- Published: November 14, 2021
- Updated: November 14, 2021
- University / College: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Level: Intermediate School
- Language: English
- Downloads: 28
The Philosophy of Andy Warhol
In 1975 , Warhol published a book titled “ The philosophy of Andy Warhol”. He succinctly described art and its value as ” Making money is art, and working is art and good business is the best art.” (qtd from Wanczura, 2001). Truly, Warhol has commercialized his art by presenting icons that reflected his times. One of the classic examples of Warhol’s commercialized art is the Marilyn Dyptich.
Marilyn Dyptich is a silkscreen painting created by Andy Warhol in 1962 that represents popular culture at that time. Its grand size which takes a hundred and fifty square feet is supposed to shock the viewer by its magnitude. In fact, it clearly represents the height of popularity that Marilyn Monroe achieved as an actress even for a short time. The artwork was done shortly after Monroe committed suicide due to her spiraling popularity, scandalous relationships, and excessive dependency on drugs. The diptych presents the face of Marilyn Monroe from the images in her film Niagara. Marilyn was an icon that won the hearts of many American G. I. s much to the dismay of Joe Di Maggio. Visually, half of the dyptich is expressed in bright colors while the other half is black and white to the point if being blurred. Many critics interpreted the dark diptych as the mortality of Marilyn Monroe. Also, the repetitive images represents the ability of technology to command attention or power.
Indeed, like Marilyn Monroe, Andy Warhol represented the time : consumerism and capitalism. It is no wonder since Warhol studied commercial art. As for my opinion, I like the art work since it is a fusion of something good and controversial in the past, yet the rendering forecasted the future. The Diptych is an old-fashioned Photoshop done in a traditional way. The subject is pleasant as one remembers the sultry Monroe ( pop icon) and the medium is not so nostalgic due to the colors.
References:
Wanczura, D. ( 2001 )Andy Warhol: 1928-1937. Retrieved from http://www. artelino. com/ articles/andy_warhol. asp on Nov. 20 2009.
