“Orangutan” (FS II.299)
screenprint
from the Endangered Species series, 1983 (signed and numbered edition of 150)
© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. [educational use]
Happy #WorldOrangutanDay!
There are currently three living species of Orangutan recognized in the genus Pongo, all of which are unfortunately critically endangered: the Bornean Orangutan (P. pygmaeus, with three subspecies), the Sumatran Orangutan (P. abelii), and the Tapanuli Orangutan (P tapanuliensis).
Andy Warhol selected the orangutan as one of ten animals for his Endangered Animals print series of 1983 (at the time, there was only a single species recognized). Here is the complete set:
© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. [educational use]
Warhol would revisit this theme just two years later, providing a series of 15 illustrations for the book Vanishing Animals:
© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. [educational use]
I run a flex class on Outschool about these two series, “Animals in World Art History: Warhol’s Endangered & Threatened Animals” (ages 7-12 here and 13-18 here). I’ll also write a longer post here at some point identifying each of the animals and their current statuses; for now, you can read about both series here.
