(Pittsburgh 1928–1987 New York)
“25 Cats name(d) Sam and one Blue Pussy”, c. 1954, signed on the colophon Andy Warhol, the complete set of 18 handcoloured offset lithographs, including cover (21.5 x 14.2 cm), offset lithographs and watercolour on paper, each watercoloured, from the edition of 190, each 22 x 14.5 cm, printed by Seymour Berlin, each framed

Provenance:
Private Collection, New York
Private Collection, Germany

Literature:
Frayda Feldmann/Jörg Schellmann, Andy Warhol Prints, A Catalogue Raisonné 1962–1987, Munich 1997, no. IV 52A-68A

“25 Cats name(d) Sam and one Blue (Pussy)” was executed in 1954 and was intended to be printed as an edition of 190 offset prints by Seymour Berlin. However, it is assumed that fewer than 150 copies were made. Charles Lisanby is named as the author and Andy Warhol’s mother worked on the project as a calligrapher. Hers was the mistake with the missing “d” in the title which Warhol did not have corrected, enjoying the random imperfections in his works which usually resulted from the techniques he used. The work was based on the Warhol’s own cats. Julia Warhola called all her cats Sam and only one Hester. Andy Warhol took as the model for the lithographs not his own cats, but rather photographs from the New York Public Library. He used his own blotted line technique, with which he had been experimenting in the previous semesters at the Carnegie Institute. Years later he would say, “I always wanted to find out how my sketches would look as prints”.

Every single “Cats” print was coloured differently, by Warhol and his friends, and the number of coloured sheets varied from set to set. Andy Warhol gave most of the prints away, each numbered and with a personal dedication, to friends and clients. Others were commissioned by influential Americans as presents for friends.