Cow Wallpaper

work by Warhol

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Last updated

July 21, 2026

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Andy Warhol's Cow Wallpaper (1966) is a significant work within the Pop art movement. Created by Warhol, a leading figure in Pop art, this wallpaper features a repeating pattern of cows. It was used to cover an entire room at the Leo Castelli gallery in New York City.

Warhol's intention with Cow Wallpaper was to contrast the domestic and "decorative" with the grand cultural statements often associated with Abstract Expressionism. By transforming the "all-over" field of Abstract Expressionist painting into a repetitive pattern, he implicitly challenged the established norms of fine art and embraced elements of mass production and popular culture, which were central themes in his broader body of work.12

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Western painting
Pop art in Britain and the United States: the 1960s
His Cow Wallpaper of 1966, which was used to paper an entire room at Leo Castelli’s New York City gallery, effectively turned the “all-over” field of Abstract Expressionist painting into a repeat pattern, implicitly opposing the domestic and “decorative” to the grand cultural statements of, say,…
Read More
His Cow Wallpaper of 1966, which was used to paper an entire room at Leo Castelli’s New York City gallery, effectively turned the “all-over” field of Abstract Expressionist painting into a repeat pattern, implicitly opposing the domestic and “decorative” to the grand cultural statements of, say,…
Read More