Little Electric Chair

This and other prints from Warhol’s Death and Disaster series reflect his fascination with the violence and tragedy saturating the news. The series includes images of car crashes, bomb explosions, riots, and the electric chair. First introduced in 1963, the electric chair motif may have been prompted by New York State’s decision that same year to suspend its use of the device in carrying out executions. The original photograph Warhol used is labeled “Sing Sing’s Death Chamber” and also identifies the chair as the same one in which Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were slated to be electrocuted. The Rosenbergs were the only American civilians executed for espionage during the Cold War.

Little Electric Chair

1964

University of Wyoming Art Museum

Gift of Mr. William Dean

1979.169.1