Category: Andy Warhol

Biography

Andy Warhol was born on August 6^th 1928 in a small town known as Pennsylvania, USA (Imdb.com, 2011). His adolescent life was dogged by health problems since Andy experienced a medical condition of nervous breakdown several times but which he later overcome and graduated from Scheneley high school and then later advanced to acquire college education in Carnegie Institute of Technology (Imdb.com, 2011). From here he successfully completed his studies in arts and graduated in the year 1949 (Imdb.com, 2011).

After college, Andy and Pearlstein, his long time college pal moved to city of New York; it was during his stay in New York where he met Mr. Tina Fredricks (Biographiq, 2008). Fredricks, worked as an art editor of glamour magazine and he introduced Andy to this career where he started to work in the firm and did several drawings of advertisements raging from; magazines, including vogue, harpers Bazzar, book jackets and holiday greeting cards (Imdb.com, 2011). After this, Warhol did many other works of arts like painting, designing and exhibitions of pop art among others (Imdb.com, 2011).

Later in his career, Andy did film directing around the year 1963 during when he did other several outstanding film exhibitions; however, after what was a near fatal shooting by a supporter, Andy withdrew from filmmaking and became a pop culture figure where he grow to be an instructor to new artist students (Biographiq, 2008). But even after this it appears that Andys life was not about to be completely stress free since in 1987, Andy Warhol suffered a complication of the gallbladder and died during an operation in a hospital (Imdb.com, 2011).

Main career

Andy Warhols career was majorly based in the film making industry, where he commenced his great vocation by doing exhibition works in the early 1950s. Andy was very passionate about every thing he did and after several exhibitions Andy became motivated to do a solo exhibition, which, he did in the year 1962.

As an ambitious artist, Warhol did several works of art apart from film making especially the renowned painting of a dollar bills and Campbell soup cans which earned him great reputation and contributed to his major presentation of the pop art (Imdb.com, 2011).

In the year 1963, under the help of Gerard Malanga, an instructor and a mentor, Warhol initiated his own studio where he expounded the art of film making (Bockris, 2004). It was during this time that Warhol actually ventured into the film making industry where he excelled in film making and eventually became an experience director.

After mastering the art, Warhol become more aggressive and vibrant in the industry and in the year 1964, he did another solo exhibition and later moved to Los Angeles where he started a much bigger studio (Bockris, 2004).

This major studio which he named the factory was where Andy based most of his film works (Imdb.com, 2011). It was here where Warhol did more popular exhibition that really build his reputation in other continents like Europe where he held his other exhibitions in Paris among other great European cities.

Additionally, due to his popular and excellent work of art, Warhol scooped several awards including that of film culture magazine (Imdb.com, 2011). However, Warhol retired from the art after an attempted murder by a female fan.

Technique for excellent photographs

It is no doubt that, Andy Warhol photographs were stylish and most admirable making him to be nominated for several awards which he was selected in more than one occasion. In addition, Warhol acquired a great reputation out of his sophisticated art in film making because of his passion in the career. In fact, he became an instructor, a role model, and patron to many upcoming artists due to his high standards of competence in the art of filmmaking (Bockris, 2004).

.Andy Warhol had an outstanding formula of acquiring amazing photographs to capture the most fascinating moments during his career. As, an artist, Warhol had developed his excellence in the film making and as a result was able to do great master pieces of photographs that depicted various styles.

First, the techniques which he used in his works were exceptional as he would take his photographs by positioning the camera towards a specific object of interest and leaving it to run for hours so that he could capture great moments (Bockris, 2004).

Second, Warhol had developed a great teamwork which he consistently involved when making the films; mostly, he engaged his assistances whom he had also developed a good personal association therefore making it easier to work as a team in each step to produce a great work of art (Bockris, 2004). Thirdly, Warhol had a special model of Polaroid camera which, he used strictly for production purposes was used by him alone for sustainable and excellent work (Imdb.com, 2011).

Lastly, Warhol had dedicated his career to taking many photographs as possible and he had mastered the art of making snapshot in a unique way to produce excellent outcome (Bockris, 2004). These were Andys techniques and style of producing excellent photographs.

Reference

Imdb.com. (1990). Biography for Andy Warhol. Retrieved from https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0912238/bio

Bockris, V. (2004) Warhol: the biography: 75^th anniversary edition. Cambridge: Da capo publishers.

Biographiq. (2008). Andy Warhol: A Life of Pop Art. Tennessee: Lightning Source Inc

I was first introduced to Andy Warhol at my old school, Pathways. We were assigned to do some of his artwork on Adobe Photoshop and this is when I became interested in his artwork and the techniques he used. I chose to do my project on Andy Warhol to learn more about him. Andy Warhol was a famous artist born in America on August 6, 1928 and unfortunately he died at age 59 on February 22, 1987, leaving behind an art legacy as well as the opportunity to create even more works of art. Andy Warhol is an artist that created many well known art pieces; one of them being the Campbell’s soup can. Andy had an excellent career where he earned many awards and recognitions; one of the most important ones being known as one of the most influential and controversial artists.

Andy went through many struggles that formed the famous artist he became. He suffered from hypochondria as a child and while bedridden, studied the celebrity culture through magazines and tabloids. Andy’s father died when he was a teenager,which traumatized him. Andy was able to move on to college and attended Carnegie Mellon University where he learned so many useful techniques and ideas he used in his work. Andy’s poor background helped prepare him for the Pop revolution that was to come by helping him understand the more common elements of what was happening around him. https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/andy-warhol-and-his-family

The basic medium for Warhol’s work on canvas and paper was printmaking, especially screenprint. He was an extremely energetic artist who played a significant role in redirecting the course of art. Publication excerpt from Deborah Wye, Artists and Prints: Masterworks from The Museum of Modern Art, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2004, p. 162. The Shot Marilyn’s was produced in 1964, consisting of four canvases of Marilyn Monroe shot through the head Dorothy Podber: ‘Witch’ who shot Warhol’s Marilyns, In 1962 Warhol painted his famous Campbell’s soup cans on 32 canvases. He then turned to the photo silk-screen process, which would become his signature medium. (lastname #) https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/andy-warhol-campbells-soup-cans-1962 Andy’s 1963 painting “Silver car crash “ sold for 104.5 Million dollars at auction -a high for the artist.It was sold to an undisclosed european bidder.. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/14/arts/design/grisly-warhol-painting-fetches-104-5-million-auction-high-for-artist.html

In 1968 Andy became involved with a woman named Valerie Salanas who wanted him to produce a feminist play she had written but he found too disturbing. She subsequently shot him,critically wounding him. Critics have seen Andy’s work going into decline but years after we can tell that his artwork did not go into a declined but actually turned more popular.https://www.theartstory.org/artist-warhol-andy.htm

My Andy Warhol project made me realize all the hard work he had to do to create such fabulous artwork. The process it takes to create his artwork and to use his technique of print screen/block was time consuming and intricate. I had to be extremely precise and accurate while carving out each piece. This made me realize even more how Andy put a lot of time and effort into what he was passionate about. My experience creating Barack Obama as my Andy Warhol project gave me new insight as to how art develops over time. Even though in the start people couldn’t tell what was being created the final product shocked everyone and me. It was amazing to see how Andy’s Tecniche change a simple block print into a piece of artwork to make art different from others.

In conclusion Andy Warhol had gone through many struggles that even though it impacted in some way in his life that never stopped him from becoming such an amazing artist that he was. Andy Warhol is such an inspiration for many including me because he was a man of many talents and use each and every one of his talents and his talents got him to be a recognized artist. Andy Warhole sold many of his artwork pieces as well work with companies to make the logos and there is where he started growing as an artist. One of my favorite quotes from Andy Warhol “As soon as you stop wanting something, you get it.” ― Andy Warhol.

Through this paper, it was proven that Andy Warhol has influenced the ways that Ed Paschke manifests the creations of his artwork. With Andy Warhol’s use of color and style, Ed Paschke used visually similar aspects to portray his style of Pop art. Andy Warhol’s artworks of ‘The Scream After Munch 1984’ and ‘Muhammad Ali 1978’ influenced the ways that Ed Paschke manifests the creations of his artworks ‘Femme Noir 1987’ and ‘Boxer with Masque 2004’ through his use of bright, bold colors, such as red, black, yellow, white, blue, purple, and green hues that hold similar deeper meaning, as well as his style in the way that they experiment with the technique of silk screen printing and oil painting, a popular technique used for mass production and media because of the materials and ways that they manifest their creations.

The style in Andy Warhol’s works and Ed Paschke’s works and the influence of usage of popular figure and the subject matter of fame, notoriety, and identity are Andy Warhol issues and also key issues for Ed Paschke. Ed Paschke’s imagery often reflects confrontation, violence, sex and garishly hued scenes from the underbelly of society with unrealistic and not flattering media as well. It was Andy Warhol’s depiction of cultural icons like the ‘Muhammad Ali in 1978’, in his layered, mask-like abstraction of the face, use of electronic colors and neon-bright static lines that influenced Ed Paschke style and imagery in the ‘Boxer with a masque, 2004’. Ed Paschke learned to paint through the principles of abstraction and expressionism. ‘Ed Paschke’s paintings were mainly oil on linen, went through a digital photographic process that results in a 3D-like effect. Much like Andy Warhol used a layer of screen printing to get 3D effects of layers in his works.’ (Russick, David).

Similarly Color in Andy’s work influenced Ed Paschke’s works. Andy Warhol used popular and available products from his time to recreate images that were seen in newspapers and magazines by giving them unrealistic colors and manipulated the color scheme to become more vibrant and easily seen. Ed Paschke was also influenced by the images from newspapers and magazines and had a fascination with popular figures, taking ideas from the popular culture much as Andy Warhol did. ‘Ed Paschke was influenced by the Pop Art of Andy Warhol, Ed Paschke produced works darkly mirrored media culture rather than mimicked it with the use of pinks, yellows, greens, and reds that are portrayed when getting across the symbolism of their works.’ (Andy Warhol). Andy Warhol experimented with color as a way to manipulate the viewer’s experience of the times cultural icons, using vibrant unrealistic colors as a way to get viewers to recognize the product but have no real opinion on what it was because of the abstract color scheme. Andy’s usage of color in the ‘The Scream After Munch 1984’ impacted the ways that Ed Paschke created his work the ‘Femme Noir, 1987’ with the colors such as yellow, green and blue.

This has proven that in the art community one artist can influence many others. As seen in Andy Warhol and Ed Paschke, the world of art is about taking an idea that opposes the norm or supports it and making it their own. Both Andy Warhol and Ed Paschke took ideas from the popular culture and twisted it into creating their work. Andy Warhol did this by taking ideas from his time of the 1960s and Ed Paschke was influenced by Andy Warhol to do the same, by taking ideas from the 1970s. These artists works show the perspectives and creativity that makes Andy Warhol and Ed Paschke so inspirational and potent in the art community.

Andy Warhol was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the Great Depression. His family was from Slovakia, a country in central Europe. As immigrants, his family struggled to support themselves in America’s time of economic distress. According to Biography, Warhol grew up immersed in his Slovakian culture (“Andy Warhol”). When he was eight, he was diagnosed with a disease called Chorea. Warhol suffered from impaired movement and balance along with physical imperfections. While he was limited of activities due to the disease, he found his love for art. Later, he developed a love for other art forms such as film and photography. As Warhol continued his education, he took many art classes and decided to study Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University.

After Warhol graduated in 1949, he moved to New York in order to pursue a career in art (“Andy Warhol”). He quickly received a job as a commercial artist with prestigious magazines such as Glamour and Vogue. Pop Art, an art movement that referenced mass culture, was Warhol’s specialty. Most of his designs for magazines depicted bold images that spoke to the American culture. Through the eye-catching images he would create, Warhol gained popularity and credibility as an artist. One of Warhol’s best-known pieces, titled Campbell’s Soup Cans, was displayed at his first gallery exhibit. Warhol used a printmaking technique, used for reproducing images, to create the repetitive soup cans in Campbell’s Soup Cans, and he continued to use this technique throughout his career (MoMA Learning). Some of his other popular work includes portraits of celebrities, such as Maryland Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor, painted in bright and bold colors. By his forties, Warhol was a very successful artist. Warhol transitioned into filmmaking to challenge his creative side and produced hundreds of films. Many of his films challenged the aesthetics of his time and therefore did not gain success. A well-known film of Warhol’s, titled Sleep, featured a man sleeping for the duration of five hours. According to The Warhol, most of Warhol’s art and films can be seen displayed at various museums in Pittsburgh today (“Andy Warhol’s Life”).

Many of Warhol’s art was inspired by his own personal struggles. Chorea, the disease Warhol contracted as a child, impacted him throughout his life. According to The Warhol, the disease had many side effects, such as hair loss and skin imperfections, that made Warhol insecure (“Andy Warhol’s Life”). Due to this, Warhol wore extravagant clothing and makeup to compensate for his insecurities. His fascination with beauty was reflected in his earliest work. Another personal theme that is resembled through Warhol’s work is sexuality. According to Affinity Magazine, Andy Warhol grew up as a gay man in the 1950’s and created controversial pieces for his time (Riddle). Despite societal norms, Warhol was not afraid to be himself. More health issues arose for Warhol when he developed issues with his gallbladder. In 1987, he was able to get his gallbladder removed but then died by cardiac arrest days into the recovery.

Warhol’s impact on the world continued after his death. Andy Warhol was considered one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He radicalized the art world and inspired many. The common theme of Pop Art amongst his work spoke to the American people and their culture. Warhol drew attention to the rising of consumerism and mass production in America, which is still valid today. He also paved the way for LGBTQ+ artists to express themselves more freely. Overall, Andy Warhol will be remembered for challenging the societal norm and being a prominent facilitator of the Pop Art movement.

Born in 1928, Andy Warhol made a big impact on the art world. In 1949, he graduated from Carnegie Mellon School of Art, where he studied Pictorial Design. By the late 1950s, he was living in New York, working as a highly in demand commercial artist and later on went on to work in the fine arts as a strong believer of the pop art movement. This paper will compare and contrast two of Andy Warhol’s works of art from commercial illustrations to fine arts, with a quick look at the pop art movement.

Andy Warhol’s early career really started with commercial art. He was known to focus on a few main themes, including women, shoes and cars. His I.Miller shoe illustrations are among his more well known illustrations. LINK From 1955 to 1957 Warhol worked alone as the illustrator for I.Miller Shoes where he would release a new drawing every week as an ad in the New York Times. https://www.cnn.com/style/article/andy-warhol-shoes-auction/index.html

These designs were all made using offset lithography process, which was used for mass-production printing. His illustrations were nothing like the other advertising and design work out there. Rather than trying to focus on realism he developed a more avant-garde personal style for an imperfect drawn look. His style was made to stand out. His original style worked in his favour because between 1953-1959, Warhol was in high demand for commercial art. Moreover, during this time he self-published multiple portfolios, books, and individual prints. With the help of his assistant and some friends, he coloured the illustrations by hand and most of these illustrations included some sort of quirky quote with the lettering done by his mother Julia Warhola. For example,“You can lead a shoe to water but you can’t make it drink,” “Shoe of the evening, beautiful show,” and “My shoe is your shoe”. He did not know it yet, but the stigma of being a commercial artist was working against him at the time.

When Andy Warhol finally decided to end his advertisement illustration work and dive into the fine arts world, many of his pieces still revolved around consumerism, but he wasn’t completely accepted into the fine arts world right away. Andy Warhol played a big role in the pop art movement which helped his case. The pop art movement really started with the idea that art subjects did not have to revolve around those of tradition and elitism. The artists that were a part of this movement would use images surrounding popular culture and celebrated every day items, just as Andy Warhol did. He wanted to make something that represented who Americans were and Coca-cola was the perfect way to do that. The theme itself was chosen to be the most ordinary of objects, something everyone, rich or poor, could identify with. We can see that Andy Warhol’s philosophy is unlike any other in the way that he spoke his mind and represented what he believed in his art. The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (1975).https://www.perell.com/tweetstorms/america-success

He demonstrated everyday subjects such as clothes, food or a higher member of society to prove that we are all alike, we all wanted the same things, we all liked the same things. The pop art movement blurred the boundaries between ‘high’ and ‘low’ art culture. There is no hierarchy of culture and that art may borrow from any source is a big part of the movement. https://www.theartstory.org/movement/pop-art/

He continuously represented that through the theme of consumerism. But it was not meant in a negative way. “Once is usually enough. Either once only, or every day. If you do something once it’s exciting, and if you do it every day, it’s exciting. But if you do it, say, twice or just almost every day, it’s not good any more.”

Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol was excited by every day norm, anything ordinary was a big deal, that is what the pop art movement was about and he made his art accessible. He made the ordinary into something exceptional and powerful. At this point, we start looking at the coke bottle differently.

When Andy Warhol finally decided to end his advertisement illustration work and dive into the fine arts world, one of his first pieces was Coca-Cola 3 done in 1962.

Coca-Cola 3 got a lot of attention because of how it was made. It was painted by hand but mimics a print and at 6 feet tall, you can see all the imperfections of it, unlike most art in circulation at the time. This piece was about the removal of the artist’s hand, also unlike his previously mentioned commercial illustrations in which he purposely used a hand drawn style. By getting rid of the “handmade”, he created a new level of symbolism representing machinery over handmade goods and the consumerist society that is America. And as he progressed in his career, we see more and more repetition in his painting like of the 100 cans (1962), Martison Coffee (1962) and Front and Back (1962) which can be related to the repeating actions of factory workers. http://wpmu.mah.se/nmict141group2/2014/03/17/got-my-little-space-and-am-happy-thats-all-it-takes-leave-me-happy-now-seen/warhol-100-cans/ https://www.wikiart.org/en/andy-warhol/martinson-coffee https://www.art.com/products/p8765019970-sa-i2703660/andy-warhol-front-and-back-of-dollar-bills-c-1962.htm

In 1962, Warhol switched to silkscreen printing very soon after turning to fine arts. This switch facilitated the process of repeating images. And finally, the artist’s hand almost completely removed from the piece. The power of a symbol in consumerism was and still is so prevalent that eventually Andy Warhol becomes his own symbol. http://www.alaintruong.com/archives/2011/05/12/21115480.html

We see a return of the imperfection in his art in his portrait prints. Art should not be about beauty as it had been for such a long time – exactly what Warhol is getting away from.

This is not by me, Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol’s style shifted dramatically with his interest in Graphic design to the fine arts. He started out as a young successful illustrator in New York developing a sketchy style that looks organic and real and later decided to turn to fine art, taking a part of the pop art movement and practicing a painting style that looked printed, before turning to actual printing. He focused on representing society in its entirety with particular products of mass consumption and later turning to elite members of society such as Elvis Presley, Meryline Monroe, Prince and Elizabeth Taylor.

Andy Warhol

There are many talented people, who have already died, still, memories about their contributions, works, and ideas make them alive always. One of such people was Andrew Warhola, also known as Andy Warhol. His avant-garde style and attitude to his paintings made him popular around the whole world.

If I had a chance to meet this person and ask one question, I would like to know about the system according to which he chose people for his clique. The question would sound as follows: “Warhol superstars were one of the most popular cliques in the New York City. Why were you so confident in people chosen specially in Paul America or Eric Emerson?”.

The biography of the artist was rich indeed: being a fourth child in the family of immigrants, the boy lost his father very soon and suffered because of numerous diseases as a result of which a kind of phobia to hospitals and doctors was developed.

He lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and then he moved to New York where he died at the age of 58 because of serious health problems (Mattern 6). He got his education at one of the schools as well as at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburg and had the special degree in commercial art. To earn for living, he worked in the sphere of illustrating and advertising.

He also tried himself at filmmaking and printmaking, and painting. And all spheres turned out to be rather successful to him. One of his best projects was the development of the clique Warhol Superstars and the studio The Factory where he promoted various actors and musicians.

The main idea of his work was to provide different people with the bright chance as possible because some of them really deserved this chance. The vast majority of his works are interesting to me as they helped to understand that hope and personal beliefs could change the whole world just as Andy Warhol did it.

Paul Young

Paul Young is a successful independent journalist, critic, art writer, and curator (Gallery). His achievements into the world of art remain to be rather influential, and his activities are always under attention of many people. One of his latest interests is 3D technologies and their availability to ordinary people. His projects are always unique and captivating.

One of the questions I would be eager to pose to this person is connected to the ways of how he chooses the themes for his performance. The question is: “When did you understand that 3D technologies could be in demand and were you confident about your success?”. The life of this person does not differ a lot from the lives of many other people.

He was born and continues living in Los Angeles. He got his education in one of the local schools and his final achievement in education was the master degree in film directing. His experience and knowledge provide him with a wonderful chance to earn for living after his graduation.

Though he did not have a day job, his articles appeared in the magazines and journals like The Los Angeles Times, Elle, and New York Times. In several years, he got the weekly column in The Los Angeles Times where he had to highlight the latest news in the sphere of modern art.

One of his projects which are now available to people is SymmetryGates that is performed with the help of 3D technologies. The main theme of this project is not only to introduce how progressive art technologies could be but also to show how changing the world actually is.

Young is the curator who wants to address a variety of ideas in his projects, this is why it is wrong to try to identify the main aspect; still, it is better to enjoy the beauty of the offered performance. It is hard to be not-interested in the works of this person. My interest is based on the possibility to learn the world by means of a variety of details offered in the performance as well as 3D technologies which captivate a lot.

Works Cited

“Gallery”. YoungProjects. N.d. Web.

Mattern, Joanne. Andy Warhol. Edina: ABDO, 2005.

Introduction

The art of painting has undergone massive evolution in its history, which spans many centuries. In its evolution process, many styles have developed thus expanding any painter’s repertoire notably.

Among the many styles that have developed over time is popular art or simply ‘pop art’, which became widespread in the second half of the 20^th century. Andy Warhol emerged as the most illustrious among other pop artists. This essay seeks to examine Andy Warhol and his painting career with a focus on his style, its tenets, and his overall contribution to the art of painting.

Andy Warhol in Perspective

From a moral perspective, Warhol’s paintings do not seem to breach any norms, yet they still spurred heated discussions. However, the fact that his paintings were so intriguing to such a wide range of people is of particular interest. In addition, the reason behind his being named the “prince of pop art” is also of interest.

Andy Warhol was born in 1928 and was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, by his parents who were both Czech emigrants (The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, 2013). His mother, being artistic, encouraged his interest in art with presents for accomplishing some minor art tasks.

In childhood, he was in and out of school most of the time due a chorea attack, which adversely affected his acceptance by other students and consequently his self-esteem. Warhol started art classes at high school level and went on to study art at the Carnegie Institute of Technology (The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, 2013).

As an artist, his career was hardly influenced by other artists, but his work widely influenced others. He discovered a technique he called the “blotted-line technique” while in high school and went on to use it at the dawn of his career. The technique earned him some recognition, but he later abandoned it and started painting on canvas.

The use of canvas led him to discover silk-screening, which he used for the rest of his career. His most remembered painting is that of Campbell’s soup cans. He died in 1987 aged 58 years after successfully surviving a surgery (The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts).

The nature of Warhol’s paintings pitches him as a spontaneous artist whose dominant theme is quite elusive to pinpoint. His paintings depict a wide range of themes ranging from love-related issues in his Love and In the Bottom of My Garden to moral issues in Late Paintings (Danto, 2009.). His style has been described as being so full of life that the paintings seem to ‘pop’ out of the canvas (Guiles, 1989).

Pop art, which Warhol practiced, emerged first in the Great Britain where it was used to criticize the British lifestyle in the 1950s (Watson, 2003). In the US, it came as a departure from convention so that artists could paint anything that was part of popular culture. In Britain, pop art was initiated and propagated by the Independent Group while in the US, the movement behind pop art was simply known as the Pop Art Movement (Watson, 2003).

While other artists espoused the idea of artistic authenticity and genius, Warhol refuted the idea and mass reproduced his work, which made his studio practice distinct from other artists to the extent of his studio being called ‘The factory’ (Watson, 2003). The public was receptive of Warhol’s work with many touting his paintings as among the best of pop art. Being named the prince of pop art supports the idea that the public loved Warhol’s work. His peers too seem not to hold anything against him.

Conclusion

Warhol’s was a great artist who receives approval from both the public and his peers. His pieces of art still intrigue many to date not to mention his influence on pop art. He was the envy of his peers in his heyday and those who emulated his style emerged as great artists. My opinion about Warhol did not change over the course of my research.

Reference List

Danto, C. (2009). Andy Warhol. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Guiles, F. (1989). Loner at the Ball: The Life of Andy Warhol. New York, NY: Bantam.

The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. (2013). Andy Warhol Biography: Pop artist and cultural icon. Web.

Watson, S. (2003). Factory Made: Warhol and the 1960s. New York, NY: Pantheon.

Introduction

Andrew Warhola, better known as Andy Warhol, was born on August 1928 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During his lifetime, Andy Warhol aroused much controversy and struggled for acceptance by the art world. However, the evidence of his achievement is that he is one of the rare artists, especially in the USA, to have had a whole museum devoted to their work^[1].

He produced works in a variety of media, cutting across many artistic disciplines, including: fashion illustration, painting, printmaking, sculpture, magazine publishing, filmmaking, photography, writing, and chronicling the underground art scene. He also generated, from his own life activities and the documentation of his relationships with friends, celebrities, and collaborators, what might be termed early performance art.

He is instantly associated with the movement called Pop Art, short for ‘popular’, and according to Osterwold, inextricably tied to Western industrialized society (Osterwold 4). Anecdotally, Warhol is often the only artist of this style that non-art-history students can name without prompting.

This style followed Abstract Expressionism in time and in approach, moving the art world farther away from the old idea that, for example, a painting is ‘about’ anything, or that works of art are special and one of a kind. Pop Art, and especially Warhol’s work, often featured mass-production techniques (such as silk-screening) and irreverent choice of subject matter (such as soup cans) (Bockris 210).

This movement thereby broke down even further the progressively unraveling classical ideas and limitations on what constitutes high art, or real art, or art of any kind. Besides being an innovative artist, Warhol was notable for his flamboyant apparent homosexuality in a much more repressive decade.

He was both a product of, and an element of change in, the 1960s and 1970s. This was a time characterized by a push to liberalize behavioral norms, in dress, hair styles, sexuality, and use of mind altering substances. His prodigious output and provocative personality and lifestyle still rouse controversy, and discussion (Columbia University).

Two works that reflect both his commentary on the state of society and his reaction to current events are Campbell’s soup cans 11 and the Flash-November 22, 1963. The Camphell’s Soup Cans 11, produced in 1962, depicts an array of 32 seemingly identical cans arranged in a grid of rows (Warhol). Though initially not recognized as actual art, the exhibition of the piece marked the beginning of a public debate that provided Warhol with much-needed publicity.

Although students and fans may argue endlessly over the significance of this work, it retains its ability to delight and surprise the viewer and trigger questions about what constitutes real art. The group of pieces titled Flash-November 22, 1963 was also a major work by Warhol. Warhol made this work at a time when the country was still obsessed by the media-hyped spectacle of Kennedy’s assassination. It includes an array of 11 screenshots, supposedly taken from the newswires from the time of his shooting and shortly thereafter.

Warhol was struck and disheartened by the four years of persistent media emphasis on the assassination. Thus, this piece of art work is highly relevant to events and trends of its time. It is also prescient in its acknowledgment of the increasing power of media to whip up public feeling, even very cynically and artificially. This paper will endeavor to describe these two pieces of art as art, and suggest meanings.

Camphell’s Soup Cans 11

Camphell’s Soup Cans 11 is a series of thirty two separate 20X16 inch canvases screen printed with synthetic polymer, and hand-stenciled with the names of the 1962 range of Campbell flavors. Thus, Warhol embodied several of what would become key characteristics of Pop Art: appropriation of a pre-existing image and well-known brand name, repetition by nearly mechanical means, removal from its usual context (the grocery shelf), and confusion between hand work and use of technology (silk screening plus hand stenciling).

Regarding appropriation of images, Warhol himself said,“Pop artists did images that anyone walking down the street would recognize in a split second—comics, picnic tables, men’s pants, celebrities, refrigerators, Coke bottles.” (MOMA)

This use of recognizable commercial images simplified many of the choices that artists previously had to make. The basic elements of art were rather predetermined. In the case of Campbell’s Soup Cans 11, Warhol preserved the color values of the actual can labels, offering a sharp contrast between the red, white, and black. The line is very clear cut, and regular, moving up, across and down again around the can’s silhouette.

The shape is also pre-selected, and decidedly geometric rather than organic. The texture is difficult to tell without being in the same room, but if other silk-screened works are any indicator, then the texture, both visual and tactile, is likely to be smooth and unobtrusive. Warhol permits the mass of the cans to be suggested by the viewer’s familiarity with the apparent subject – a cylinder – as well as his competent use of perspective.

In elevating a humble soup can to the level of the Mona Lisa, Warhol was reflecting his own love of soup as a child, but he was also saying that art does not need to depict angels and kings to be art (Stinespring) (MOMA). There was also perhaps a critique of the world around him. John Stinespring characterizes the evolving criticism of Warhol as increasingly attributing to the artist a commentary on, “commercial, mass-produced, and somewhat sleazy nature of modern American society” (Stinespring).

He also pioneered a way of being a brand himself as an artist, because he could produce many nearly identical copies of his art (Schroeder). Other variations on the soup can theme showed damaged or torn labels. These works could be interpreted as commentary on the superficialities of American society, or simply a joke. The painted label is coming off in some of these, showing only another surface underneath, not the soup itself (Stich 91).

Flash-November 22 1963

Flash-November 22 1963 is a part of a portfolio of images exploring the period from the Kennedy campaign to the capture of Lee Harvey Oswald (Telfair Museum) . Warhol used cropping, alteration of color, and massively increasing the contrast of news photographs (the news flash of the title) and posters (Moorhead 92) to suggest the ways he felt that the media manipulated the public (Stich 182). As such, their color palette is limited.

The example picked for this paper shows a high contrast shot of Jackie Kennedy grieving, duplicated twice. The color values are fairly intense. There are only two colors: purple evoking both royal garb (which seems appropriate for the residents of ‘Camelot’) as well as priestly vestments, and black evoking death and finality.

There is the shape of her face, suggested by the sketchiness of the grainy photograph enlarged many times. The duplication gives rhythm to the composition. The lines of Jackie’s face: her brows, her hairline, her chin, are all round and echo one another. The overall shape of her face is a rough oval, evoking classical ideals of feminine beauty.

However the high contrast of the screen prints make the organic forms of her features seem like marks on a map or mountains on the moon. Although, as with the Campbell’s Soup Cans, there is probably little texture from the silk screening, the illusion of texture arises from the graininess of the much-enlarged newsprint. When viewed as a woman’s face, the pictures give the impression of real-life mass, but if viewed as simply shapes of black on a purple background, they dissolve into abstraction.

This work, as with Warhol’s other images of celebrities, calls on the viewer to consider the nature of fame. Here is a beautiful woman grieving for her lost husband – the painting raises the question; is it worth it to have been the most powerful woman in the free world if she is robbed of her mate as a result of that power and fame?

Conclusion

These two works of Warhol’s embody several aspects of Pop Art, which was, “popular, transient, expendable, low cost, mass-produced, young, witty, sexy, gimmicky, glamorous, big business.” to use a description by Richard Hamilton (Biography.com). Warhol’s soup cans transform every package into a potential masterpiece. The nearly hieratic image of a weeping Jackie forces the viewer to recall the assassination differently, and is particularly significant right now at the 50^th anniversary of that event.

Warhol is quoted as describing the movement that he helped to propel into the national consciousness as follows,” Once you ‘got’ pop, you could never see a sign the same way again. And once you thought pop, you could never see America the same way again.” (Biography.com) These two pieces of art have helped this student ‘get’ Pop, and perhaps even ‘think’ Pop, and look at America and at art differently ever hereafter.

The art critics in Europe and eventually those in the USA accepted his substitution of advertising icons for those of the past, and his use of pre-existing images, among many other innovations, and art thereby moved beyond Abstract Expressionism decisively. (Fallon 18) (Danto xi).

Works Cited

Biography.com. “Andy Warhol” 2013. Biography.com. Web.

Bockris, Victor. Warhol: The Biography. Cambridge: De Capo Press, 2003. Web.

Columbia University. Andy Warhol. 2013. Web.

Danto, Arthur. Andy Warhol. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009. Web.

Fallon, Michael. How to Analyze the Works of Andy Warhol. Edina: ABDO, 2010. Web.

MOMA. “Appropriation” 2013. MOMA. Web.

—. “Campbell’s Soup Cans: Andy Warhol” 2013. MOMA. Web.

Moorhead, Jasmine. Pop Impressions Europe/USA: Prints and Multiples from the Museum of Modern Art. New York: MOMA, 1999. Web.

Osterwold, Tilman. Pop Art. Cologne: Taschen, 2003. Web.

Schroeder, Jonathan E. “The Artist and the Brand.” European Journal of Marketing 39.11/12 (2005). Web.

SOLOMON, DEBORAH. “For Individual Artists, Museums All Their Own.” 28 March 1999. New York Times. Web.

Stich, Sidra. Made in America. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987. Web.

Stinespring, John. “The Critical Response to Andy Warhol – Review.” Studies in Art Education 40.1 (1998). Web.

Telfair Museum. “Warhol/JFK: November 22, 1963 A Selection of Andy Warhol Prints from the Herbert Brito Collection.” 2013. Telfair Museum. Web.

Warhol, Andy. Campbell’s Soup Cans: 1962. MOMA. The Collection. New York: MOMA, 1962. Web.

Footnotes

1. The Norman Rockwell Museum was founded a year or so earlier, in 1993 (SOLOMON).

Biography

Andy Warhol was born on August 6^th 1928 in a small town known as Pennsylvania, USA (Imdb.com, 2011). His adolescent life was dogged by health problems since Andy experienced a medical condition of nervous breakdown several times but which he later overcome and graduated from Scheneley high school and then later advanced to acquire college education in Carnegie Institute of Technology (Imdb.com, 2011). From here he successfully completed his studies in arts and graduated in the year 1949 (Imdb.com, 2011).

After college, Andy and Pearlstein, his long time college pal moved to city of New York; it was during his stay in New York where he met Mr. Tina Fredricks (Biographiq, 2008). Fredricks, worked as an art editor of glamour magazine and he introduced Andy to this career where he started to work in the firm and did several drawings of advertisements raging from; “magazines, including vogue, harper’s Bazzar, book jackets and holiday greeting cards” (Imdb.com, 2011). After this, Warhol did many other works of arts like painting, designing and exhibitions of pop art among others (Imdb.com, 2011).

Later in his career, Andy did film directing around the year 1963 during when he did other several outstanding film exhibitions; however, after what was “a near fatal shooting” by a supporter, Andy withdrew from filmmaking and became a “pop culture figure” where he grow to be an instructor to new artist students (Biographiq, 2008). But even after this it appears that Andy’s life was not about to be completely stress free since in 1987, Andy Warhol suffered a complication of the gallbladder and died during an operation in a hospital (Imdb.com, 2011).

Main career

Andy Warhol’s career was majorly based in the film making industry, where he commenced his great vocation by doing exhibition works in the early 1950s. Andy was very passionate about every thing he did and after several exhibitions Andy became motivated to do a solo exhibition, which, he did in the year 1962.

As an ambitious artist, Warhol did several works of art apart from film making especially the renowned “painting of a dollar bills and Campbell soup cans” which earned him great reputation and contributed to his major presentation of the pop art (Imdb.com, 2011).

In the year 1963, under the help of Gerard Malanga, an instructor and a mentor, Warhol initiated his own studio where he expounded the art of film making (Bockris, 2004). It was during this time that Warhol actually ventured into the film making industry where he excelled in film making and eventually became an experience director.

After mastering the art, Warhol become more aggressive and vibrant in the industry and in the year 1964, he did another solo exhibition and later moved to Los Angeles where he started a much bigger studio (Bockris, 2004).

This major studio which he named “the factory” was where Andy based most of his film works (Imdb.com, 2011). It was here where Warhol did more popular exhibition that really build his reputation in other continents like Europe where he held his other exhibitions in Paris among other great European cities.

Additionally, due to his popular and excellent work of art, Warhol scooped several awards including that of “film culture magazine” (Imdb.com, 2011). However, Warhol retired from the art after an attempted murder by a female fan.

Technique for excellent photographs

It is no doubt that, Andy Warhol photographs were stylish and most admirable making him to be nominated for several awards which he was selected in more than one occasion. In addition, Warhol acquired a great reputation out of his sophisticated art in film making because of his passion in the career. In fact, he became an instructor, a role model, and patron to many upcoming artists due to his high standards of competence in the art of filmmaking (Bockris, 2004).

.Andy Warhol had an outstanding formula of acquiring amazing photographs to capture the most fascinating moments during his career. As, an artist, Warhol had developed his excellence in the film making and as a result was able to do great master pieces of photographs that depicted various styles.

First, the techniques which he used in his works were exceptional as he would take his photographs by positioning the camera towards a specific object of interest and “leaving it to run for hours” so that he could capture great moments (Bockris, 2004).

Second, Warhol had developed a great teamwork which he consistently involved when making the films; mostly, he engaged his assistances whom he had also developed a good personal association therefore making it easier to work as a team in each step to produce a great work of art (Bockris, 2004). Thirdly, Warhol had a special “model of Polaroid camera” which, he used strictly for production purposes was used by him alone for sustainable and excellent work (Imdb.com, 2011).

Lastly, Warhol had dedicated his career to taking many photographs as possible and he had mastered the art of making snapshot in a unique way to produce excellent outcome (Bockris, 2004). These were Andy’s techniques and style of producing excellent photographs.

Reference

Imdb.com. (1990). Biography for Andy Warhol. Retrieved from https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0912238/bio

Bockris, V. (2004) Warhol: the biography: 75^th anniversary edition. Cambridge: Da capo publishers.

Biographiq. (2008). Andy Warhol: A Life of Pop Art. Tennessee: Lightning Source Inc

The introduction: the fundamentals of 100 Cans by Andy Warhol

While analyzing the work of art written by Andy Warhol, I would like to learn some basic knowledge concerning the painting. Thus, first of all, I would like to describe some technical characteristics of the picture. 100 Cans was written in the early sixties. The type of work of art is oil on canvas. The dimension of the book is 72 in x 52 in. They say that the work reflects the pop art of the USA. I would like to clarify that the type of an art movement appeared in the early fifties in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In the USA, an art movement appeared a little later.

The thesis statement

Generally, an art movement encompasses many spheres of life. Thus, it includes advertising, news, humorous productions, etc. Andy Warhol’s work is also associated with the minimalist movement. Therefore, when looking at Warhol’s work, one can make a conclusion that it reflects the simplicity of forms. Taking into account the elements of the painting, people can disclose numerous hidden things the work of art reflects.

The body: the history of the work of art

I would like to point out the fact that famous production is based on monochromatic palettes of primary colors. The author didn’t want to emphasize the emotional content of the work. As far as we know, the above-mentioned qualities are recognized to be specific elements for pop art and minimalism movement. Movement in art and music I described also appeared in the early fifties. Warhol’s work of art appeared in 1962, and minimalism as an art movement was trendy in 1960-1970.

“The Minimalists believed that a work of art should be entirely self-referential; personal elements were stripped away to reveal the objective, purely visual elements” (Minimalism 1). Although two art movements are closely connected with each other, I suppose that Andy Warhol mostly supported pop art. Thus, the action is associated with various familiar things, including newspaper advertisements, supermarket products, etc. The work of art 100 Cans reflects precisely supermarket products, i.e., it depicts Campbell’s Soup Cans.

Once Andy was asked about the work he created. So, when asked why, he said: “Because I used to drink it. I used to have the same lunch every day, for 20 years, I guess, the same thing over and over again. Someone said my life had dominated me; I liked that idea” (100 Cans, 1962 1).

Generally, Andy wanted people around to see the commercial world as well as its importance. The artist of the pop culture wanted to show the meaning of advertising. So, he used the things around him; numerous aspects of pop art-inspired him to create the works. The author of the painting says that people are to pay more attention to the products they buy in the supermarket. In other words, the things which seem to be usual are to be analyzed deeper.

I would like to point out that the painting is really unusual. The cans Warhol depicted are not identical. “The bottom row is cut off, suggesting that they continue beyond the confines of the canvas, which leads to another aspect of the work—Warhol’s interest in machine-like processes such as mass production” (100 Cans, 1962 1). This aspect is recognized to be impersonal, and its process impacted the culture of the country.

On the other hand, one is to keep in mind that mass production also has numerous advantages. For instance, it is considered to be effective. There is a need to remember that effectiveness is one of the most essential characteristics contemporary people appreciate. The author of the work of art liked its efficacy. He wanted everybody could understand it.

Generally, Warhol’s paintings of cans were his first pop art productions. However, I would like to point out that the artist was also engaged in the production of comic strip characters. When Roy Lichtenstein became his opponent, he decided that some new items had to be described. For this reason, soup cans arouse his interest. It was Ted Carey, who informed Andy about the works his opponent created. Carey saw the productions of his friend’s opponent at the Leo Castelli Gallery. At that time, Warhol was sure that Lichtenstein stole his ideas. “There’s no hard evidence that Lichtenstein copied Warhol’s idea, as Warhol apparently believed” (Comments 1).

They say that Warhol was too depressed; however, he realized that his most important aim was to create something dissimilar to the works written by Lichtenstein and Rosenquist. On the other hand, he wanted to create something famous and recognizable. Thus, Campbell’s soup appeared.

The conclusion

So, nobody can deny the fact that the work of art 100 Cans written by Andy Warhol has a really very interesting history. It reflects not only pop art but also the importance of advertising. The artist contributed to a better understanding of the modern culture of the USA.

Works Cited

Comments, Gary. The Origin of Andy Warhol’s Soup Cans or The Synthesis of Nothingness, 2010. Web.

Minimalism n.d. Web.

‘100 Cans, 1962’, n.d., Albrightknox.org, Web.