Warhol Black Hat

In 1981 Warhol began a body of work that focused on the dollar sign and resulted in drawings and paintings as well as this series of screen prints. The Dollar Signs were first exhibited in January 1982 at Leo Castelli Gallery in New York. Created during a period of American history commonly associated with the commercialism and materialism of the Raegan era, Warhol’s Dollar Signs could not have been more timely or prescient. The artist once again demonstrated his ability to identify the zeitgeist; in this instance by painting money: laying bare the business of art as commodity. Unlike a generation of artists who preceded him, Warhol extolled the connection between art and its financial value.