Andy Warhol's 'Hammer and Sickle' Paintings Aren't Meant To Be Political

White Cube recently launched an online viewing salon that probes one of the more overlooked series in Andy Warhol's prolific pop art oeuvre. Warhol's Hammer and Sickle paintings were initially created in 1975 when the artist paid a visit to Italy during a period of widespread left-wing protests. While these objects strongly recall the emblem of Communism -- which championed the union of industrial and agricultural labor -- the artist was moreso enamored by the objects themselves as well as the u...