Warhol
by
16/99
Critics' Rating Index
72/99
Readers' Rating Index
n/a
Scholars' Citation Index
98/99
Volume of Reviews
48/99
Volume of Reader Ratings
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About This Book
When critics attacked Andy Warhol's Marilyn paintings as shallow, the Pop artist was happy to present himself as shallower still: He claimed that he silkscreened to avoid the hard work of painting, although he was actually a meticulous workaholic; in interviews he presented himself as a silly naïf when in private he was the canniest of sophisticates. Blake Gopnik's definitive biography digs deep into the contradictions and radical genius that led Andy Warhol to revolutionise our cultural world.Based on years of archival research and on interviews with hundreds of Warhol's surviving friends, lovers and enemies, Warhol traces the artist's path from his origins as the impoverished son of Eastern European immigrants in 1930s Pittsburgh, through his early success as a commercial illustrator and his groundbreaking pivot into fine art, to the society portraiture and popular celebrity of the '70s and '80s, as he reflected and responded to the changing dynamics of commerce and culture.Warhol sought out all the most glamorous figures of his times - Susan Sontag, Mick Jagger, the Barons de Rothschild - despite being burdened with an almost crippling shyness. Behind the public glitter of the artist's Factory, with its superstars, drag queens and socialites, there was a man who lived with his mother for much of his life and guarded the privacy of his home. He overcame the vicious homophobia of his youth to become a symbol of gay achievement, while always seeking the pleasures of traditional romance and coupledom. (Warhol explodes the myth of his asexuality.)Filled with new insights into the artist's work and personality, Warhol asks: Was he a joke or a genius, a radical or a social climber? As Warhol himself would have answered: Yes.
Reviews
"Gopnik expertly traces Warhol's technical and intellectual roots to his studies in painting and illustration at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Institute of Technology ..."
"There is plenty of gossip, sleaze and desperation for Gopnik to feast on, and even some art."
"to which the only intelligent response is a derisive: pig's bottom!"
"This lengthy, lively tale is designed to enchant both Warhol fans and those new to his unusual take on visual artistry and life in general ..."
"With each chapter corresponding to roughly a year in the artist's life (though the first 17 are greatly condensed), [Gopnik] is able to slowly disclose the patchwork of Warhol's diverse influences and art-world references ..."
"This is big talk, but Gopnik persuasively assembles his case over the course of this mesmerising book, which is as much art history and philosophy as it is biography ...Gopnik is also keen to dislodge the many canards about Warhol's private life."
"But big-picture conclusions are not what this book does best."
"the author serves up fresh details about almost every aspect of Warhol's life in an immensely enjoyable book that blends snappy writing with careful exegeses of the artist's influences and techniques ..."
"Gopnik's bio tends toward hagiography ..."
"Gopnik assembles a brilliant portrait of Warhol and this milieu, but it's still hard to know why the artist changed so much ..."
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