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Stories

Commissioned Portraits

October 26, 2017 By Marty Spellerberg

Warhol started painting commissioned portraits in the early 1960s. These works developed into a significant aspect of his career and were a main source of his income in the 1970s.…

A screen printed portrait of Tina Chow against a silver background. Chow’s skin is pale peach, a stark contrast to the deep black of her hair and eyebrows, the lavender of her eyes, and the cherry red of her lips.

Diversity of Voice: Views on Guns in America

October 26, 2017 By Nicole Dezelon

In the early 1980s, Warhol painted a variety of iconic objects, including guns, knives, and crosses. He rejected the idea that his work functioned as social criticism and instead described…

A screen print depicting several overlapping guns. Against a silver background, a black hi-standard revolver points to the left side of the piece. A pale green copy of the image is slightly offset to its right, and a bright red copy is slightly to its left. Interlocked with the images of the revolver is an upside down black hi-standard pistol facing to the right of the image.

Everyday Objects and Transformation

October 25, 2017 By Nicole Dezelon

For Warhol, popular mass-produced food items represented the best of American consumerist society. What could be better than a product, such as Campbell’s Soup or Coca-Cola, which was distributed in…

This artwork consists of 23 Coca-Cola bottles spray painted silver and arranged in a silkscreen printed, wooden crate. The crate is painted yellow with lettering printed in red. The slogan on the front panel reads “Have a Coke” while the logo on the right-side panel reads Coca Cola along with the words “drink” and “in bottles”.

Death and Disasters: Appropriating and Manipulating News Imagery

October 25, 2017 By Nicole Dezelon

Warhol loved all forms of daily media and collected various newspapers, magazines, and supermarket tabloids. He recognized the power of mass-circulated media images in American culture and appropriated these as…

A grid of two rows of four black-and-white images depicting cans of tuna with varying degrees of shadow obscuring the image. The bottom right image is missing. Under the images is part of a headline that reads, “Seized shipment: Did a leak kill....”

Camouflage Sound Activity

October 25, 2017 By Nicole Dezelon

Warhol is reported to have asked his studio assistants, “What can I do that would be abstract but not really abstract?” Camouflage gave him the opportunity to work with both…

This image shows a camouflage print with overlapping abstract shapes. Instead of greens and browns, the colors in this print are pale pink, red and white, with navy blue accents.

Brillo: Is It Art?

October 25, 2017 By Nicole Dezelon

In the mid-1960s, Warhol carried his consumer-product imagery into the realm of sculpture. Calling to mind a factory assembly line, Warhol employed carpenters to construct numerous plywood boxes identical in…

This artwork is a recreation of a cardboard Brillo soap pads box using silkscreen ink and house paint on plywood. The box is white with navy blue and red lettering. The blue caption on the front side top of the box reads 24 Giant Size Pkgs.”, while the bottom caption reads “Shines Aluminum Fast. In the middle of the box in red lettering is the word New!” with the brand name “Brillo” spelled out in alternating red and blue letters. Beneath that is the tagline “Soap Pads with Rust Resister”. The side of the box is similar except for a caption at the bottom printed in blue that reads “Brillo Mfg. Co. Inc. -- Brooklyn, N.Y. -- Made in U.S.A..

Still Life and Observation Drawing

October 25, 2017 By Nicole Dezelon

Although Warhol is best known for his silkscreen prints, he was also an excellent draughtsman. Drawing was a constant part of his artistic practice. As a child he took art…

The off-white page is filled with five line drawings of an onion from different angles.

Rubber Stamping

October 25, 2017 By Nicole Dezelon

Warhol used handmade rubber stamps to create repeated patterns and symbols in his commercial work and in a few of his paintings. In the 1950s, numerous companies hired Warhol to…

A line drawing of a man’s face that has been stamped with a variety of shapes including stars, shooting stars, crescent moons, and birds.

Time Capsule 21 Activity: A Day in the Life of Warhol

October 25, 2017 By Nicole Dezelon

The Time Capsules is Warhol’s largest collecting project. He saved source material for his work and an enormous record of his daily life. Warhol started his Time Capsules in 1974…

A worn, brown cardboard box sits against a white background. It had been sealed with silver duct tape, but it has been opened. The number “21” is written in red pen on top of the box. There is also minimal additional writing on the side of the box in pencil.