Andy Warhol

ANDY WARHOL From Screen Prints to Drawings, A Creative Process

Andy Warhol was born Andrew Warhola on August 6, 1928, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

In 1949 he graduated from the Carnegie institute of Technology (now Carnegie Melton University) with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in pictorial design.

After school Warhol moved to New York to pursue a career as a commercial artist. He continued his work as a highly successful illustrator throughout the 1950s.

He made his first Pop paintings, including ones in the Campbell's Soup series, in the early 1960s. In 1962 he began a large series of celebrity portraits, which featured the stars Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, and Elizabeth Taylor among others. He began his Death and Disaster paintings at this time, a series of paintings with subjects including the electric chair and car crashes.

In 1964 he exhibited his first sculptureshundreds of replicas of large supermarket product boxes, including Brillo boxes and Kellogg s Cornflakes boxes.

From 1966 to1967 he expanded his increasingly diverse activities, producing a multimedia show called The Exploding Plastic Inevitable, which featured the influential rock-and-roll band the Velvet Underground.

The first international retrospective of Warhol's art was mounted in early 1968 at Stockholm's Moderna Museet.

In June 1968 Valerie Solanas, a disturbed writer who had appeared in one of Warhol's films, shot him in the chest. He recovered from the near-fatal shooting after a five-hour operation and months of recuperation.

Throughout the 1970s and I980s, Warhol received numerous commissions for painted portraits from socialites, celebrities, and other clients. During this time he also produced a large number of paintings, prints, photographs, and drawings, including Mao, Skull, and Self-Portrait paintings. In 1984 Warhol collaborated with the artists Jean-Michel Basquiat, Francesco Clemente, and Keith Haring on a series of artworks. In the mid-980s he also created the Sewn Photos (multiple prints of identical photographs sewn together into a grid), paintings based on Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper, and a final series of self-portraits.

Andy Warhol died in New York City on February 22, 1987due to complications following surgery to remove his gallbladder.

In 1989, the Museum of Modern Art in New York had a major retrospective of his works. In 2001 Heiner Bastian curated a Warhol retrospective that began in Berlin and travelled to the Tate in London and finally to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.

In May 1994 the Andy Warhol Museum opened in his home town Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania.

Shadows Acrylic and synthetic polymer paint and silkscreen ink on canvas 197 x 127 cm, 1978

ANDY WARHOL Shadows Acrylic and synthetic polymer paint and silkscreen ink on canvas, 1978 77 ½ x 50 inches 197 x 127 cm PA65.055 Exhibitions: Heiner Friedrich Gallery/Lone Star Foundation/Dia Center for the Arts, New York, 1979 Andy Warhol: Shadow paintings, Gagosian Gallery, New York, 1989 Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art “Andy Warhol by Andy Warhol” September 13 - December 14 , 2008 , catalogue no 31 reproduced page 112 PROVENANCE: The Andy Warhol Foundation Warhol's first exhibition of his Shadows paintings took place in New York in January 1979, the entire contents of which are now in the Dia Art Foundation's collection displayed at Beacon, New York. It was his most ambitious cycle of paintings up to that time. Warhol famously referred to them as "disco décor," since, he explained "the opening party had disco" ("Painter Hangs His Own Paintings," The New Yorker, February 5, 1979). Yet an entry in Warhol's diary reveals how he strongly felt that they had much deeper meaning than simple decoration - Warhol complained that a dinner companion "was saying that my work was just 'decorative.' That got me really mad, and I'm so embarrassed, everybody saw the real me".

The painting on show is a beautiful example of the compelling, almost hypnotic power of the series as such. Executed in black and luscious dark blue, it reflects both Warhol’s definition of these images as being images of “nothing” and the human eye’s and mind’s immediate attempt to find a tangible visual structure. This painting is a particularly pure yet subdued visual tour de force.

LITERATURE Andy Warhol: Shadow Paintings, introduction by Julian Schnabel, (exhibition catalogue), Illustrated in colour on pages 18 & 19.

The Andy Warhol Diaries, ed. P. Hackett, 1989, p.199

Two Multicoloured Marilyn’s (Reversal Series) Acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas, 46 x 71 cm

ANDY WARHOL Two Multi-coloured Marilyns (Reversal Series) 1981 Acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas 46 x 71 cm Signed, inscribed, stamped Warhol’s reversal technique transmitted many of his iconic images from the sixties into wickedly minacious and dark works. Warhol plundered his own past, taking his old silkscreens and inking them across the canvases pre-painted by mop. Reversals, like his earlier Shadows communicate Warhol’s deep sense of the passing time and inevitable mortality.

Set against a pitch black background, Two Multi-coloured Marilyns (Reversal Series) are illuminated through radiant contours of shades of red, blue, purple and green.

Glowing through the canvas, as if being lit by footlights from behind, the image is repeated as if in a filmstrip. Executed in a stylish manner, enhanced with the mystique of Warhol's own legend, Two Multi-coloured Marilyns (Reversal Series) is a seminal work in the artist's oeuvre visually depicting an image of fame, engaging with fameconferring power of a culture saturated with image-reproduction and the disastrous effects of its time. The work is a powerful example of one of the world's most recognisable celebrities, whose fame and misfortune are captured in a painting, which serves the purpose to immortalise her status, whilst equally eternalising it as one of Warhol's most famous subject-matters ever to have been put onto canvas.

Merce Cunningham Silkscreen ink on linen, 68.5 x 48 cm, 1963

Andy Warhol Merce Cunningham, 1963 Silkscreen ink on linen 27 ¼ x 18 7/8 inches 68.5 x 48 cm Provenance: The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual arts – PA 55.039 Exhibition: Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art “Andy Warhol by Andy Warhol” September 13 - December 14, 2008, catalogue no 7 reproduced page 85 That Warhol would sooner or later make great portraits of dancer-choreographer Merce Cunningham is not at all surprising. Cunningham was part of a successful and groundbreaking generation of artists in New York who helped inspire a younger generation, including Warhol.

Cunningham’s energetic approach to choreography and dancing was worked out jointly with his partner, John Cage (who influence on contemporary art music has been equally important).

A part of several in-motion portraits, this Cunningham portrait is dynamic, on par with the dancer’s celebrated performances and with John Cage’s music at its most serene.

Cunningham himself loved the paintings, and later collaborated indirectly with Warhol by including his inflatable “silver clouds” in a dance performance.

The Cunningham image may go against the preconceived image of the classically trained dancer at work, yet it contains all the creative essence of a master artist. The immediate monochrome expression of the surface activates our desire to look closer. What we find is nothing less than supreme creativity in motion, filtered through Cunningham’s body arched like a tense bow.

Reference: Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonne, vol. 01,pages 301-307,Phaidon Press, 2002-2004 Andy Warhol by Rainer Crone, pages 154-155, Praeger Publisher, 1970

Duty Free Synthetic polymer and silkscreen inks on canvas, 101.6 x 101.6 cm, 1982

Andy Warhol Duty Free 1982 Synthetic polymer paint and silkscreen ink on canvas 101.6 x 101.6 cm Exhibitions: Art Basel, June 20-26, 2000 presented by Jablonka Galerie.

Provenance: The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. Brand names and advertising logos have always fascinated Andy Warhol. Starting from the 1950’s Andy was immersed into commercial imagery, the most famous examples are Coca-Cola bottles and Campbell’s soup cans.

In October of 1982 Andy Warhol travelled to Hong Kong to attend an opening of an exclusive private discothèque called the I Club. Jeffrey Deitch, an art dealer and one of Citibank’s art advisors, organized this trip to Asia. It was Deitch who introduced Andy to Chantal and Robert Miller, owners of a chain of shops called Duty Free. Andy must have seen these shops with the two red words “Duty Free” during his stay in Asia. Shortly after arrival in New-York Deitch brought Millers into Andy’s studio and arranged to have Chantal’s and Robert’s portraits painted by Andy. Robert Miller then commissioned Warhol his company logo.

Several months later Millers returned to Warhol’s studio to at the Duty Free paintings. Andy had painted the logo exactly what it was. The Millers were not satisfied with the result and Andy had to work out new ways to paint their logo. Most likely, there were other visits to Andy’s studio but nothing was decided and these works remained in Andy’s collection.

Literature: Andy Warhol Duty Free, essay by Vincent Foremont, (exhibition catalogue), illustrated in colour, page 6, Jablonka Galerie, Koln.

Doda Voridis Synthetic polymer and sikscreen ink on canvas, 101.6 x 101.6 cm, 1977

Mark Liebowitz (Brown) Synthetic polymer and silkscreen ink on canvas, 101.6 x 101.6 cm, 1977

Mark Liebowitz (Blue) Synthetic polymer and silkscreen ink on canvas, 101.6 x 101.6 cm, 1977

Mark Liebowitz Synthetic polymer and silkscreen ink on canvas, 1977 101.6 X 101.6 cm PROVENANCE: The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. Doda Voridis 1977 Synthetic polymer and silkscreen ink on canvas 101.6 X 101.6 cm PROVENANCE: The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. In the seventies Warhol began to produce a series of silkscreen portraits of celebrities and socialites. Nearly all of them were commissioned works, everyone, from art dealers to actors and financial tycoons were queuing to have his or her image, and therefore social status, immortalised by Warhol.

Warhol has contributed greatly to perpetuation of the glamour and wealth dreams.

Isabella Adjani Screenprint and coloured graphic art paper colage on HMP paper, 80.01 x 59.69 cm, 1986

Paratrooper Boots (Diptych) Synthetic polymer and silkscreen ink on canvas, 50.8 x 40.6 cm each, 1985 - 1986

Reagan Budget

Are You Different?

Acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen, 50.8 x 40.6 cm, 1985-86

Synthetic polymer and silkscreen inks on canvas, 50.8 x 40.6 cm, 1985

Four works above belong to a series of black and white paintings of ads and illustrations executed between 1985 and 1986. Several painting from the series were exhibited five years after Warhol’s death at the Gagosian Gallery in New York. In the context of the artist’s oeuvre they are seen as reflections on American society and are highly relevant today.

Exhibitions: Gagosian Gallery, New York, 1992 LITERATURE Andy Warhol: B&W Paintings, Ads and Illustrations 1985-1986, Gagosian Gallery exhibition catalogue, Illustrated in on pages 35, 55 and 56.

Self Portrait (Green) Screenprint and coloured graphic art paper, 50.8 x 33.2 cm, 1967

Self Portrait (Silver)

Diana Vreeland Rampant Screenprint and coloured graphic art paper colage on white paper, 96.5 x 63.5 cm, 1984

Paramount Screen print on Lenox Museum Board, 96.5 x 96.5cm, 1985

Paramount Synthetic polymer paint on HMP paper, 127 x 96.5 cm, 1985

Mobilgas

Mobilgas

Screenprint on Lenox Museum Board, 96.5 x 96.5cm, 1985

Synthetic polymer paint on HMP paper, 127 x 96.5 cm, 1985

Vesuvius

Vesuvius

Synthetic polymer paint on HMP paper, 60 x 79.5 cm, 1985

Graphite on HMP paper, 60.5 x 80.5 cm, 1985

Vesuvius Screen print on Arches 88 paper, 80 x 100 cm, 1985

Speed Skater

Speed Skater

Screenprint on Arches 88 Paper, 85.1 x 64.8 cm, 1983

Graphite on HMP paper, 80.5 x 59.5 cm, 1983

Cologne Cathedral

Cologne Cathedral

Screen print on Lenox Museum Board, 100 x 80 cm, 1985

Graphite on HMP paper, 79 x 59.5 cm, 1985

Hammer and Sickle Screen print on Strathmore Bristol Paper, 76.2 x 101.6 cm, 1977

Hammer and Sickle Graphite on HMP paper, 68 x 102.5 cm, 1977

Hammer and Sickle Screen print on Strathmore Bristol Paper, 76.2 x 101.6 cm, 1977

Hammer and Sickle Graphite on HMP paper, 68 x 102.5 cm, 1977

Hammer and Sickle Screen print on Strathmore Bristol Paper, 76.2 x 101.6 cm, 1977

Hammer and Sickle Screen print on Strathmore Bristol Paper, 76.2 x 101.6 cm, 1977

Trump Tower

Trump Tower

Graphite on HMP paper, 77.8 x 102.5 cm, 1981

Graphite on HMP paper, 102.87 x 77.47 cm, 1981

Crab Graphite on HMP paper, 60 x 80 cm, 1982

Lobster Graphite on HMP paper, 80 x 60 cm, 1982

Alfred Hitchcock

Queen Ntombi Twala Of Swaziland

Graphite on paper, 78.7 x 58.4 cm, 1983

Graphite on paper, 78.7 x 58.4 cm, 1985

Hans Christian Andersen Synthetic on paper, 78.7 x 58.4 cm, 1987

Hans Christian Andersen (Decorative Image) Synthetic on paper, 78.7 x 58.4 cm, 1987

Dog

Marilyn Monroe (Retrospective Series)

Graphite on paper, 78.7 x 58.4 cm, 1982

Screenprint on Curtis Rag paper, 57.2 x 44.5 cm

SAS Passenger Ticket Screenprint on paper, 67.9 x 123.8cm, 1968

Indian Head Nickel

Indian Head Nickel

Silkscreen print on Lenox Museum Board, 91.4 x 91.4 cm, 1986

Unique silkscreen print on Lenox Museum Board (aside from the regular edition), 91.4 x 91.4 cm, 1986

Indian Head Nickel

Geronimo

Synthetic polymer paint on HMP Paper, 101.6 x 76.2 cm, 1986

Silkscreen Print on Lenox Museum Board, 91.4 x 91.4 cm, 1986

Mother and Child

Mother and Child

Synthetic polymer paint and silkscreen ink on canvas, 102.5 x 77.5 cm, 1986

Graphite on HMP paper, 102.5 x 77.5 cm, 1986

Mother and Child

Mother and Child

Screenprint on Lenox Museum Board, 91.4 x 91.4 cm, 1986

Graphite on HMP paper, 102.5 x 77.5 cm, 1986

Kachina Doll Graphite on HMP paper, 101.9 x 77.5 cm, 1986

Kachina Dolls Silkscreen Print on Lenox Museum Board, 91.4 x 91.4 cm, 1986

Sitting Bull

Northwest Coast Mask

Synthetic polymer paint on handmade wove paper, 80.0 x 60.3 cm, 1986

Screenprint on Lenox Museum Board, 91.4 x 91.4 cm, 1986

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