Andy Warhol’s Martha Graham (FS. II 389) is one of three screenprints from Warhol’s Martha Graham portfolio. This print captures the pioneering figure of modern dance, Martha Graham, executing a graceful and dramatic kick from her performance Letter to the World. Warhol uses vivid pink tones in Graham’s dress to emphasize her femininity and vitality. Based on a 1940 photograph by American photographer Barbara Morgan — one of the most iconic and widely circulated images of Graham — the print brings the fluidity and drama of dance into a still, two-dimensional form. Warhol’s characteristic hand-drawn lines accentuate the sweeping motion of Graham’s body and gown, masterfully conveying the energy and unanchored grace of the performance.

Warhol created the Martha Graham portfolio to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance in New York. In this series, Warhol explores the beauty of dance, capturing its fleeting, emotional power through the static medium of screenprinting. Drawing once again from Barbara Morgan’s celebrated photographs, Warhol pays tribute to Graham’s legacy not only as a dancer but as an artist who communicated profound emotion through movement. Alongside Letter to the World (The Kick), Warhol’s other prints in the series — Lamentation and Satyric Festival Song — further highlight different aspects of Graham’s emotional and physical range, offering a multifaceted portrait of a woman who transformed the language of dance.