Warhol Mania: A Brand-new Look at His Advertising Posters and Magazine Illustrations
November 5, 2014 – March 15, 2015
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) is presenting this new exhibition featuring Andy Warhol's fifty posters and an impressive selection of magazine illustrations created by the artist throughout his career. The items on display come from a private collection of Montreal collector and art historian Paul Maréchal. He started collecting Warhol's illustartion works and posters in 1996. Six years later in 2002, he acquired the last item and had to stop because Warhol's works became too prohibitively expansive.
The exhibition also coincides with the publication of two catalogues written by Paul Maréchal about Warhol works. Both catalogues are available at the museum's bookstore.
As a leader of the American Pop Art movement, Andy Warhol saw his works, together with his image, given wide media coverage. Amongst his final few disigns is the poster below, where he uses his own image. There were only 300 copies printed of this poster, most of which no longer exist.
It is important to note that Warhol illustrated more than 400 magazine issues, including more than fifty covers. Although they represent an important part of his career, few of the original drawings have survived. Indeed, more than 90 per cent of the illustrations were never returned to the artist. They were simply destroyed, the usual practice in a magazine’s graphic arts department. The magazine was considered to be the original; the drawing was just one stage in its creation.
It is important to note that Warhol illustrated more than 400 magazine issues, including more than fifty covers. Although they represent an important part of his career, few of the original drawings have survived. Indeed, more than 90 per cent of the illustrations were never returned to the artist. They were simply destroyed, the usual practice in a magazine’s graphic arts department. The magazine was considered to be the original; the drawing was just one stage in its creation.
Items on display represent only about 25% of Paul Maréchal's private collection. Yet a visitor will see some remarkable works.
A Pop Art icon, Warhol was an illustrator, painter, printmaker, avant-garde filmmaker and music producer. He was born in 1928 in Pittsburgh and died in New York in 1987. He completed a bachelor’s degree in commercial art at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, and then worked in New York as a commercial artist for Glamour magazine, Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue. He received the Art Directors Club medal for his newspaper advertisements in 1952 and was honoured with other awards during the course of the decade.
Click on any image to enlarge it.
For more information, visit the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts's website:
http://www.mbam.qc.ca/en
