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Image Not Available for The New Spirit (Donald Duck), from Ads
The New Spirit (Donald Duck), from Ads
Image Not Available for The New Spirit (Donald Duck), from Ads

The New Spirit (Donald Duck), from Ads

Primary (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1928–New York, New York, 1987)
Printer
NationalityAmerican, North America
Date1985
MediumScreenprint in thirteen colors from eleven screens
DimensionsSheet: 38 × 38 in. (96.5 × 96.5 cm)
Credit LineBlanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Archer M. Huntington Museum Fund, 1985.58.8
Rights Statement
Collection AreaPrints and Drawings
Object number1985.58.8/10
On View
Not on view
Label Text
Hollywood plays a particularly powerful role in disseminating the American image. In The New Spirit, Warhol incorporates an image of Donald Duck from a promotional poster for war bonds in which the Disney character is portrayed as the endearing, struggling figure of the patriotic Everyman. In the appropriation, then, Warhol recapitulates the course of the popular selling of American patriotism, from governmental fund-raising, through Walt Disney Studios, the personality of Donald Duck, and finally to Warhol himself. A master of self-promotion, Warhol is drawn to an exaggeration of the visual vitality, but also the sentimental shallowness, produced by American marketing skill.
Exhibitions