Few 20th century artists are so widely known for so many reasons as the interdisciplinary pioneer Andy Warhol (1928-1987). His associations with music acts such as the Velvet Underground, his experimental film work and his iconic printmaking crossed class and culture to make him a household name. However, all those things come in second place to his globally recognisable sunglasses and trademark blonde mop. Starting this month, courtesy of the Louisiana Museum Of Modern Art, we’ll be treated to an unexpected facet of the legendary figure, via that most simple of artistic mediums: the drawing. We’ll see beyond the facade and find out about Andy before he was Warhol.
Fresh from last year’s exhibition at the Frieze Art Fair in London, this selection of around 200 previously unseen drawings will certainly prove surprising to those who know of the soup can and the Marilyn repeats, but little of the historical Andy. The soho maestro of mass production was once a shy and sickly child from working class Pittsburgh, and the work shown here promises to reveal more of this sensitive nature. The drawings are beautiful: the accumulative effect of them, being far removed from the Warhol we are familiar with, is surprising and even moving.
Many of the drawings are made from quiet, simple lines and are usually figurative, and many of them are culled from photographs and advertisements in newspaper and magazines. This serves to remind us that we’re still looking at Andy Warhol, but the images have been reduced or translated by a unique eye and organised into their essential poetry.
Warhol kept the drawings throughout his life, but in the intermediary 25 years since his death, they had been forgotten and labelled as works to be archived by the Andy Warhol Foundation. It is a fundamental ‘graphic’ style and a dynamic sense of composition that tenuously anchors them to the Warhol we know today, but as Daniel Blau, who edited the book From Silverpoint to Silver Screen: Early Drawings of Andy Warhol 1949-1959 (which features many of the drawings on display), said: “When you think of Warhol, you don’t think in terms of an old master-style artist who sits behind the desk drawing with China ink and a quill. He did just that, as these drawings show.”
The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art is located in coastal northern Zealand in beautiful grounds and gardens that afford magnificent views over the Øresund. In addition to temporary exhibitions, the museum also houses an impressive permanent collection of over 3,000 works by renowned international artists, making it a popular destination for art appreciators all year round.
Andy Warhol – Early Drawings
Louisiana Museum Of Modern Art, Gl Strandvej 13, Humlebæk; ends 21 Feb, closed Mon, open Tue- Fri 11:00-22:00, Sat-Sun 11:00-18:00; tickets 95kr, students 85kr, under-18s free adm
