A book called Andy Warhol Portraits is unlikely I have any new wisdom to impart on the meaning or importance of Andy's artistic achievements. I'll simply tell you that if you're a fan, you'll find the new Andy Warhol Portraits to be a worthy collection of what most people would consider to be Warhol's most famous works of art (other than maybe those Campbell's Soup cans).
Portraits brings together mainly head shots of over 250 people, famous and not, done in various styles, but most often in the overdubbed splashes of color motif that was Warhol's trademark. While some of the not-so-famous faces are people Warhol knew in New York art and social circles, many others are commissioned works. He might not have been cheap, but Warhol was for sale.
It's interesting to see portraits of the Shah of Iran and casino mogul Steve Wynn done in the iconic Warhol style. It seems wrong and yet right at the same time. It was, after all, pop art, and these were people with the money and power to have their portraits done by the most famous artist of the day.
A partial list of the portraits you'll find includes Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Elvis Presley, Warren Beatty, Natalie Wood, Jacqueline Kennedy, Marlon Brando, Roy Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns, Dennis Hopper, Philip Johnson, Yves Saint Laurent, Brigitte Bardot, Mick Jagger, Rudolf Nureyev, Man Ray, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Chris Evert, Jack Nicklaus, Willie Shoemaker, O.J. Simpson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Pele, Muhammad Ali, Judy Garland, Liza Minelli, Gianni Versace, Truman Capote, Carly Simon, Debbie Harry (who graces the book's cover), Giorgio Armani, Prince Charles and Princess Diana, Jane Fonda, Alfred Hitchcock, Keith Haring, Robert Mapplethorpe, Cheryl Tiegs, Sylvester Stallone, Bill Murray, Clint Eastwood, Diane Keaton, Meryl Streep, Michael Jackson, Prince, Dolly Parton, John Lennon, Aretha Franklin, and several self-portraits Warhol produced at different stages.
The book is big and heavy, as an art book should be, with pages measuring roughly 12 inches by 10 inches. You're not cheated on the pictures. Each page is a single portrait, except for those in which Warhol's original work used multiple interpretations of the same image. This is definitely a book for gift giving or, if you're like me and endlessly fascinated by faces, for treating yourself.
Article comments
1 - Natalie Bennett
This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net, which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States. Nice work!