Andy Warhol “Karen Kain” (1980)

by GWOP

Cranbrook Art Museum

Karen Kain is a Canadian ballet dancer who trained at the National Ballet School of Canada. She later became the artistic director at the National Ballet School of Canada. This screenprint is based off a photograph of the dancer. The portrait is embellished with blocks of vibrant yellows, oranges, purples and blues.

The Karen Kain portrait is a colored screen print created with diamond dust on Lenox museum board in 1980. Karen Kain captivated Warhol as she did to audiences around the world who watched her as a principal ballet dancer in the National Ballet of Canada. The screen print was based off of a Polaroid taken by Warhol in his famed studio, The Factory.