Pop art is an art movement that has its roots in the United Kingdom and the United States and makes use of imagery from popular and mass cultures such as cultural objects, celebrities, comic books, and advertising. One of the artists who shaped the pop art movement is Andy Warhol.
Christened Andrew Warhol was born on August 6, 1928.
10 interesting facts about Andy Warhol
The American artist, who was also a director and producer in his time, was one of the foremost figures as far as pop art was concerned. His works often research the correlation between artistic expression, advertising, and celebrity culture seen flourishing in the 1960s.
His impact in this field was so great that he was nicknamed and fondly referred to as ‘The Pope of pop art’.
Most times, the subject of his work changes from symbolic American objects to fiction, to celebrities to traditional concepts.
His paintings triggered a turnaround in the way art was perceived.
Andy Warhol’s works span a range of paintings, silk-screening, photography, film, and sculpture.
Warhol has been featured in several books, documentaries, and exhibitions. In his native city of Pittsburgh, there is a Andy Warhol museum.
Quite a lot of His works have been found to be collectible and greatly valued. His painting called the Silver car crash happens to be his highest-priced work, though his creations include some of the most expensive paintings ever sold. In Nov2013 Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster) by Andy Warhol sold for $105.4 million .
For the purpose of this article, we’ll be talking about 7 most famous Andy Warhol artworks.
Top 7 Paintings By Andy Warhol
1.Banana
First on our list is the painting called ‘Banana’ made by Andy Warhol in 1966. He was associated with a band known as the velvet underground and was their manager as of 1965. This art called banana is featured on the cover of the band’s debut album titled, The Velvet Underground & Nico.
The cover featured the image of a banana covered by a banana skin sticker that viewers could pull back and reveal the flesh-colored nonexistent fruit under.
The album was referred to as “the most prophetic art album ever made.” After ranking 13th on Rolling stone magazine’s greatest album of all time list, Warhol’s Banana became one of the most sought-after pieces of pop art.
Banana can rightly be referred to as the international symbol of Warhol.
2. Coca Cola
Next on our list is Warhol‘s ‘coca-cola’.
There is hardly anyone who would claim to not know the coca-cola brand. The coca-cola bottle is a symbolic American object which happened to tickle Warhol’s fancy.
One of his famous quotes has a thing to do with it. He created many works on the coca-cola bottle. Unlike his later silkscreens, coca-cola is hand-painted and happens to be one of Warhol’s most expensive paintings ever sold.
The coca-cola bottle was an inspiration to Warhol as he set out to develop his own identity. Throughout his career, Warhol created about 15 different artworks related to coca-cola.
3. Mao
This work of art was created in 1973, started the year President Richard Nixon, who was the US president, made his first visit to China, 1972.
He made hundreds of MAO paintings using a photograph from MAO’s little red book. This painting is quite huge and is about 15 feet tall. It is also the most well-known MAO portrait by Warhol.
In making this painting, Warhol used strong and colorful brushstrokes to apply makeup with overly ostentatious colors on MAO’s face.
This particular painting reflects Warhol at his most painterly self and is said to be one of the best paintings he made.
4. Soup Cans
Campbell’s soup cans, also known as 32 Campbell’s soup cans, is one of Andy Warhol’s famous works. It was produced between November 1961 and April 1962. It comprises 32 canvases, each one representing the canned soup varieties that the company offered at the time.
This work of art made pop art become a major art movement in the USA.
The debates that stemmed from the merits and ethics of such work made Andy Warhol the leading and most well-known pop artist.
5. Marlin Diptych
Following Marilyn Monroe’s death in August 1962, Warhol created this masterpiece which consists of 50 images of Marilyn using the same publicity photograph from the film titled Niagara.
The work is divided into two halves, with 25 images on both sides. The 25 images on the left are colored, and those on the right are in black and white with a fading effect.
This piece is considered a symbolic work of pop art and was once rated the third most influential piece of modern art in a survey by Guardian.
6. Eight Elvis
Created in 1963, this work is a 12-foot painting of eight identical, overlapping images of Elvis Presley in cowboy attire.
It is a unique painting as it was not mass-produced
like the majority of Andy Warhol’s works. As of 2008, it sold for $100 million, making Warhol the fifth artist to have a work sold.
It is a masterpiece and remains one of the most expensive paintings ever sold.
7. The Shoes Series
Andy Warhol was known to have a fetish for shoes and feet. This was probably the inspiration behind the shoe series.
His advert for women’s footwear in the 1950’s was outstanding and recognized. It is a collection of different shoe paintings by Andy Warhol.
The exhibition poster depicts a single emerald green shoe hanging in a starry sky. However, he incorporated a lot of different shoes in his shoe series that were reminiscent of still life.
Closing Thoughts
Andy Warhol influenced art in many ways; he used bright colors, celebrities, and everyday objects to enable everyone to relate to art. He wanted to give people something to question, and his works like the Campbell’s soup cans and Marlin Diptych raised can be closely tied to the question of what is art? why art is important? through his exploration of popular culture, consumerism, and the nature of artistic production.
He successfully merged popular culture and art just as he intended to.
He had an immense contribution to the development of pop art, and the King of pop art cannot be ignored by anyone looking to learn more about that Genre.
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