint from Andy Warhol’s Hammer and Sickle series. The portfolio, created in 1977, features a simplistic and further deconstructed version of the Hammer and Sickle portfolio including tools that were not featured in the original. The inspiration for the portfolio came to be after Warhol traveled to Italy in 1976. While in Italy, he came across various amounts of street graffiti that depicted the hammer and sickle, representing the union of farm and industrial workers under communist control. Taken by the ubiquity of the symbol, Warhol returned to Manhattan to reimagine the famed icconography.

With the help of his studio assistant, Ronnie Cutrone, Warhol gathered tools with close resemblance to the hammer and sickle depicted in the communist iconography and photographed the tools from various angles, compositions, and viewpoints. Though the overall intention of the portfolio was to survey the visual appearance of the tools, and the relevance of the infamous symbol, some perceived the portfolio as a form of political commentary underlining the communist ideology. Ongoing stress and tensions of the Cold War likely contributed to the panicked views toward the portfolio. The continuous conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union post-WWII generated fear surrounding the belief and spread of communism in the states.

Warhol, having prior works featuring political subject matter such as his Flash, Mao, and Lenin portfolios, remained clear with his intention surrounding the Hammer and Sickle series. When faced with questions regarding the portfolio’s intentions, Warhol’s only comment was, “we went off to the store and bought a hammer and sickle. Bob [editor of Interview Magazine] has a lawn to cut.”