Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom © 2009 Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / DACS, London  Artist   Andy WARHOL Title   Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom    Portfolio Title   Reigning Queens (Royal Edition)    Date   1985 Medium   Screenprint with diamond dust on Lenox Museum Board Dimensions   100(H) x 80(W) Inscription   br: R PP1/2 Andy Warhol Edition No   Printer's Proof 1/2 Published   George C. P. Mulder, Amsterdam, 1985 Acquisition   Purchased from Sotheby's, 2 July 2002 Number   17714 Description Andy Warhol's iconic image of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II hovers between the formality of a traditional portrait and the brashness of modern advertising. The photograph on which the image is based is an official Jubilee portrait taken in 1977. This vibrant screenprint is one of a number of portraits of Elizabeth II from a series by Warhol entitled Reigning Queens, which also includes images of the Queens of Denmark and the Netherlands. The technique of screenprinting enabled him to repeat the image with different colour combinations. Each block of colour is slightly misaligned, suggesting the imperfections of mass-produced commercial images. Andy Warhol, one of the most important artists of the twentieth century, was born Andrew Warhola to Czechoslovakian parents in Pittsburgh. He studied painting and drawing at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh between 1945 and 1949, before becoming a highly successful commercial advertising artist in the 1950s.