Polaroids of James A. Mahoney as Uncle Sam Taken by Andy Warhol in 1981
“I think the best thing we decided to do is have people come and dress up in the costumes and we’ll take the pictures ourselves,” Andy Warhol told his Diaries on January 13, 1981 of his new Myths series. Commissioned by gallerist Ronald Feldman, the series depicts 10 imaginary characters from pop culture, including Uncle Sam. To represent this character from Americana, Warhol and Feldman hired James A. Mahoney, an actor known mostly for his work in advertising.
Warhol photographed Mahoney on December 1980 film stock at 860 Broadway, taking more than 70 Polaroids of the actor. Makeup artist Jac Colello was on hand to style his costume, which included a star-spangled top hat, a fluffy white beard and wig, and a suit that featured red-and-white striped pants.
While Warhol had multiple acetates made from different Polaroids and drawings, he ended up choosing a frontal image of Mahoney for both the prints and paintings. As was his style at the time, Warhol used a combination of line screens derived from a drawing and a halftone from a Polaroid to create the Uncle Sam paintings.
In a letter from Mahoney to Warhol and Feldman on August 15, 1981, he thanked them both for a silkscreen of Uncle Sam.
