S&H Green Stamps showcases Warhol's career–long fascination with ready–made, reproducible imagery. To create the painting Warhol hand stamped an image of an S & H Green Stamp trading coupon in three successive layers (light green, dark green, and red) using silkscreen ink. This labor–intensive three–step stamping process mimicked the more efficient process of screenprinting, which Warhol would employ in the months to follow. The lack of a focal point in the work pays tribute to the allover compositions of Jackson Pollock and other Abstract Expressionists, but with its banal motif and repetitive imagery S&H Green Stamps embodies a witty reproach to the grand and heroic canvases of these artists. This work featuring stamps, itself stamped into existence, exemplifies the artist’s sly, deadpan sense of humor.
Gallery label from 2008.