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拍品專文
‘I took a SX-70 and I put in a whole roll and I got ten … ten pictures of that and then he put a cigar in his mouth … I think they [Anselmino and Man Ray] were friends because Luciano bought him the best cigars in town’ – A. Warhol
Andy Warhol’s vibrant portrait of the artist Man Ray is a tribute by the Pop master to one of the leading figures of the Dada and Surrealist art movements. Rendered in Warhol’s distinctive Pop palette, Man Ray’s likeness is constructed out of a single screen of Warhol’s original photograph which is then embellished by a series of expressive brushstrokes in tones of vivid green and golden yellow. In addition Warhol then adds a dramatic sweep of red across Man Ray’s face as if to accentuate his strong facial features. This particular method of execution seems suited to its subject matter as Man Ray spent his career blurring the lines between what could and could not be classified as art. He was one of the most important proponents of the breaking down of the traditional artistic disciplines, both through his own invention, the Rayographs, and his innovative photographs of Marcel Duchamp’s work The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even. It seems therefore appropriate that Warhol – the man who did much to abolish the boundaries between popular culture and high art – should immortalise his hero in his own inimitable style.
Wearing a distinctive black cap and smoking on a large cigar, Warhol was inspired to elevate Man Ray into his pantheon of portrait subjects after spending a day with the photographer at his home in Paris in 1973, a day which Warhol later recalled as being ‘really fun’ (A. Warhol, quoted in ‘Factory Diary: Letter to Man Ray’, in K. Goldsmith (ed.), I’ll Be Your Mirror: The Selected Andy Warhol Interviews: 1962-1987, New York 2004, p. 232). Introduced by the Italian art dealer Luciano Anselmino, Warhol and Man Ray (together with Anselmino, his assistant Dino, Warhol’s associate Fred Hughes and Man Ray’s wife, Juliet) spent the day discussing art and taking many, many photographs of each other. ‘I took a SX-70 and I put in a whole roll and I got ten … ten pictures of that and then he put a cigar in his mouth … I think they [Anselmino and Man Ray] were friends because Luciano bought him the best cigars in town’, Warhol recalled of their meeting’ (A. Warhol, quoted in ‘Factory Diary: Letter to Man Ray’, in K. Goldsmith (ed.), I’ll Be Your Mirror: The Selected Andy Warhol Interviews: 1962-1987, New York 2004, p. 232). From this large portfolio of images, Warhol selected one featuring Man Ray and one of these impressive cigars from which to embark on this series.
As well as being the subject for one of his series of paintings, Man Ray appears to have inspired and influenced Warhol himself in various ways. Warhol was a huge admirer of the older artist’s work and owned one of his paintings, which had pride of place in his home in New York. He was later photographed by Christopher Makos dressed as a woman, deliberately evoking Man Ray’s portrait of Rrose Sélavy, the female alter ego of Marcel Duchamp; Warhol’s Shadow series also echoed Man Ray’s own works. In terms of working methods, there were clear links between the two. When Man Ray’s autobiography, Self Portrait, was published in 1963, it reportedly had an influence on Warhol’s approach to repetition and the mechanisation of the artistic process.
Although Warhol produced many portraits throughout his career, it is his paintings depicting fellow artists that are among the most celebrated. Ranging from Hollywood superstars such as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Elizabeth Taylor to the artists of Leo Castelli’s gallery including Frank Stella, Robert Rauschenberg and Roy Lichtenstein, his affinity with artists seems to have been of particular inspiration to him. As such this painting stands as a fitting tribute to Man Ray, and clearly demonstrates Warhol’s respect for him as both a man and an artist. Scholars’ interest in the relationship between these two giants of late twentieth century art remains constant, as they continue to examine the impact that both of these men had on history of art and popular culture.
Andy Warhol’s vibrant portrait of the artist Man Ray is a tribute by the Pop master to one of the leading figures of the Dada and Surrealist art movements. Rendered in Warhol’s distinctive Pop palette, Man Ray’s likeness is constructed out of a single screen of Warhol’s original photograph which is then embellished by a series of expressive brushstrokes in tones of vivid green and golden yellow. In addition Warhol then adds a dramatic sweep of red across Man Ray’s face as if to accentuate his strong facial features. This particular method of execution seems suited to its subject matter as Man Ray spent his career blurring the lines between what could and could not be classified as art. He was one of the most important proponents of the breaking down of the traditional artistic disciplines, both through his own invention, the Rayographs, and his innovative photographs of Marcel Duchamp’s work The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even. It seems therefore appropriate that Warhol – the man who did much to abolish the boundaries between popular culture and high art – should immortalise his hero in his own inimitable style.
Wearing a distinctive black cap and smoking on a large cigar, Warhol was inspired to elevate Man Ray into his pantheon of portrait subjects after spending a day with the photographer at his home in Paris in 1973, a day which Warhol later recalled as being ‘really fun’ (A. Warhol, quoted in ‘Factory Diary: Letter to Man Ray’, in K. Goldsmith (ed.), I’ll Be Your Mirror: The Selected Andy Warhol Interviews: 1962-1987, New York 2004, p. 232). Introduced by the Italian art dealer Luciano Anselmino, Warhol and Man Ray (together with Anselmino, his assistant Dino, Warhol’s associate Fred Hughes and Man Ray’s wife, Juliet) spent the day discussing art and taking many, many photographs of each other. ‘I took a SX-70 and I put in a whole roll and I got ten … ten pictures of that and then he put a cigar in his mouth … I think they [Anselmino and Man Ray] were friends because Luciano bought him the best cigars in town’, Warhol recalled of their meeting’ (A. Warhol, quoted in ‘Factory Diary: Letter to Man Ray’, in K. Goldsmith (ed.), I’ll Be Your Mirror: The Selected Andy Warhol Interviews: 1962-1987, New York 2004, p. 232). From this large portfolio of images, Warhol selected one featuring Man Ray and one of these impressive cigars from which to embark on this series.
As well as being the subject for one of his series of paintings, Man Ray appears to have inspired and influenced Warhol himself in various ways. Warhol was a huge admirer of the older artist’s work and owned one of his paintings, which had pride of place in his home in New York. He was later photographed by Christopher Makos dressed as a woman, deliberately evoking Man Ray’s portrait of Rrose Sélavy, the female alter ego of Marcel Duchamp; Warhol’s Shadow series also echoed Man Ray’s own works. In terms of working methods, there were clear links between the two. When Man Ray’s autobiography, Self Portrait, was published in 1963, it reportedly had an influence on Warhol’s approach to repetition and the mechanisation of the artistic process.
Although Warhol produced many portraits throughout his career, it is his paintings depicting fellow artists that are among the most celebrated. Ranging from Hollywood superstars such as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Elizabeth Taylor to the artists of Leo Castelli’s gallery including Frank Stella, Robert Rauschenberg and Roy Lichtenstein, his affinity with artists seems to have been of particular inspiration to him. As such this painting stands as a fitting tribute to Man Ray, and clearly demonstrates Warhol’s respect for him as both a man and an artist. Scholars’ interest in the relationship between these two giants of late twentieth century art remains constant, as they continue to examine the impact that both of these men had on history of art and popular culture.