General Custer 379 is a portrait of General George Armstrong Custer, who was commander during the American Civil War, the American Indian Wars and known for his role in the Battle of Bull Run. Custer is a controversial subject, as he fought for the confederacy and was a large part of the destruction of Native American land in the American Indian War. Warhol’s portrayal of Custer is almost contrary to the theme of the Cowboys and Indians series, but the image conjures the idea of American exceptionalism and the glorified West.
GENERAL CUSTER 379 AS PART OF ANDY WARHOL’S LARGER BODY OF WORK
Warhol interspersed recognizable portraits of well-known American heroes–John Wayne, Annie Oakley, Teddy Roosevelt, and General George Custer–with less familiar Native American images and motifs in his ironic commentary on Americans’ collective mythologizing of the historic West. Rather than portraying Native Americans within their historical landscape, or Cowboys in their veritable forms, Warhol chose to portray a popular, romanticized version of the American West. The West that he chose to represent is familiar to everyone and can be seen in novels, films, TV series. Warhol’s Cowboys and Indians Suite is an ahistorical representation that mirrors a popular interpretation of the American West. Andy Warhol created the Cowboys and Indians series during the mid-1980s, arguably his most prolific period. During this time, Warhol was forming bonds with a number of younger artists in the New York art scene including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Julian Schnabel and David Salle. Warhol saw a re-emergence of critical and financial success during this period of his life.