Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Eagle Mountain”?
Artist Statement
Screen Print 18 x 24 inches Edition of 300 $30
Summary
Eagle Mountain is a 2006 Shepard Fairey screen print published by Obey Giant in a first edition of 300, measuring 18 x 24 inches. Released at an original price of $30, it features eagle imagery rendered in Fairey's flat, high-contrast graphic style. The print sits among his accessible mid-2000s screen-print editions, combining bold emblematic composition with his signature limited palette. As a standard 18 x 24 inch edition of 300, it reflects the broadly available format Obey Giant used during this period, and its eagle motif connects to Fairey's recurring use of powerful symbolic creatures in his graphic vocabulary.
Why It Matters
Eagle Mountain draws on the eagle, a charged symbol that Shepard Fairey deploys across his work to evoke power, nationalism, and authority, often with an ironic or critical edge. The combination of eagle and mountain imagery gives the print a monumental, emblematic quality consistent with his propaganda-poster sensibility, where strong central symbols carry compact meaning. For collectors, the work represents the steady mid-2000s Obey Giant output through which Fairey refined his iconographic system, recycling potent symbols across editions. Released in 2006 as a standard 18 x 24 inch edition of 300, it was broadly accessible at the time and documents the period just before the 2008 Obama image brought him mainstream recognition. The eagle motif links it to a lineage of his nature-and-power imagery, complementing his portrait, floral, and OBEY-branded prints. Its appeal rests on the strength of the central symbol and its place within Fairey's larger graphic universe rather than on any scarcity claim, which the source does not support. As an affordable original release, it served as an accessible entry point for collectors building breadth across his catalog.
Collector Perspective
This print appeals to collectors drawn to Shepard Fairey's symbolic-creature and emblematic imagery and to those building breadth across his mid-2000s catalog. The bold eagle motif reads strongly on a wall and pairs naturally with other 18 x 24 inch screen prints of the period. At its accessible original format and edition size, it suits collectors who want representative graphic works rather than only large-format or celebrity pieces. Buyers interested in Fairey's use of power and nature symbols will find it a clear example. It fits comfortably in a grid alongside his other 2006 editions and complements his propaganda-styled emblematic prints.
Historical Context
Eagle Mountain belongs to Shepard Fairey's mid-2000s Obey Giant period, when he released a steady run of 18 x 24 inch screen-print editions extending his iconographic system. The eagle motif connects to his recurring use of powerful symbolic creatures, often charged with associations of nationalism and authority that he treats with a critical or ironic edge. Released in 2006, the print sits among the editions that consolidated his graphic identity in the years before the 2008 Obama "Hope" image brought mainstream fame. Its emblematic, symbol-forward composition reflects the propaganda-poster sensibility rooted in his earlier street and sticker campaigns.
FAQ
What is the edition size of Eagle Mountain?
It was published by Obey Giant in 2006 as a first edition of 300 screen prints. This was a standard run for Fairey's accessible 18 x 24 inch editions of the period, making it relatively available compared with his small large-format works.
What are the dimensions and medium?
Eagle Mountain is a screen print measuring 18 x 24 inches, rendered in Fairey's flat, high-contrast graphic style. It centers on an eagle motif in a bold emblematic composition typical of his Obey Giant editions.
What was the original price?
The source lists an original release price of $30, consistent with Obey Giant's accessible pricing for its standard 18 x 24 inch screen-print editions at the time of release in 2006.
What does the eagle imagery signify?
The eagle is a recurring symbol in Fairey's work, evoking power and authority, often treated with a critical or ironic edge. Combined with mountain imagery, it gives the print a monumental, emblematic quality in line with his propaganda-poster sensibility.
Related Works
About the Artist
Shepard Fairey (b. 1970, Charleston, South Carolina) is an American street artist, graphic designer, and activist, and a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. His 1989 “André the Giant Has a Posse” sticker grew into the global OBEY GIANT campaign — an ongoing experiment in propaganda, obedience, and visual culture. He reached worldwide recognition with the 2008 “Hope” portrait of Barack Obama, now held by the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. Across screen prints, stencils, murals, and collage, Fairey channels propaganda aesthetics toward themes of peace, justice, environmentalism, and civil rights. His work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Victoria & Albert Museum, and LACMA.