Andy Warhol and American Consumerism
Andy Warhol’s Ads portfolio was released in 1985 and was one of the last portfolios he released before his untimely death in 1987. The Ads prints are considered to be particularly important works for Warhol because of his fascination with American advertising, consumerism and commercialism, three major themes of his life’s work. More than any other artist of his generation, Andy Warhol understood how the reproduced image had come to reflect and shape contemporary life. Indeed, it was second nature for Andy Warhol, having begun his career in the advertising world of New York City in the late 40s.
Andy Warhol Early Years and Advertising Career
Andy Warhol was diagnosed as a child with a nervous system disease and was often absent from school because of the illness. At that time, when sick in bed, he would collect pictures of famous movie stars, draw, read comic books and listen to the radio to pass the time. He later claimed that these activities helped shape his preferences and personality later in life.
Warhol graduated from the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in pictorial design and moved to New York a week after graduating in June 1949.
One of Andy Warhol’s first free-lance jobs was at Glamour magazine where he went on to become an extremely successful commercial artist, working for most of the major fashion magazines throughout the fifties such as Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue and The New Yorker. He drew album covers for Columbia records, designing Christmas cards, book jackets and retail ad campaigns, including the famous shoe ads for I. Miller in the mid-fifties.
Warhol became so successful in advertising that he had to hire a team of assistants to help keep up with all his projects. He even brought his mother, Julia Warhola, to New York City and used her decorative writing to accompany his illustrations. Julia became a success in her own right, even winning awards for her lettering. It must have run in the family!
Andy Warhol and the Ads Portfolio
In 1985, Andy Warhol published ten screenprints based on advertisements named the Ads portfolio. Ads is stylistically similar, and coincides with a number of paintings and drawings that updated the concept of the advertisements first seen in Warhol’s hand painted images from the 60s. He carefully chose his subjects, combining celebrity and commercial products. This iconic series depicts product, film advertisements, original logos and famous trademarks, all from the 50s and 60s when Warhol began his career as an advertising designer. The Ads portfolio represents Warhol’s understanding of iconic image’s role in contemporary American consumerism.
New Ads Inventory at GinaArt – The New Spirit
New in our inventory is an Ads, The New Spirit (Donald Duck). This interpretation created and copyrighted by Andy Warhol is derived from an original version of Donald Duck copyrighted by Walt Disney Productions. Contact us for more details.
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