Andy Warhol is a truly multifaceted man, and it is no coincidence that many people call him the king of Pop Art, a creative trend that emerged in the 50s and 60s of the 20th century in the United States. He also created in the style of avant-garde, abstractionism, shot pseudo-documentary and arthouse cinema. But Andy Warhol was especially famous for his graphic works and portraits, and he preferred to create portraits of actors of the first magnitude and heads of state, people who had a great influence on mass culture and on the lives of citizens of his country.
In his portraits Andy Warhol tried to show the "peculiarity" of a celebrity, i.e. those qualities that distinguish an outstanding person from an ordinary one. But at the same time he also wanted to show the dark sides, to reveal the unseemly truth, to separate the image created by mass culture and propaganda from its real essence. That's why Warhol's portraits are so popular in the world, a lot of talent and creative efforts are invested in them, and each of them is practically an independent work of art.
We will tell you about the five most famous portraits of the master of Pop Art in this article.
Warhol created many portraits of Marilyn Monroe, but the most memorable work was made by him in 1962 and is kept in the English Tate Museum. Shocked by the untimely death of the beautiful blonde - Monroe died of an overdose of barbiturates in August 1962, Warhol decided to make her portrait, where as a basis took a frame from the film "Niagara" in 1953. The left side of the painting is in colour, Monroe's photo is depicted there in colour and repeated many times - 25 times for those who like accuracy. She personifies the screen image of a fatal blonde - a beautiful, seductive film star of world magnitude, and the right side is black and white, some frames are smeared there, others are barely visible. This is her real life - complex, contradictory, not always happy, filled with misunderstanding and indifference of people close to her. Monroe was torn between her own screen image that everyone wanted to see in her and her real self. Perhaps it all mentally fractured her, and given certain problems with the psyche of the film star eventually led to tragedy.
One of Warhol's best works is his portrait of the First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, made by him in 1964, after the assassination of her husband, 35th President of the United States John F. Kennedy in November 1963. She has always been the epitome of style, grace and beauty, perfectly suited to the role of First Lady. But then disaster struck, America went into mourning, and every unfortunate article mentioned the First Lady. People admired in her combination of elegance with the ability to bear all the blows of fate. She sincerely loved her husband, and death was a tragedy for her, but she did not give up, did not sink, and continued despite everything, to be an icon of style and good manners, only this time with a touch of immense sadness. Warhol depicted Jacqueline on a red background, the work is dominated by sharp contrasting colours, emphasising the depth of her ordeal.
Warhol was always interested in the personality of this actress, like Monroe, who was at the height of her popularity, but had serious health problems, which she hid from the public. At first glance, the picture is bright and cheerful - the frame on which Taylor appears is taken from the film "Butterfield 8", the background is painted in bright blue colour, which in combination with bright red lips, soft pink colour of the face and green stroke over the right eye gives the picture a somewhat cartoonish look, as if Elizabeth is a character of some Disney cartoon. But if you look closely, you can see that there is a lot of tragedy in the painting - the shadows on the left side of her face are too deep to fit the image of a classic Disney beauty. Andy, of course, knew about the backstage life of Hollywood stars at that time, there was a lot of things they didn't want to bring to the public, otherwise she would have been frankly disappointed in them. It is the combination of tragic real life and vivid film image that is so attractive in this portrait.
In addition to film stars and American celebrities, Warhol was also interested in iconic political leaders. One of them was Mao Zedong, who actually led China from 1949 to 1976, until his death. Perhaps now China did not have such a great importance in the world political arena, would not produce so many goods, if not for the timely reforms of Mao, who managed to turn a backward agrarian country with hardened traditions into a state with a developed economy and excellent prospects for development. Though it was given at a high price and with considerable human sacrifices. Warhol made a portrait of Mao Zedong in 1972 and timed it to coincide with the visit of US President Richard Nixon to China in those years. The visit was significant - then finally managed to establish diplomatic relations between the countries. Warhol took a classic propaganda photo of Mao Zedong from Chinese newspapers and gave it his own vision. He wanted to show the contrast between the propaganda and the real essence of the man. Clearly enough negative attitude of the artist to him, however, Warhol's views at that time shared many Americans and I do not think that now the situation has somehow changed.
Warhol did not ignore the portrait of Vladimir Lenin. He made two versions of this portrait - on a red and black background, the most famous being Lenin on a red background, perhaps because ordinary American citizens had a better idea of the essence of communism, as red is the traditional colour of the Bolsheviks. This is one of Warhol's last works and he created it in 1987, at the end of the Soviet Union, just a few months before his death from complications from surgery. Art critics agree that this is the pinnacle of the artist's creative maturity and one of his most successful works. Warhol made a portrait in the style of Soviet propaganda posters, especially if you take the portrait of Lenin on a red background, but the perception of the picture is quite different compared to the posters, it is rather negative, there is something sinister in this Lenin. In Warhol's opinion, Lenin is a tyrant, a man who is ready to sacrifice the lives of thousands of people for the sake of his idea, a brilliant villain who created the political system that America fought against during the Cold War. But at the same time Warhol pays tribute to his influence on people's minds, respects him as a political leader and as an outstanding organiser - otherwise the revolution could never have taken place.
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