Andy Warhol 1928-1987
Sixty years ago Andy Warhol exhibited 32 paintings of Campbell's Soup Cans…one for each flavor of soup that the company made back in 1962. Only five of the paintings were sold and Campbell's sent a lawyer to the Los Angeles gallery to look into filing a cease and desist order.
Eventually, gallery owner, Irving Blum, bought the five paintings back and sold/gifted the set to the Museum of Modern Art in New York for $15 million. The Campbell's Soup Company partnered with Warhol to do promotional events, and even to this day, works with the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts to support the Foundation's charitable ventures.
Andy Warhol's life and career was legendary. In the last few years the interest in him has continued to grow, with a new generation of fans clamoring to know more about him.
This years Netflix docuseries, The Andy Warhol Diaries, has been extremely popular. The series is based on the phone calls that Warhol made to his friend, Pat Hackett, every day for about a decade. Hackett transcribed Warhol's words and after his death, edited down the twenty thousand pages she had recorded and published them as The Andy Warhol Diaries in 1989.
Jean-Michel Basquiat 1960-1988
In 1984, Jean-Michel Basquiat was a superstar. Swiss art dealer, Bruno Bischofberger, who represented both Basquiat and Warhol, suggested that they collaborate and have a joint exhibition.
The story of their joint venture was turned into a play and is scheduled to be filmed at the end of the year. The Collaboration, starring Paul Bettany and Jeremy Pope, previewed at London's Young Vic Theatre earlier this year and will open at the Friedman Theater on Broadway on November 20, 2022. Both actors will reprise their roles in the film.
Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat died within eighteen months of each other. Warhol died of complications after surgery at age 58. Jean-Michel Basquiat died of a heroin overdose at age 27. Both men left a legacy of works that transformed the art world.
Please contact us if you would like more information about the work of Andy Warhol, Jean-Paul Basquiat or any of the other fine artists whose works are available at Surovek Gallery.
References:
Alexandra Peers. Why Campbell Soup hated, then embraced, Andy Warhol's soup can paintings. CNN Business. July 9, 2022.
Michael Paulson. 'The Collaboration,' About Warhol and Basquiat, Plans Broadway Bow. The New York Times. July 7, 2022.
Mike Fleming Jr. Anthony McCarten's Warhol-Basquiat Stage Play 'The Collaboration' Heading For Big Screen; Helmer Kwame Kwei-Armah, Paul Bettany & Jeremy Pope Reprise. Deadline. February 3, 2022.
Anna Rahmanan. A new play about Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat is headed to Broadway. Time Out. July 11, 2022.
