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Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands was created in 1985 and forms a part of Andy Warhol's celebrated series from that year, Reigning Queens,. The series consisted of portraits of four female monarchs in their own right, rather than those married to a King Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, Queen Ntombi laTfwala of Swaziland and Queen Beatrix, who in turn had succeeded her mother, Queen Juliana. Based on official or media photographs, Warhol incorporated abstract blocks of colour that, although screen printed, appear collaged. He has also combined printed elements derived from drawings, which emphasise details such as jewellery. As the King of Pop Art, it was only natural that Warhol should turn to these celebrated queens as his subjects. Early in his career, Warhol had taken the dollar bill as a source, as well as the various starlets and celebrities of his day now, he was portraying people whose portraits were reproduced on the currency of their nations. Queen Beatrix perfectly encapsulated the fairytale glamour that so enthralled Warhol within the world of celebrity and the international aristocracy to which his own fame had given him access.οΎ
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