Warhol
One of the portrayed queens is Ntombi Tfwala. Ntombi Tfwala was queen regent of Swaziland, the present-day Kingdom of Eswatini, between 1983 and 1986.
Warhol used official state portraits of the queens as the basis for his works. However, there were no such portraits of Ntombi, as the country has no tradition of distributing official portraits through photography. Warhol did not receive permission from the government to use any other portrait of their queen. They believed it was inappropriate for the artist to profit millions from her portrait.
Portrait Without Permission
Despite this, Warhol asked intermediary George Mulder to obtain photos. George Mulder was a Dutch art dealer who worked in New York and had inspired Warhol to create the Reigning Queens series. In 1984, he traveled to Swaziland to negotiate, but the government did not cooperate. Through a journalist from a national newspaper, Mulder managed to acquire a few informal photos of the queen. Despite the disapproval of the royal family, Warhol proceeded with his plan. He added a headdress, resembling a crown, to her portrait, disregarding the significance of the headdress in Swazi culture. Ntombi's identity was compromised by Warhol's portrayal. After the series' publication in 1985, the government took no further steps to have the portrait removed.
Queens by Andy Warhol
Although various Dutch newspapers reported on these events in 1984 and 1985, this story has largely been forgotten. During the preparations for this exhibition, Paleis Het Loo attempted, unsuccessfully, to contact the Embassy of the Kingdom of Eswatini. Nevertheless, the decision was made to display the entire series, with ample space dedicated to this story, shedding a different light on Warhol's actions.
Copyright: Andy Warhol, Reigning Queens, 1985 ©/®/TM 2024 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Licensed by Pictoright Amsterdam 2024