WARHOL - PBS

Man Ray
Andy Warhol

1. What are the three most interesting stories in this film?

    The first story that I thought was the most interesting in this film was the one about Warhol's mother and how she fueled his love for art when he was younger. The film talked about how she would make her kids draw a picture and whoever drew the best one would get a piece of chocolate or something similar. I just thought that this story gave some interesting insight into his life as a kid. The next story that I thought was very interesting in this film was that Warhol would go to church with his mother every Saturday night and Sunday. This is interesting because there is evidence of "iconostasis" in his work due to his brilliant use of color and "simplicity". The last story that I thought was interesting was that when he was starting to become successful as a commercial artist in New York, he would not bring his work that he was going to present in a portfolio, but insteads would carry it around in a paper bag. He was known as "raggedy Andy". He seems like a very interesting person!

Do you like Warhol more or less now? Is Warhol avante garde? 

    At the beginning of the film, I made a quick judgement that I do not like him as much anymore, but after watching the entire film, I take that back. I did not enjoy how he said in the opening scene that he "copied a common item" (said interviewer), because it was "easier to do". Also, the way that he said it rubbed me the wrong way. However, after hearing how he grew up and who he actually is as a person, I like him a lot more. I would definitely say he is an avante garde person. He is an insanely unique person and shows that through his art, the way he thinks, the way he acts, and just how he lived his life. 

What do you think is Warhol's strangest piece? Why?

    I think that Warhol's strangest pieces were the ones that he had in his first public show, which were drawings of Truman Capote. He also has some silkscreen prints of Truman Capote. I think these are his strangest pieces because he had a really strange obsession with Truman Capote that was kind of creepy. 

2. What do we learn from Warhol's CocaCola bottles? How did he arrive at his decision? How was this a paradigm shift for him / painting? What was the popular reaction? How did it lead to the Campbell soup cans? Where did that idea come from?

    From Warhol's CocaCola bottles we learn that Warhol is more intrigued by the clean, tight version instead of the one that has drips and obvious brush marks. He arrived at this decision by asking his fellow artists which version they preferred, and they all chose the clean version. This was a paradigm shift for him/painting because it pushed him to go towards the more mechanical looking art compared to the more unfinished work he was doing beforehand. Also, this made a major change in the way that America and the world viewed art. The popular reaction was very "hostile" at first, and thought that his art "killed the spirit of art". He asked for advice for how to get people to like his work, and Muriel Latow told him to paint things that people see every day, to paint "a can of soup". People started to love his work. 

3. What change did Warhol make in August of 1962 that fused his form and content? What does that mean? Why is that so important? Can you think of any other examples of the marriage of form and content? 

    In August of 1962, Warhol changed the way he made art by using the "photograph and silkscreen technique". By using the silkscreen and photograph technique, he fused form and content by creating a tight image that could be mass produced. With the image of the soup can being mass produced using the silkscreen technique, he is imitating the world around him because the soup cans themselves are mass produced. The images are slightly different each time, but they mimic this idea of mechanical reproduction at a commercial level. Fusing content and form is using content that has the same function as the actual painting. They are both commercial and mass produced. This is important because it is a marriage that gives the pieces meaning, it creates a more "provocative" image that causes people to talk. I really am not sure I can think of any other examples of the marriage of form and content, but maybe Matisse? I am not sure if his art does it to the same level as Warhol, but he does depict organic content with organic forms. 

4. Peter Blume found the soup can paintings "Complicated in their implication" what do they imply to you? Remember they look like something worth 27cents Blume bought them for $1000 and sold them for $15 Million and their estimated worth as much as $100 million -  & Andy started the first Art Factory.

    The soup can paintings impy to me that consumerism and mass production really did take over the world at that time. Warhol comments on pop culture through his work so literally, and I think for a lot of people, that can go over their heads. His work literally is pop culture and it brings attention to how important consumption of pop culture was at the time, and commented on that through mechanical mass production, which was also such a huge part of that time. Also, he still has an effect on pop culture today because his art techniques have become a staple in the graphic design world today. 

The Nation's Nigthmare
Andy Warhol

Outside Sources:

Bigman, Alex. “Andy Warhol and Commercial Illustration.” 99designs, 99designs.com/blog/famous-design/andy-warhol-commercial-illustrator/. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.

Tate. “Andy Warhol 1928–1987.” Tate, 1 Jan. 1974, www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/andy-warhol-2121.