Andrew Warhola (Andy Warhol) was born on August 6, 1928. His parents Andrej Warhola and Julia Zavacky were immigrants who immigrated from the modern region of Slovakia to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States. In 1949, Warhol graduated from the Carnegie Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Fine Art in Pictorial Design and moved to New York to pursue his career as a commercial artist. As an artist, Warhol has explored many mediums such as hand painting, fashion, writing, film, and music. Warhol’s main objective in his work was to express American consumerism and wealth and make art accessible to everyone. To do this, Warhol experimented with the silk screen printing technique in the 1960s. In doing so, Warhol not only became a master of the technique, he also became one of the pioneers of the Pop art movement.
One of Warhol’s earlier pieces is his Cherub and Horse series created in 1956 when he was still involved in commercial artistry. This piece consists of a Lithograph with watercolor where the art style follows more of the naïve art movement. This piece merges imagination with reality where each character in the print is juxtapositioned due to their symbolism.
The infamous Campbell’s Soup cans were one of his first-ever pieces to be created in the genre of pop art. This piece of the pivotal point in his career when he switched from commercial illustration art to fine art. This series of paintings was painted from 1961 to 1962 and it comprises 32 individual canvases each showcasing one type of Campbell’s soup cans.
Another major work of Warhol’s is Marilyn Diptych. This piece was originally painted in 1962 following the actress’ death as a patronage. This piece captures Marilyn Monroe in her prime and this piece is only one out of fifty silkscreen paintings of her. Even though this painting was of Monroe who was already an icon, this piece became an icon and it showed the consumerism happening in Hollywood and its celebrities.
This piece depicts a single bottle of Coca-Cola but is repeated in many rows. The medium for this was Warhol’s silkscreen printing technique. This piece helps Warhol depict the consumerist society that was present and mimicked the mass production of products for redistribution. A quote that Warhol said about this piece is “A Coke is a Coke, and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking.”
Triple Elvis was created in 1963 using silver paint, spray paint, and silkscreen ink on linen. Elvis was a significant pop culture figure at the time and to explore the consumerism of Hollywood and its celebrities, Triple Elvis was created. This piece is only one out of the series as there are multiple canvases of different numbers of Elvis on the canvas.
This piece was created in 1963 using synthetic polymer, silkscreen ink, and acrylic on linen. This piece depicts the morbid ending of a police car chase in Seattle that occurred. It was around the time of the 1960s that Warhol was interested in pieces that would depict the morbid and death. This piece is a part of a private selection and is not usually in the public such as in galleries or museums.
In one of his venues, Andy Warhol worked with the American rock band The Velvet Underground & Nico to create their studio album. On their album, the banana is a sticker with the instructions of “Peel Slowly and See” which would then reveal the banana’s pink flesh. With intentions, Warhol wanted this design so that the album itself would be interactive while symbolizing and aligning with the rock band’s culture and representation. Unfortunately, this album didn’t sell well due to the various taboos present in the music album itself.
In 1979, While Basquiat was still a new upcoming artist, Warhol and Basquiat met at a restaurant and Warhol bought one of Basquiat’s postcards for $1. Later on, they were formally introduced to each other by Bruno Bischoberger after Basquiat abandoned graffiti art in 1980. This then began their friendship in the art community. This piece consists of metallic pigment, acrylic, silkscreen ink, and urine on canvas.
This piece was created in 1986. The medium used here is acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas. Similar to his previous pieces, Triple Elvis and Marilyn Diptych, he explored the idea of painting himself as he recognized his own identity and his impact as an artist. This piece is just one out of the many canvases in this series.
This piece was created in 1986. The medium used here is synthetic polymer paint on canvas. This piece depicts the classic The Last Supper painted by Leanardo Da Vinci but with different noticeable elements such as logos. This piece merges the ideology of religion with the consumerism present in society where we would put price tags on various products, ideas, and such which is prevalent in daily lives.
References:
- https://www.warhol.org/andy-warhols-life/
- https://www.eternitygallery.com/andy-warhol#:~:text=Andy%20Warhol%20used%20a%20range,for%20his%20silkscreen%20printing%20technique.
- https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/andy-warhol-velvet-underground-and-nico-cover-banana-explained-1234676723/
- https://www.moma.org/collection/works/61240
- https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5846064
- https://www.myartbroker.com/artist-jean-michel-basquiat/articles/jean-michel-basquiat-and-andy-warhol
- https://premium-art.shop/products/cherub-and-horse/
- https://expressobeans.com/public/detail.php/115860
- https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/4183
- https://eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu/eversleyartfall2018/2018/12/07/faded-throughout-history-the-last-supper/
- https://whitney.org/collection/works/3253