Andy Warhol’s U.N. Stamp (FS II.185), created in 1979, is a colourful offset lithograph on Rives BFK paper produced in collaboration with the World Federation of United Nations Associations. The work was commissioned to support United Nations Disaster Relief programs and issued in an edition of 1,000—500 bearing a U.S. stamp cancellation and 500 with a Swiss stamp cancellation—each hand-signed by the artist.
The print transforms the everyday postage stamp into a vibrant Pop Art composition. Warhol overlays the familiar form of the United Nations emblem with bold, abstract shapes in vivid hues of blue, orange, yellow, and purple, framed within a simple rectangular border. The official postal cancellation mark appears directly on the print, merging art and ephemera and emphasizing Warhol’s fascination with mass production, circulation, and communication.
In U.N. Stamp, Warhol elevates a humble, functional object—the stamp—to the level of fine art, while also celebrating themes of global unity and connection. The imagery speaks to the idea of exchange across nations, echoing the U.N.’s mission of international cooperation. True to Warhol’s vision, it blurs the line between art and the everyday, reminding viewers that even the smallest printed image can carry powerful cultural and political meaning.