August 6, 1928 – Andy Warhol:

“I see Art in everything. Your shoes. That car. This coffee cup. It’s Art if you see it as Art.“

I remember it quite well; my parents shaking their heads and exclaiming: “That is not art… it is a painting of a soup can!” when I expressed my appreciation for the work of Andy Warhol (1928-1987). The point was, I really “got him” at eight years old, or rather, especially at eight years old. Warhol was the subject of much scorn and derision from the critics, the public and my parents, but he is probably the most important artist of the 20th century. Warhol:

“Campbell’s Soup were really upset about my paintings and they were going to do something about it, and then it went by so quickly I guess there really wasn’t anything they could do. But actually, when I lived in Pittsburgh, the Heinz factory was there, and I used to go visit the Heinz factory a lot. They used to give pickle pins. I should have done Heinz soup. I did the Heinz ketchup box instead.“

In 2012, 50 years after Warhol produced his soup cans paintings, Campbell’s Soup paid tribute to his work by releasing a set of four limited edition cans which are labeled with colorful variations that mimicked Warhol’s style. Celebrating the artist’s cultural contributions to creative processes, each graphic features a portrait of the artist accompanied by Warhol’s most famous quote. Unlike his paintings, the product sold for just 75 cents. I wish that I had saved mine.

In New York City in the mid-1990s, I saw an enchanting exhibit of his commercial drawings from the early 1950s, mostly ladies shoes and flowers, produced for advertising. These works predated his huge fame, but the essence of what he was about to bring was already there. I have a lot of material by and about him, including the very readable Andy Warhol’s Diaries (1989) where he writes about some of his relationships with guys.

I own so much Warhol stuff: magnets, books, postcards. He is on my fridge right now. He has been the subject of numerous retrospective exhibitions, books, and feature and documentary films. The Andy Warhol Museum is in Pittsburgh and holds a huge permanent collection of art and archives. It is the largest museum in the United States dedicated to a single artist. Many of his creations are very collectible and highly valuable. The highest price ever paid for a Warhol painting is $105 million for a 1963 canvas titled Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster). His works include some of the most expensive paintings ever sold.

“I just do art because I’m ugly and there’s nothing else for me to do.”

I saw him several times at Studio 54 in the summer of 1977. I didn’t dare approach him, even when I was loosened up by Quaaludes; but I slipped him a mash note written on a cocktail napkin via a bartender. Around that time, Warhol began saving ephemera from his daily life: correspondence, newspapers, souvenirs, childhood objects, used plane tickets and food which was sealed in plain cardboard boxes dubbed “Time Capsules”. By the time of his untimely death, the collection grew to include 600 individually dated capsules. The boxes are now housed at the Andy Warhol Museum. I would like to think my note is included in a box marked September 1976.

“Most people in America think ‘Art’ is a man’s name.“