ostensibly churning out the same
image in a factory-like way, Warhol
was actually highlighting the tiny
differences inherent in this approach.
“My fascination with letting images
repeat,” he said, “manifests my belief
that we spend much of our lives
seeing without observing.” Focusing
repeatedly on the same subject can
actually hone your observational skills
and will encourage you to appreciate
smaller details.3
FIND EXCITEMENT IN
THE EVERYDAY
While the use of food stuffs as a
meaningful subject in art dates back
to the Dutch Golden Age painters of
the 17th century, Warhol was one of
the first to champion the commercial
packaging found in 20th-century
supermarkets. Nevertheless, Brillo
pads, Campbell’s soup and Coca-Cola
bottles are all intrinsically linked with
the Pop Artist’s work.
Warhol’s motivation for using these
subjects is no doubt in part down to
his previous career as a commercial
illustrator and a desire to elevate
packaging design to the level of fine
art. Yet there is a lesson in there for
all of us – and that is that he took an
everyday object that was meaningful
to him and used it in his art. That
important connection gave him
greater motivation to create.4
BE NOSTALGIC
Andy Warhol began making
portraits of Marilyn Monroe almost
immediately after the actress died.
His prints, including 1962’s Marilyn
Diptych, were based upon a photo
taken by Gene Kornman to advertise
Monroe’s film Niagara. The use of an
already-old image added a mournful,
nostalgic quality to his prints of the
fated actress. “The best thing about a
picture is that it never changes, even
when the people in it do,” he said.
Pinning an artwork to a particular
event or era can be a useful way of
evoking emotion in a viewer. Warhol
was fascinated by events such as
JFK’s assassination not so much for
the death of the president but for the
way in which it was turned into a
mass outpouring of grief. He was an
artist who once said he wished he
didn’t have emotions, yet he was
fascinated by these shared feelings.LEFT Andy Warhol,
Boy with Flowers,
1955-’57, ink on
paper, 42.5x35cm
BELOW Andy Warhol,
Self-Portrait,
1986, acrylic
and screenprint
on canvas,
203x203cm