Cow 12
by Andy Warhol
Year: 1971
Medium: Screen print
Size: 50 x 30 in (127 x 76.2 cm)
Edition: Unlimited with 150 rubber stamped
Striking in scale and instantly recognisable, Andy Warhol’s Cow 12 (1971) is a 50 × 30-inch screenprint drawn from his celebrated Cow series. The playful bovine image reflects Warhol’s fascination with repetition, popular imagery, and the visual language of mass culture. From an unlimited edition, with 150 examples rubber-stamped, this work combines rarity within the series with strong graphic presence and distinctive collector appeal.
Cow 12 by Andy Warhol comes from his celebrated Cow imagery, first introduced in 1966 through a monumental wallpaper installation at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York. The source photograph, showing a Holstein cow against a vivid field of color, turned a familiar farm animal into a bold Pop Art icon. Warhol’s choice was playful, but the image also explores repetition, consumer culture, and the power of mass media.
There is no recognized street-graffiti version of Cow 12. Its impact depends on Warhol’s screenprint language and the tension between an ordinary subject and an oversized, highly commercial presentation. The cow becomes a symbol of Americana, abundance, humor, and mechanical reproduction.
For collectors, Warhol’s Cow works remain highly recognizable and important within his market. Scarcity, edition, condition, signature, and provenance can greatly influence desirability. In my view, strong examples have lasting appeal because they combine Pop Art history with an instantly memorable image.
Our curatorial take: Warhol made the familiar feel strange, and Cow 12 does exactly that.
The work belongs to Warhol’s mature 1960s Pop period and relates to his Flowers, Mao, Marilyn, and Campbell’s Soup imagery. It offers collectors a distinctive route into one of Warhol’s most adventurous series.
More Andy Warhol Works to Explore
Cow 12
by Andy Warhol
Year: 1971
Medium: Screen print
Size: 50 x 30 in (127 x 76.2 cm)
Edition: Unlimited with 150 rubber stamped
Striking in scale and instantly recognisable, Andy Warhol’s Cow 12 (1971) is a 50 × 30-inch screenprint drawn from his celebrated Cow series. The playful bovine image reflects Warhol’s fascination with repetition, popular imagery, and the visual language of mass culture. From an unlimited edition, with 150 examples rubber-stamped, this work combines rarity within the series with strong graphic presence and distinctive collector appeal.
Cow 12 by Andy Warhol comes from his celebrated Cow imagery, first introduced in 1966 through a monumental wallpaper installation at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York. The source photograph, showing a Holstein cow against a vivid field of color, turned a familiar farm animal into a bold Pop Art icon. Warhol’s choice was playful, but the image also explores repetition, consumer culture, and the power of mass media.
There is no recognized street-graffiti version of Cow 12. Its impact depends on Warhol’s screenprint language and the tension between an ordinary subject and an oversized, highly commercial presentation. The cow becomes a symbol of Americana, abundance, humor, and mechanical reproduction.
For collectors, Warhol’s Cow works remain highly recognizable and important within his market. Scarcity, edition, condition, signature, and provenance can greatly influence desirability. In my view, strong examples have lasting appeal because they combine Pop Art history with an instantly memorable image.
Our curatorial take: Warhol made the familiar feel strange, and Cow 12 does exactly that.
The work belongs to Warhol’s mature 1960s Pop period and relates to his Flowers, Mao, Marilyn, and Campbell’s Soup imagery. It offers collectors a distinctive route into one of Warhol’s most adventurous series.