Gift of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
Despite the financial hardships of his Depression era youth, Warhol’s parents, Andrej and Julia, bought his first camera at the age of eight. This gift would lead to a lifetime of observing and documenting his surroundings and relationships that influenced his compositional sense and inspired the working method for some of his most well-known prints. For example, the photograph at the left reveals his affinity for the repetition of shapes, here in the form of stacked boxes. This type of composition also appears in his many of his finished portraits, such as this vivid screen print of German artist Joseph Beuys. Warhol first met Beuys in 1979 at an art opening in Düsseldorf, Germany. Mere moments after meeting Beuys, Warhol asked to photograph him. Perhaps because of the public setting, Warhol only took one shot of Beuys, rather than his typical multitude of poses per subject (like the Polaroids of artist Sandro Chia in the center case). The photograph of Beuys, which served as a “sketch,” became the basis for a series of screen print portraits with many variations. Some held only a single, monochromatic image of Beuys. Others, like this one, bear Warhol’s recognizable multiplicity of brightly-colored images. In a nod to Beuys’ own preferred materials, one of which was felt, Warhol covered this portrait of the artist with rayon flocking. Warhol’s humorous diary entry from a later encounter with Beuys demonstrates both his respect for the artist and his openness regarding what constitutes finished work of art. Sunday, March 8, 1981 Düsseldorf—“We had breakfast with Joseph Beuys, he insisted that I come to his house and see his studio and the way he lives and have tea and cake, it was really nice. He gave me a work of art which was two bottles of effervescent water which ended up exploding in my suitcase and damaging everything I have, so I can’t open the box now, because I don’t know if it’s a work of art anymore or just broken bottles. So if he comes to New York I’ve got to get him to come sign the box because it’s just a real muck.”
Andy Warhol, prodigy of American Pop Art, was born Andrew Warhola in 1928. As a child, he suffered from a rare neurological disorder typified by uncontrollable movements, requiring him to miss school frequently. He escaped boredom during these times through comic books and magazines, immersing himself in the worlds of both heroes and Hollywood glamour. From these publications, he made paper cutouts of advertisements and photographs. This childhood hobby likely inspired his distinctive silkscreen technique—the repetitive recreation of emblematic figures and familiar products for a consumer-driven and celebrity-obsessed audience. The themes of repetition, celebrity, and glamour became synonymous with Warhol, not only in his screen prints, but also in his documentation of life. The photograph at the right, Table, encapsulates these themes in a single frame. The composition revolves around the repeated table settings, the reflection of the camera’s flash, and the empty chairs holding the promise of prominent and glamorous event attendees. The screen print of Queen Ntombi Twala of Swaziland comes from Warhol’s Reigning Queens series, which also included portraits of Queen Elizabeth II of England, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, and Queen Magrethe II of Denmark. Warhol based the images on existing photographs of the queens, but used abstract shapes and large blocks of color to achieve a collaged effect in a screen print medium. He enhanced the effect by adding diamond dust, tiny bits of cut glass designed to catch and reflect light, to the surface layer of ink. This sparkle also lends a sense of opulence to the queens, each of whom ruled in her own right rather than through a male relative.
This artist’s book, Andy Warhol’s Index (Book), allows another glimpse into Warhol’s working methods. The book is opened to a photograph that captures an intimate moment of the artist at work, amidst row upon row of unfinished silkscreens, feverishly working toward the perfect print. The detail photograph of Warhol at the right, implies that he viewed himself as a master printmaker in the tradition of Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471-1528), the printmaking great of the Northern Renaissance. Dürer’s monogram, a combination of his initials, A and D, appears at bottom right. Warhol’s unusual jacket offers a second, subtler nod to Dürer. Not only indicative of Warhol’s fashion-forward style, the jacket’s shredded sleeves and high collar also recall the traditional attire of a landsknecht, a type of sixteenth-century German mercenary frequently depicted by Dürer.
In 1986, Andy Warhol produced Cowboys and Indians, a series of ten prints depicting legendary figures of the American West—General Custer, pop culture’s eternal cowboy John Wayne, and Geronimo—along with a romanticized portrait of a Native American mother and child and renderings of Native American objects, including a Northwest Coast mask and a Plains Indian shield. Annie Oakley, a sharpshooter in Buffalo Bill Cody’s live performance troupe, was also included. Like other portraits in the series, the image of Annie Oakley was based on a popular photograph, in this case one that had originally appeared as an advertisement for Buffalo Bill’s German tour. To create Cowboys and Indians, Warhol and his Factory studio assistants produced 36 trial proofs of 14 images in various colors, tonalities, and positions. From these, Warhol selected his favorite versions of the 10 images that constituted the final series and ran an edition (a series of multiple originals) of 250 prints for each image. The Annie Oakley screen print at left was included in the edition, while the print at the right is an unfinished or perhaps discarded version that remained in Warhol’s possession. The editioned print is replete with detail, from the inticate medals pinned to Oakley’s shirt to her individual strands of hair. The unfinished print displays fewer layers of ink than the finished version, most obviously lacking Warhol’s characteristic photo reproduction layer. The result is striking. Simple outlines form Oakley’s face and subtly suggest the medals on her shirt, allowing the viewer to fill in detail or simply appreciate the unrestrained, yet minimalistic, composition of color and line.
An Alternative Ending: Rama Defeated by His Sons
Sons battle their father and uncles in this illustration of a scene from a later version of the Ramayana. Now ruling in Ayodhya, Rama begins the Ashvamedha, a horse sacrifice to define his territory. In this ritual, a horse, followed by the king’s army, wanders freely for one year, claiming new territories for the king. On this journey, the horse strays into the hermitage of the poet-sage Valmiki, where, unbeknownst to Rama, Sita and her twin sons Lava and Kusha have been living in her second exile. Lava and Kusha capture the horse and battle against the army of Rama, the father they have never known. At top center, Valmiki teaches young Lava and Kusha. Moving counter-clockwise, Sita embraces her sons, bidding them farewell as they head into battle. The sacrificial horse can be seen partly hidden in the bushes near other forest animals. Immediately to the right, Lava releases the captives Hanuman and Jambavan. The primary scene fills lower portion of the painting, and depicts the gruesome culmination of their battle, with Rama and his brothers left unconscious, but not dead.
Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University
Gift of Jayantilal K. and Geeta J. Patel & Family to further the study of Hinduism
© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University. Photo by Bruce M. White, 2014.
This image is provided by the Michael C. Carlos Museum of Emory University, who retains all rights in it. This image is made available for limited non-commercial, educational, and personal use only, or for fair use as defined by United States law. For all other uses, please contact the Michael C. Carlos Museum Office of Collections Services at +1(404) 727-4282 or mccm.collections.services@emory.edu. Users must cite the author and source of the image as they would material from any printed work, but not in any way that implies endorsement of the user or the user's use of the image. Users may not remove any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary notices, including without limitation attribution information, credits, and copyright notices that have been placed on or near the image by the Museum. The Museum assumes no responsibility for royalties or fees claimed by the artist or third parties. The User agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Emory University, its Michael C. Carlos Museum, its agents, employees, faculty members, students and trustees from and against any and all claims, losses, actions, damages, expenses, and all other liabilities, including but not limited to attorney’s fees, directly or indirectly arising out of or resulting from its use of photographic images for which permission is granted hereunder.
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, October 27, 2014 - November 7, 2016
In one version of the Ramayana, after his coronation, Rama banishes Sita to the forest in response to rumors that she was unfaithful during her captivity in Lanka. In this painting, Rama performs a fire sacrifice as part of his royal duties. Since tradition holds that the sacrificer’s wife must be present, a golden statue replaces the exiled Sita. The statue highlights the dilemma of a king who must follow the proscribed ritual of sacrifice, but must also banish a potentially unfaithful wife. The confinement of women to the private sphere on the edges of the composition also evokes conceptions of female subservience implied by the golden statue. The hierarchical organization of the male figures and architectural components infuse the central, public space with a sense of order, authority, and righteousness. The compositional lines draw the viewer’s attention consistently back to Rama, designating his position of importance at the center. Looking closely, one can also detect traces of preliminary drawings in the white planes of the composition.
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper Image: 10 3/4 x 14 1/8 in. Sheet: 13 1/4 x 16 3/4 in.
Conservator Renee Stein collecting samples
Straining Funori (seaweed) to prepare adhesive for consolidation of powdery flaking paint.