ANDY WARHOL
Portraits Of The Artists
1967
One hundred polystyrene boxes in ten colors, each screenprinted
20 x 20 in. (2 x 2 in. each box)
Edition of 200
Initialed and numbered incised on a box printed with Warhol’s portrait

About This Work:

Andy Warhol was the most successful and highly paid commercial illustrator in New York even before he began to make art destined for galleries. Neverthless, his screenprinted images of Marilyn Monroe, soup cans, and sensational newspaper stories, quickly became synonymous with Pop Art.

Pop Art marked an important new stage in the breakdown between high and low art forms. Warhol’s paintings from the early 1960s were important in pioneering these developments, but it is arguable that the diverse activities of his later years were just as influential in expanding the implications of Pop Art into other spaces, and further eroding the borders between the worlds of high art and popular culture.

Andy Warhol is now considered one of the most influential artists of the second half of the 20th century, who created some of the most recognizable images ever produced.

Warhol was part of a very exclusive group of artists that the famous and influential New York dealer, Leo Castelli, represented. In 1967 Warhol created Portraits of the Artists,  a work that depicts the portraits of 10 artists chosen and represented by Castelli. Sticking with Warhol’s signature style of repetition, he multiplied the artists’ portraits ten times in ten different colors on 3-D polystyrene boxes, each measuring at approximately 2 x 2 inches.

The 100 boxes totaled to approximately 20” x 20” when lined up. The artists include Robert Morris, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Larry Poons, James Rosenquist, Frank Stella, Lee Bontecou, Donald Judd, Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol himself. 

Warhol used the power of the portrait to bring forth the idea of America’s infatuation with celebrity, and the effects of the celebrity in our culture. Pop culture was not only just about Coca Cola bottles, Campbell’s Soup Cans, and Brillo boxes, but also about taking TV, film, music, or literary personalities and exploiting the concept of celebrity.

 
Warhol’s celebrity portraits, elevated their celebrity status in our culture. Celebrities were used in advertising, and other means of promoting products that were part of our pop culture. Warhol introduced celebrity into our pop culture through his portraits. In essence, one can say that Warhol’s portraits may arguably be some of Warhol’s most important work. Thus, it was a no brainer when Leo Castelli came to Warhol, and asked him to create a work of art celebrating his 10th anniversary of his gallery.

What a better way to pay homage and respect to the most important artists of the time by having Andy Warhol create a work of art that said so much about the artist’s influence on our culture, with just their portraits. No words were needed.

The use of repetition is also typical of Andy Warhol. Warhol used silkscreen as his medium of choice. It served as a way to remove the hand of the artist in art, a concept Marcel Duchamp introduced to the art world in the early part of the century. Warhol’s biggest influence in art was Duchamp.  

Repetition also allowed the artists to further their concepts, by reaching a greater amount of people. Printmaking was the best way to achieve this. By making multiples of a work, more people can own the work, sell the work, and are exposed to the work.  
Printmaking allowed Warhol to mass produce and mass market art. He was a master of marketing. This allowed Warhol to explore the concept of democratizing art.  Something that Warhol strived to do throughout his career. It was not just pop culture products and items, but portraits of the celebrities as well. He took the celebrity off the TV/movie screen and brought it into your house, and closer to your personal world. 

It was this marketing that led to Andy Warhol becoming a celebrity himself.