Flash - November 22, 1963 (T.P.), 1968

Andy Warhol’s Flash – November 22, 1963 (F.S. II.35) from 1968 stands as one of his most haunting meditations on tragedy, repetition, and the power of mass media. Created as part of the seminal Flash series, the work confronts the assassination of President John F. Kennedy not through narrative, but through relentless visual recall. This unique trial proof screenprint, measuring 21 x 21 inches, presents Kennedy’s likeness in striking red tones, layered at varying opacities to evoke the flicker and fragmentation of televised news. The aggressive monochromatic palette amplifies the sense of urgency and shock, transforming a singular historical moment into an endlessly replayed image—mirroring how the event was consumed by millions through broadcast media.

Printed by Aetna Silkscreen Product, Inc. in New York and published by Racolin Press, Inc. of Briarcliff Manor, this trial proof occupies a particularly rare position within Warhol’s practice, revealing the artist’s experimental process before the final edition. Stamped on the verso by both The Estate of Andy Warhol and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the work carries institutional validation alongside its emotional weight. Here, Warhol collapses celebrity, catastrophe, and reproduction into a single image, forcing the viewer to confront how collective memory is shaped not by lived experience, but by repetition and media saturation. The result is a work that is at once starkly political and profoundly psychological—one of Warhol’s most enduring statements on modern history.