Customer Reviews (1)

The breadth of Warhol's paintings
You can get a excellent sense of Warhol's progress from this book. 1962 seems to have been a decisive years. Before 1962, one can see Warhol's transition from commercial artist and early experimentalism. Beginning sometime in 1962, one sees the emergence of the well-chosen, well-executed images that Warhol is known for.

It seems helpful in understanding his growth to see some of Warhol's less appealing works. Nonetheless, with a total of about 320 pages of images, there are still plenty of Warhol's bettter works to see here.

Four high-quality, significant essays about Warhol open this book. The closing includes a chronology, a "collective portrait" consisting of short contributions from many who knew Warhol well, and "Warhol in his own words", selections that reveal how insightful yet straight-forward Warhol could be.

This seems to be the single best bible of Warhol's paintings. There is a comprehensive collection of Warhol's prints available in "Andy Warhol Prints: A Catalogue Raisonne: 1962-1987" which seems prettier but may suffer from excessive prettiness. Warhol's trashier aspects are not apparent, nor is his experimental reach, in the prints. Both books have their appeal, but as a one source collection of Warhol's painting and critical assessments of it this Retrospective seems unparalleled.

For a good exposure to Warhol in all his diversity, "Andy Warhol: 365 Takes" by the staff of the Andy Warhol Museum is also valuable, but to focus on the paintings, this retrospective seems ideal.

... Read more

Product Description
A study of the innovative pop artist Andy Warhol by his close friend and confidant, David Bourdon. Prepared during the artist's lifetime and with his co-operation, it is described as "an intimate look at the man behind the silkscreened image". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Beautiful!
Wonderful huge pictures and behind the scenes of the movies and artwork. LOVE IT! Great for any Warhol collector.

First-hand Warhol
Originally published in 1989, this is not the most recent monography on Warhol but, in my opinion , it is the best (I own 12 books on Warhol). The text, written by a long-time friend of the artist's, follows a strictly chronological pattern and tackles all the aspects of Warhol's art (painting, advertising, film...) and also gives a fair (though maybe not 100% unbiased) idea of his personality. The illustrations are first-rate and very diversified (film stills, photos of Warhol and the Factory crowd,photos of historical painting shows etc). Many rarely-seen paintings are also shown in the book (to my knowledge, it is the only book where the recently auctioned 1962 "Two-Hundred dollar Bills" painting is illustrated).

Highly recommended for anyone interested in this major figure of post-war American culture.

Bourdon's biography of Warhol
This is a very interesting and useful overview of Warhol's life, but it's a little light.For instance, Andy was Czech, not Polish....and he wasn't Catholic, he was Orthodox.He also neglected to mention that Andy's father died from contracting hepatitis on a worksite...Andy's work ethic is a large part of his persona, and one can understand him much better knowing these details.Bourdon never seems to minutely examine or analyze, or draw on various sources to synthesize an understanding of the man.See Ken Burn's documentary for a more personal understanding.

One biography I read delved so deep as to describe Julia's loss of her first child, a daughter, due to hardships suffered after her husband went to America to find work.I believe I read that she was forced to work in the fields, leaving the ill child alone in the house.She returned to find the baby had died. I think such dramatic information is pivotal to understanding Andy's parents and childhood.

Beyond outstanding
If you only want one book about Warhol, this seems a great choice. If you want many books about Warhol, you may find after reading them all that this is the one you'll rely on.

If you plan on becoming a great artist, plan on developing a great friendship with someone like Bourdon.

I've read other very good books about Warhol, including Bockris' "Warhol: The Biography", "Prince of Pop", "POPism" and "365 Takes", but remained quite puzzled about Warhol. Bourdon doesn't remove all the mystery, but he does reduce it considerably.

Besides being an excellent writer and so knowledgable about art, he was a close friend of Warhol's for more than 25 years. He's packed the book both with details and astute assessments. There's a lot of the movies in here, both about their contents and about why they made an impact. Many prints and people are pictured. He's provided contexts within the worlds of painting, of moviemaking, and of the culture at large rather than just describe what Warhol did. Although a friend, he's not afraid to note Warhol's failings, including his stinginess in paying assistants and the coldness he could exhibit to former friends.
Warhol's sad (to me) descent into hanging out with celebrities after the 60's is also well-covered.

Why would people hang out at the dumpy Silver Factory? Perhaps for a chance to get into his movies, perhaps to be invited to a group dinner that night, perhaps because they were wanted no where else, perhaps to score. What really happened to Edie Sedgwick? A book focused on her might tell you, but Bourdon manages to tell enough that you can realize the full tragedy.

This is the closest I've gotten to what made Warhol and his associates tick. It won't stop me from reading more about Warhol, but Bourdon has helped me make a big step in my understanding of Warhol. It's an exceptional book and hence seems a great value.

Very good
This year at school, I had to write a research paper about an influential twentieth century American.I chose Andy Warhol. Needing a primary source, I went to the library and used this book.I chose it mainly because it was very big, and at the time I was worried I wouldn't have enough information. When I finally started reading, I discovered
a)there is a huge amount of pictures in this book (not a bad thing.)
b)this book had more than enough information.
It is a very good biography, good for warhol fans. The pictures are excellent, and offer a great career retrospective.The book is very informative, and my only complaint is that it didn't say enough negative things about the artist. However, I would recommend this book to anybody interested in Andy Warhol ... Read more

Product Description
Rarely seen and often created for his own delight, Pop artist Andy Warhol's images of men are among his most personal and sensual work. Collected in book form here for the first time, Andy Warhol Men showcases hundreds of illustrations, paintings, drawings, silkscreens, Polaroid studies, and fine art photographs in a handsome and intimate volume. Mostly nudes, this gallery of delights includes the beautiful boys and drag queens who adorned Warhol's legendary Factory studio, as well as less racy illustrations of notables such as Christopher Isherwood, Truman Capote, and James Dean. Sprinkled with Warhol's perceptively funny observations on love, and a witty reflection on art and desire by Alan Cumming, Andy Warhol Men is a playfully swooning celebration of male beauty. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The Greatness is in the Simplicity
Andy Warhol remains a true Icon of the art world. His famous '15 minutes of fame' was a terrific statement, but in Warhol's case his words and his art linger on in museum retrospectives, in art history studies, and in books on photography, fine print making, and art whether drawn, painted, of screened.

This little book is a treasure.From the opening apropos statement by Alan Cumming, the book is devoted to over 250 works of art by Warhol. His line drawings for the most part are undecorated even with cross-hatching: the single continuous line defines the faces, the bodies, the genitalia, the feet, the lips of his models.These are finely reproduced on several different tones of paper, each a full-page bleed.Then along with little quips from his feisty, shy, and sage mouth are his photographs of men including some self-portraits, some of transsexual friends, some of just beautiful male bodies, some of famous men from history.These photographs are at times followed or paired with the subsequent now famous silkscreen interpretations.Some collages and other experiments with imagery complete the set.

By this time most people including the harshest critics have the consensual opinion that Andy Warhol was a significant figure in American art history.This fine book, very beautifully designed by Azi Rad, is a substantial volume of tribute to the simplicity of Warhol's genius.It belongs in the library of every art collector and everyone who appreciates the male form - especially as much as Warhol obviously did!Highly Recommended.
Grady Harp, January 06

A Really Exquisite Book!
What a great little book of delights! Here is a really beautiful collection of art by Andy Warhol, many of the works apparently published for the first time. There are color photographs here of men's body parts-- chests, feet, butts, etc.-- a series of color portraits of drag queens labelled "Ladies and Gentlemen", photographs of a few celebrities including Mick Jagger and the artist himself eating a banana. But most of the book is taken up by beautiful line drawings of men-- figures, faces, body parts, even the feet of Christopher Isherwood. Alan Cumming in right on the money in his foreward: "just a simple collection of lines on paper that magically produce a sense memory of something so visceral it can actually arouse." And Mr. Warhol had this thing about body hair! This is a very erotic collection beautifully produced that you will go back to again and again. ... Read more

Product Description
This third revision of Andy Warhol Prints has been substantially revised to incorporate numerous works that only publicly came to light after the artist's death in 1987. Of the more than 1,100 color images presented here, more than 660 are works that were not included in the earlier editions and have not been previously published in book for, . These include unpublished prints, trial proofs, and unique edition prints that have only recently been rediscovered. 1244 photos, 1124 in color. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Directed at the expert, fine for the fan, too!
I would like to add to the reviews below that this book is a pleasure to hold and to view because it is so well made.If there is any 'art' book that should be made for posterity it is the catalog raisonne of an artist.In this instance, the publisher has done the artist's audience a real service for, the book is beautifully printed and bound in Italy by Amilcare Pizzi; Italy seeming to have usurped Switzerland's place as the world's premier art book printer.The pages are thick and glossy and the reproduction is top notch.
For those of you who are unaware of what a catalog raisonne is, it is meant to be a compilation and historical record of an artist's work that documents execution date, medium, size of image or plate, size of edition if a print, whether signed or unsigned, etc.This information is used by artists, historians, collectors and dealers to attribute a piece of art and place it in the artist's oevre, and of course to aid in placing relative value on it.Here too, the archivists, publisher, and editor have done a fine job of documenting the relevant facts.This is especially important in the case of Warhol who was a serial printer, sometimes to the point of intentional promiscuity.So, the fact that wherever possible relevant information is provided speaks volumes about the prodigious effort that must have gone into this undertaking.I rate this book four stars because I fear that since this is the third edition, there will be yet another edition published that renders this one obsolete.I understand this is precisely because Warhol was an inprecise documentarian, when he chose to do so at all, but I don't relish having to purchase another high dollar, though valuable book that is only slightly different from the one I already own.For people who don't give a darn, the book rates a five.

Definitive Guide to Warhol
Prints, proofs, paintings -- everything is here, plus essays that explicate and set context.

The best catalog of Andy's Prints
This gem of a book gets into all the details of Warhol's print making. See source images as well as artist's and printer's proofs. A must for any collector wanting to explore Warhol's work as well as a real eye opener as to how busy this man really kept himself. ... Read more

Product Description
Bedazzled lovers, playful cupids, luscious red lips, a shower of hearts and more--this enchanting book presents 42 of Andy Warhol's wittiest, most charming illustrations of passion and romance. Warhol's pre-Pop drawings and paintings--the basis for this book--are part of the archives of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A whimsical tribute to love
"Love, Love, Love," by Andy Warhol, reproduces several different works, done in various media, by graphic artist Andy Warhol. Some of the selections are black-and-white, and some are in full color. These drawings and paintings are complemented by many quotes from Andy Warhol on the title subject.

This is a delightful book, full of witty and whimsical images. Hearts, flowers, angels, lips, and other motifs are frequently used. This is a great book both for both Warhol devotees and for general readers.

Great lines, great pictures...
The pages pour out with emotion! I loved every minute of it! You wouldlove this if you love love... Give it to your lover and you're sure toreceive smiles and more!!! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Thumbs Up
A fun book of photos Warhol took of his high society friends like Truman Capote and Jackie Onassis. A text of his commentary accompanies the photos. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Perhaps the only serious Andy Warhol discussion in print!
Anyone who is interested in Andy Warhol's interviews and written work knows that he had a penchant for giving seemingly inane off the cuff anwers to any question posed to him.The beauty of his quips is that they are often amazingly insightful whilst simultaneously maddeningly flippant.Interestingly, in books such as 'Popism' and 'A Philosophy...' we are told that Andy's input was minimal and that we mustn't consider them to actually 'be' by him, even though in these and in the Warhol artwork that others claim as their own, Andy's genius seems to permeate them.
One of the things that makes this book, 'Andy Warhol's America' interesting is that it leaves little doubt that virtually everything in it is from Andy himself (except perhaps the introductory paragraph which has the characteristics of someone speaking for Andy) because the material is just not commercial or avant garde enough for anyone to wish to claim it.
This is a book of snaps by Andy Warhol which nominally pertain to various chapter headings:People, All-stars, Natural History, Vogue, etc.Accompanying these is commentary by Andy. Here, you will witness the only example I am aware of in which Andy makes unequivocal political statements, allowing us a glimpse of his world view.While he is not strident, he is also not coy as in the McGovern political campaign poster he made in the 1970's.This really seems to be Andy's voice.
In the photographs one is constantly wowed by the effective use he makes of his little poloroid:amazing really.He has a knack for seeing the ironic or dramatic or unusual and capturing it.Especially gratifying are the shots which appear to be 'shot from the hip' yet somehow incorporate the oddly juxtaposed elements into an effective framework that 'gets' the subject he is shooting.Perhaps because one knows they are by the great Andy Warhol one finds the photographs captivating enough so that one wouldn't miss the accompanying text and perhaps this is why few of them contain identified subjects.It is also amusing that Andy had a better eye for capturing the male physique than he had for the female.
I rate this only three stars because the production seems more like a magazine than a soft-bound art book.This may have been intentional, to wit creating a 'Vogue' magazine view of America or it may be attributable to the general decline in print production values that American bookdom was laboring under when this book was made.Whatever it is, this books loses a star or two for being less well-made than one would expect at the price. ... Read more

Product Description
Andy Warhol is usually remembered as the artist who said that he wanted to be a machine, and that no one need ever look further than the surface when evaluating him or his art. Arguing against this carefully crafted pop image, Reva Wolf shows that Warhol was in fact deeply emotionally engaged with the people around him and that this was reflected in his art.

Wolf investigates the underground culture of poets, artists, and filmmakers who interacted with Warhol regularly. She claims that Warhol understood the literary imagination of his generation and that recognizing Warhol's literary activities is essential to understanding his art. Drawing on a wealth of unpublished material, including interviews, personal and public archives, tape recordings, documentary photographs, and works of art, Wolf offers dramatic evidence that Warhol's interactions with writers functioned like an extended conversation and details how this process impacted his work. This highly original and fascinating study gives us fresh insight into Warhol's art as practice and reformulates the myth that surrounds this popular American artist. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Warhol and writers
Warhol is often portrayed in films and literature as a superficial, aloof, overtly homosexual artist.What is often overlooked is that Warhol was an intellectual.Reva Wolf does a wonderful job pointing this key factor out to the reader. Warhol was associated with some of the world's greatest writers.People like Kerouac and Dylan came to Warhol for a reason; Warhol offered them a world that was worth writing about. Wolf delves into Warhol and his relations with various writers.The factory scene is covered in that great detail is given to Gerard Malanga (who was often viewed as Warhol's sole intellectual).Gerard was an aspiring poet (much like many at The Factory) and Warhol was often spotted at various "happenings" listening to the current spill of contemporary poetry in the sixties. There are relatively few flaws in comparison to the overall book.Wolf provides the reader with several rare photographs.The clarity of some of them is slightly weak.Yet, the layout of the book is modern and a few of the photos catch Warhol fairly intimately. The entire book provides the reader with an intellectual perspective to viewing the life of Andy Warhol.Wolf proves that Warhol was more than his facade by addressing the gossip and writings that surrounded Warhol.Wolf does not attempt to explain the enigma which is Warhol, but merely gives a new angle in which to view.Anyone interested in Warhol and the intelligencia of the sixties must read this book.Wolf's book is a fabulous companion to The Andy Warhol Diaries and Popism. ... Read more

Product Description
If I ever have to cast an acting role, I want the wrong person for the part. [...] it's more satisfying to get someone who's perfectly wrong. Then you know, you've really got something.--Andy Warhol
Perhaps no other artist from the second half of the 20th century is as familiar to the public as Andy Warhol--and his self-portraits can hardly be said to have played a lackluster role with regards to the artist's celebrity. U.S. postage stamp anyone? Occupying a position of central importance in his oeuvre, Warhol's self-portraits also occupy a consistent, long-running one. From the first self-images in gouache painted by 16-year-old Andrew Warhol in the mid-40s to the fright-wig series completed shortly before his death in February 1987, Andy Warhol continually used self-portraiture to reflect on his position and social status as an artist, performing a variety of roles in the process. Yet he never made use of the traditional topos of the artist's self-portrait; his fascination with transience and death is constantly present, as in his other works. Although a seemingly endless number of books have been published on Warhol's various work groups, this is the first monograph devoted exclusively to his self-portraits. The accompanying essays discuss different aspects of the theme and examine Warhol's self-portraits in the light of an expanded concept of the artist's self-portrait in the 20th century.

Edited by Dietmar Elger.~Essays by Robert Rosenblum and Roland Wäspe.

Hardcover, 10 x 10 in./120 pgs / 60 color and 20 b & w. ... Read more

Product Description
Andy Warhol was queer in more ways than one. A fabulous queen, a fan of prurience and pornography, a great admirer of the male body, he was well known to the gay audiences who enjoyed his films, the police who censored them, the gallery owners who refused to show his male nudes, and the artists who shied away from his swishiness. These essays consider Warhol in various contexts and within the history of the communities in which he figured. 53 illustrations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

asking big questions
Art has given certain institutions the power to challenge the individuals within modern society to determine their own personal reactions to various situations. Linear thinking is likely to seem murky trying to sort out all the aspects of this that people who study find interesting.

I lived for years in Minneapolis and was considered crazy enough by people who lived there that certain issues this book raises have also played a part in my own evaluation of how things like undercover sting operations work. It seems rather small compared to war, bombs, the death of journalists, television stations that are bombed for broadcasting propaganda, and the state of politics in 2008, but that merely reflects that I did not escape having a hell opf a context when I left Minneapolis.

There are people who are trying to shape society so that all these things reach an equilibrium in which nobody cares, and reading this book might help you know how they feel.

oh well......
I didn't think this book was particularly strong.It has writings from academics whom I totally admire.And I understand why people would study gayness as it relates to 1960s popular culture.Still, this book has very little about Warhol and his sexuality in it.A person is better off reading a biography of Warhol, especially those written by the people who knew him personally.This was quite an unimpressive anthology. ... Read more

Product Description
Five cards each of four different Andy Warhol cats, including the blue cat from 15 Cats Name Sam. They are: A purring tabby cat with the caption So Happy, A mother cat and kitten with the caption I love you so and a heart-inscribed background, a chubby cat at the beach with the caption So Sunny, and under a night sky, the blue cat with the caption So Many Stars.Created in collaboration with the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. 20 3-1/2 x 5" notecards, 21 envelopes Sturdy Little Keep It Box with magnetic closure 4 images ... Read more

Product Description
This book offers representative examples of drawings from 1942 to 1987 in all categories and media. Filled with well-known iconic images, humorous portraits, and still lifes, The Warhol Drawings portrays Warhols trademark genius for transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary.Amazon.com Review
Though he is chiefly viewed as a monumental pop-art icon, Andy Warhol was truly a man of many talents. But his component parts don't necessarily match up. He made paintings, prints, sculptures, installations, performances; he produced one of the greatest rock bands of all time, the Velvet Underground; he directed films and wrote a novel as well as a philosophical text. But over and above this massive pile of work is a man who was unpredictable, enigmatic, and impenetrable: ultimately, he would have others think, almost inhuman.

Drawings are the key to many artists' souls. They are personal, immediate, and limiting. Never more so than in the case of Andy Warhol has a book of drawings so brought an artist's humanity forward. He reveals his particular brand of filial affection in an early work titled The Broad Gave Me My Face but I Can Pick My Own Nose--a rebellious youth indeed. His male nudes from the 1950s are passionate and erotic: here is an artist in love with his subject. Warhol was a prolific drawer, and draw he could. Don't forget: he was a very successful commercial artist, an adman, long before his high-art career took off.

Among these 248 color plates rest some wonderful little drawings that stand entirely on their own merit, not their creator's fame. The catalog Andy Warhol: Drawings, 1942-1987 offers rare insight into one of the century's strangest and most interesting artists. --Loren E. Baldwin ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Imagery + Surrealism = Pop Realism
After reading this book, I reckon that Andy Warhol was a man of unpredictable genius. Imbedded in his images is the poetic appeal and the simultaneous pop and avante-garde timelessness of his art. He made theserious and the comic blend well. He balanced the beau monde and theclassless. His colour choices evoked and exposed the hidden images withinhis works, and they simply slither in mind once you stare at them. Unlikesome new generation artists or wannabees who only splash their canvasseswith colours, sometimes of uncompromising combinations, every artwork ofWarhol is alive, moving and his concept comprehensive. Here is a pop artistwho is wildly prolific! As a freelance writer and editor doing articles ondesign and who works within the pop culture, I'd say his works are morethan simply decoratives. They speak with you and are nothing less thanenthralling. I feel terrific owning a copy! This is a treasureable read. ... Read more

Product Description
Two images of Andy Warhol exist in the popular press: the Pope of Pop of the Sixties, and the partying, fright-wigged Andy of the Seventies. In the two years before he died, however, Warhol made over 100 paintings, drawings, and prints based on Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper. The dramatic story of these works is told in this book for the first time. Revealed here is the part of Andy Warhol that he kept very secret: his lifelong church attendance and his personal piety. Art historian and curator Jane Daggett Dillenberger explores the sources and manifestations of Warhol's spiritual side, the manifestations of which are to be found in the celebrated paintings of the last decade of Warhol's life: his Skull paintings, the prints based on Renaissance religious artwork, the Cross paintings, and the large series based on The Last Supper. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A "must" for all Warhol fans
In The Religious Art Of Andy Warhol, art historian and curator Jane Dillenberger explores the sources and manifestations of the controversial pop-artist's spiritual side as revealed through his work. Especially his Skill paintings, the Warhol prints based on Renaissance religious artwork, his Cross paintings, and the large Warhol series based on "The Last Supper". Warhol grew up on a Slovakian ghetto of Pittsburgh and experienced the elaborate and colorful rituals of the Byzantine Catholic Church. These influences also included his devout mother with whom he lived some forty of his fifty-eight years. The Religious Art Of Andy Warhol is a "must" for all Warhol fans, as well as students of 20th century American art. ... Read more

Product Description
This striking sketchbook has a lenticular cover featuring two different Andy Warhol illustrations. Inside, the deluxe unlined paper is perfect for writing or drawing, and Warhol’s witty quotes and illustrations on vellum inserts throughout will inspire you to do what he did best: elevate the ordinary to the extraordinary. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

idea book!
great for a jourmal! very cool inside and has all these vellum color pages with andy warhol's designs! the only thing is that it's a bit uncomfortable to write on the left side of the pages because of the way it's elaborated but other than that very cool indeed!!!!!

Cool!
I got this as a Christmas gift for my sister who is an artist and a Warhol fan. The quality is great although the book is smaller than i imagined. I think she'll love it!

Andy Warhol Idea Book
I bought it for a friend who needed a sketch book for all her wonderful designs, she loved it. Wonderful hard cover and great thick pages ... Read more

Product Description
"So many categories!" Andy Warhol would complain during his rigorous, nearly obsessive daily shopping regimen of antique stores, galleries, auction houses, and flea markets. Though best known as a proponent of the avant-garde, Warhol was also passionately engaged with the historical past, an interest which found a direct yet imaginative expression in the serious collecting he undertook from the mid-50s until his death. "Possession Obsession" proposes that collecting was another form of artistic practice for Warhol, one that provides as much insight into his interests, tastes, and ideas as do his other myriad art forms. Accompanying essays examine the how, why, and what of Warhol's collection, the crucial role it played in his life, the aesthetic quality and historical associations of the objects themselves, the psychological and sexual aspects of collecting, other artists' use of collecting, and the relationship between collecting and mass culture. Also included are Robert Mapplethorpe's photographs of Warhol's home, with an introduction by Patti Smith.
Edited by John W. Smith. Essays byPamela Allara, Kenneth Arnes, Frederick Brandt, Sascha Chermayeff, Ralph Coe, Jonathan Flatley, Allen Kurzweil, Michael Lobel,Alexandra Rhodes & Stephano Papi, Thomas Sokolowski, Patti SmithMatthew Tinkcom and Pilar Viladas.

8 x 12 in.
100 color, 20 duotone illustrations ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

cool concept
I bought this as a gift for my girlfriend, who loves Warhol (although now it seems everyone loves Warhol).She was not very intrigued by the book, even though she also loves collecting knick-knacks.So I looked closely at the book trying to figure out why, and I have to say that the book just doesn't have enough in it.I think that the text is well written and shares some interesting anecdotes, and philosophical/psychological discussion of collecting, but that's not really why I thought the book would be cool.I think we wanted to see those Time Capsule boxes opened up, more shots of his home (there are some, but not many), and then there is a whole chapter on random people who collect things--why is this chapter included?Do I care what some unkown goofball finds interesting?I think this book was a great concept, but it falls flat in my mind. ... Read more

Product Description
A renowned gallerist and collector, the late Ileana Sonnabend acquired an impressive collection of seminal work directly from the Warhol studio at the time of its making. Sonnabend was an early and fervent supporter of Warhol, and held three important exhibitions of his work at her Paris gallery, including the series Death and Disasters (1964), Flowers (1965), and Thirteen Most Wanted Men (1967).This beautifully illustrated book includes essays by Picasso biographer John Richardson and leading Warhol scholar Brenda Richardson, who was a close friend of Sonnabend’s. Her essay is an insightful portrait of the highly regarded dealer and her relationship with Warhol. The book is illuminated by previously unpublished private letters and includes stand-alone facsimile reproductions of the exhibition catalogues, originally published by Galerie Ileana Sonnabend. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Would there be any Andy, had it not been for Ileana?
This book is the catalogue for an early 2009 exhibition at the Gagosian Gallery in NYC. At the time, the Sonnabend heirs had to part with most of the family's fantastic Pop Art collection in order to be able to pay inheritance taxes. Gagosian was reported to have acquired part of the collection, especially the Warhol paintings, and one of the outcomes of that deal was the exhibition and the wonderful book that accompanied it. It is indeed a gem of an artbook, replete with previously unpublished documents on the relationship between Warhol and Ileana Sonnabend (Leo Castelli's former wife and herself a famed dealer). The illustrations are of a very high quality, especially the fold-outs that show the installation of the works at the various historical shows held at the Sonnabend gallery in Paris in the early 1960's; those fold-outs are fac-similes of the original catalogues of the shows and they are irreplaceable documents on the early moments of Warhol's career. Also, as an introduction, the book opens with two essays, one by John Richardson on Warhol's works from the early sixties (which form the bulk of the collection), such as the Jacky Kennedy series or the Death and Disaster series, and the other by Brenda Richardson, dwelling on Warhol's sometimes bumpy relationship with Ileana Sonnabend, but also with Leo Castelli or Michael Sonnabend (Ileana's second husband). The text is accompanied by reproductions of hand-written letters from the dealer to the artist which, today, are moving documents of a major art movement in the making.

I have rarely been so favourably impressed with an artbook and this one is undoubtedly destined to become a collector's piece. Highly recommended. ... Read more