Art & culture
Ethel Scull 36 Times is a painting made from booth images
Distinguish the source photographs from Warhol’s finished work.
A familiar grid of portraits can be related to the photobooth without itself being a photographic strip.
The finished object
The Whitney dates Ethel Scull 36 Times to 1963 and identifies acrylic and screenprint on canvas in thirty-six parts. Its account connects the source portraits to a Times Square photobooth. The work is jointly owned by the Whitney and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Evidence: Collection record
Read the transformation
The museum describes the panels arranged in four rows of nine. Our viewing suggestion is to compare changes in face, colour and repetition, while remembering that the finished canvas grid is a distinct object from the automated source prints. Do not label a reproduction of the painting as an original photobooth strip simply because its portraits began in a booth.
Evidence: Collection record
Sources & further reading
Sources for the specific facts and product descriptions above. Our worked examples, interpretations and practical suggestions are original editorial guidance.
- Whitney Museum — Ethel Scull 36 Times (1963)Collection record