Andy Warhol, “The Big C 699” (1985), Folded Card for First Posthumous Exhibition Recent Works, Leo Castelli Gallery, 1987
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Offset print, 9″ x 5″ (folded); 18″ x 5″ (open)
The exhibition of Warhol’s “Recent Work” was held only months after the artist’s death (in February 1987), and featured seven of his last paintings. The Last Supper iconography in “The Big C 699” (reproduced on the announcement) seems to express intimations of mortality, though Warhol isn’t known to have been ailing at the time it was made.
Warhol’s death was strongly felt by many of the younger artists who tried to carry his mantle, including Jean-Michel Basquiat.