Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987) is one of the central figures of the Pop art movement and one of the most recognizable artists of the second half of the twentieth century. Warhol acquired fame through his work in many media, including painting, sculpture, filmmaking and publishing, but printmaking was always a central part of his art and his way of viewing the world. Through prints, Warhol explored the aesthetics and mechanics of mass-produced images and popular culture.
Andy Warhol Portfolios: A Life in Pop includes portfolios and individual prints by Warhol, starting with iconic works from the mid-1960s and continuing through the series of monoprints Vesuvius, created in 1985. These prints demonstrate many aspects of Warhol’s art, including his brilliance as a colorist, which can be seen in the early Flowers and Sunset series. In later series, Warhol experimented with the silkscreen printing process to create complex surface layers.
The exhibition also includes later prints that Warhol based on his original Campbell’s Soup paintings—and the many places that Warhol let that first gesture take him. Warhol’s prolific self-portraits and endless public appearances made the man himself into an American commodity. He became the inescapable, iconic image of the modern artist.
Andy Warhol Portfolios also includes works by Warhol’s contemporaries Keith Haring (1958–1990) and Robert Mapplethorpe (1946–1989), as well as album covers Warhol designed for The Velvet Underground & Nico and The Rolling Stones. Warhol also co-founded Interview Magazine with journalist John Wilcock in 1969 and provided art for its covers, some of which are on view in the exhibition.
In these works and others—including Birmingham Race Riot, Marilyn Monroe (Marilyn), Muhammad Ali, Space Fruit: Still Lifes, Grapes, Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century, Endangered Species and Myths—Warhol seems to be making the point that, no matter how ennobling works of art might seem, they can’t escape the nation’s market economy.