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National Portrait Gallery Exhibits Portrait of Ted Kennedy Painted by Andy Warhol

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery installed a portrait of Sen. Edward Kennedy by Andy Warhol. It went on view when the museum opened to the public at 11:30 a.m. in a first-floor gallery that is designated for remembrance of recently deceased individuals represented in the gallery’s collection.

Warhol’s silkscreened portrait of Kennedy was created in 1980 to raise funds for Kennedy’s campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. A special feature of the print is Warhol’s use of the colors of the American flag and diamond dust. The Portrait Gallery acquired the portrait in 2000.

Elected to the United States Senate in 1962, Edward Kennedy owed his early success to his close identification with his elder brothers, President John F. Kennedy, whose Senate term he completed, and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. Praising their commitment to public service, he acknowledged, "I'm very proud of that association."

Kennedy built on this legacy when he sought the presidency in 1980. Andy Warhol's silkscreened portrait, created as a campaign fund-raiser, plays off the colors of the American flag and suggests the glamour of politics by enhancing the candidate's features with thin red and blue lines and diamond dust. Warhol’s portrait of Kennedy is now on display at the National Portrait Gallery, on the museum’s first floor...
Read entire article at Artdaily.org