POP Power from Warhol to Koons: Masterworks from the Collection of Jordan D
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POP Power from Warhol to Koons: Masterworks from the Collection of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation Pop Art first emerged in Britain and America in the 1950s, tapping into the growth of consumerism in both countries after World War II. However, the movement flourished most strongly in the United States in the 1960s. It began as a revolt by young artists against the prevailing approaches to art and culture and traditional ideas about what art could be. Pop artists turned away from the painterly looseness of the dominant style of abstraction and returned to representational art, creating works with hard edges and distinct forms. For their imagery, they drew inspiration from the world around them, including advertising, product packaging, music, comic books, and film. Many artists even adopted the graphic style and techniques of commercial printing and comic books, and engaged with mass production by creating prints and sculptures in 1 multiples. Art critics were horrified by their work and use of such “low” subject matter. Though Pop Art declined in the 1970s, a new generation of Pop, or Neo-Pop, artists emerged in the late 1980s. Like their Pop predecessors, Neo-Pop artists also looked to the world around them for inspiration, drawing subjects from everyday objects and popular culture, as well as exploring contemporary trends and social and political issues. POP Power from Warhol to Koons showcases over one hundred works on paper and sculptures from many of the well-known figures of Pop and Neo-Pop Art, highlighting the techniques and approaches common to both movements, the differences between them, and the varied styles of individual artists. While Pop and Neo-Pop artists all borrowed from popular imagery, each movement speaks to the issues, aesthetics, and culture of their own contemporary moment. 2 Andy Warhol American, 1928–1987 Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom from the portfolio “Reigning Queens (Royal Edition),” 1985 Screenprint with diamond dust 3 Andy Warhol American, 1928–1987 Queen Ntombi Twala of Swaziland from the portfolio “Reigning Queens (Royal Edition),” 1985 Screenprint with diamond dust These six prints are from a special “Royal” edition of Warhol’s Reigning Queens series, which consists of four variously designed and inked images of four different queens: Beatrix of the Netherlands, Margrethe II of Denmark, Ntombi Twala of Swaziland, and Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. In each print, Warhol breaks the image into fragments with overlaid blocks of color, a style he began to adopt in the mid-1970s. Warhol also incorporated 4 printed lines derived from drawing, and he applied diamond dust exclusively to prints from the “Royal” edition, adding a glittering effect to the works. As he remarked in his characteristic offhand manner, “I really would still rather do just a silkscreen of the face without all the rest, but people expect just a little bit more. That’s why I put in all the drawing.” 5 Andy Warhol American, 1928–1987 Marilyn Monroe (Marilyn), ca. 1978 Screenprint Marilyn Monroe received more sustained attention from Warhol than any other celebrity. His numerous repetitions of her portrait, based on a publicity shot from the 1953 film Niagara, have become some of the most iconic imagery of the movie star. This black-and-white screenprint with reversed tones like a photographic negative provides a completely different feel from the artist’s many brightly colored portrayals of the actress. The haunting image reminds us that Warhol first became fascinated with Monroe after her 1962 suicide, similar to his attraction to Jacqueline Kennedy after she experienced the violent assassination of her husband, President John F. Kennedy. 6 Andy Warhol American, 1928–1987 Mickey Mouse from the portfolio “Myths,” 1981 Screenprint with diamond dust The Shadow from the portfolio “Myths,” 1981 Screenprint with diamond dust Warhol’s Myths series presents ten different popular culture icons, ranging from Santa Claus and Superman to Dracula and the Wicked Witch of the West. In the first work, we see Walt Disney’s iconic mouse set against a dark background covered in diamond dust, adding a bit of glitz and glamour to the beloved cartoon character. The artist later produced other depictions of Mickey Mouse, sometimes repeated twice or in a grid, 7 techniques he is also known for using in portrayals of famous figures like Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley. In the second work, Warhol makes a nod to his own celebrity by portraying himself as The Shadow, a 1930s crime-fighting hero made famous by radio programs, a pulp magazine, a series of novels, and comic strips. 8 Andy Warhol American, 1928–1987 Cow, 1976 Screenprint on wallpaper Andy Warhol American, 1928–1987 Fiesta Pig, 1979 Screenprint 9 Robert Indiana American, 1928–2018 Chosen Love, ca. 1995 Rug woven from skein-dyed, hand-carved, and hand-tufted archival New Zealand wool Robert Indiana first portrayed the word “love” in 1961 in a small painting titled 4-Star Love, depicting the single word with four stars stacked above it, an arrangement that inspired the stacking formation of the letters in his famed LOVE composition a few years later. His iconic design quickly became famous as it embodied the idealism of the decade. Indiana repeated the motif in different colors and media, ranging from sculptures, paintings, and prints to rings, postage stamps, and rugs, like this signature example. Although Indiana is often associated with the Pop movement, he was never entirely comfortable with the consumerist nature of Pop Art and often defined himself as an “American painter of signs.” 10 Andy Warhol American, 1928–1987 Cheddar Cheese from the portfolio “Campbell’s Soup II,” 1969 Screenprint Andy Warhol American, 1928–1987 Flowers, 1970 Screenprint 11 Claes Oldenburg American, born Sweden 1929 Flying Pizza from the portfolio “New York Ten,” 1964, published 1965 Lithograph Claes Oldenburg was an American artist best known for his playful, monumental sculptures drawn from everyday objects. This lithograph is from New York Ten, a ten-print portfolio that was the first of several publications by New York dealer and publisher Rosa Esman to showcase prints and multiples by Pop artists. The sense of humor Oldenburg and his fellow Pop artists introduced into the American avant-garde in the 1960s is especially evident in Flying Pizza, which spins on its crust like a “hubcap thrown from a wheel.” Flying Pizza is believed to be “the first image of pizza in contemporary art.” 12 Claes Oldenburg American, born Sweden 1929 Profiterole, 1990 Lithograph Claes Oldenburg American, born Sweden 1929 Coosje van Bruggen Dutch, active in the United States, 1942–2009 Profiterole, 1989 Cast aluminum, latex paint, and brass Oldenburg is celebrated for his monumental sculptures of everyday objects, sometimes translated into soft drooping 13 materials that are whimsical in their effect. To create the sculpture Profiterole, Oldenburg teamed up with his wife, sculptor Coosje van Bruggen, with whom he frequently collaborated from 1976 until her death in 2009. Both the sculpture Profiterole and its lithographic counterpart of the same name demonstrate Oldenburg’s ability to endow uncanny presence even at a small scale. Though crafted out of metal and paint, the sculpture successfully mimics the look of the dessert through its texture and the flowing quality of the chocolate sauce. Claes Oldenburg American, born Sweden 1929 Tilting Neon Cocktail, 1983 Stainless steel, cast aluminum, acrylic paint, and Plexiglas 14 Claes Oldenburg American, b. in Sweden 1929 Baked Potato from the portfolio “7 Objects in a Box,” 1966 Cast resin, acrylic paint, and Shenango china plate Oldenburg produced Baked Potato, his first published multiple, for an enterprising project led by publisher Rosa Esman. Esman invited artists to create a “portfolio” of small three-dimensional multiples that were housed in a small wooden art-packing crate. Oldenburg, Roy Lichtenstein, and Andy Warhol were among the seven participating artists. In order to have his Baked Potato hand-painted and still follow the mass-production concept of the multiple, Oldenburg devised painting instructions and another artist individually painted each example, spraying green paint from a toothbrush for the chives. Oldenburg described the 15 project as “a balance of individuality, objectivity, and chance.... The multiple object was for me the sculptor’s solution to making a print.” James Rosenquist American, 1933–2017 Terrarium, 1978 Lithograph 16 James Rosenquist American, 1933–2017 Caught One Lost One for the Fast Student or Star Catcher from the series “Welcome to the Water Planet,” 1989 Lithograph, colored and pressed paper pulp, and collage Rosenquist’s early job as a billboard painter helped inspire his Pop style, characterized by collage-like juxtapositions of diverse photorealist elements in a variety of sizes. The series Welcome to the Water Planet was one of his earliest collaborations with printmaker Kenneth Tyler, who promised Rosenquist handmade paper as big as he could want. The artist began this series with a vague idea of slow heating popcorn, tied to his growing ecological concerns. Here, a shiny pot is set against a backdrop of the universe with an explosion of white specks included alongside a rock that seems to have fallen from space. 17 James Rosenquist American, 1933–2017 The Stars and Stripes at the Speed of Light, 2000 Lithograph Roy Lichtenstein American, 1923–1997 Blonde from the series “Surrealist,” 1978 Lithograph 18 Roy Lichtenstein American, 1923–1997 Sweet Dreams Baby! from the portfolio “11 Pop Artists, Volume III,” 1965 Screenprint In 1961, Lichtenstein transitioned from an Abstract Expressionist mode to his singular Pop Art style, which mimicked the subject matter and look of cheap comic books and advertisements. One of Lichtenstein’s earliest Pop Art prints, Sweet Dreams Baby! exemplifies the artist’s hallmark style in its depiction of a single comic-strip frame, freezing just after the dramatic moment that a fist connects with a man’s face.