Warhol Museum opens exhibit focusing on art, society in 1950s
PITTSBURGH – In the 1950s, Pittsburgh native Andy Warhol was a young man in his 20s working as a successful commercial artist in New York City when Abstract Expressionism emerged as the archetypal American art form. Known through the work of such greats as Jackson Pollock, Abstract Expressionism included the creations of a myriad of artists. Many were post-World War II immigrants from Europe whose work often reflected the intensity of their experiences.
Abstract Expressionism exhibitions were soon seen in commercial galleries as well as such respected institutions as the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. It spread to corporate lobbies and private collections. Even the U.S. State Department organized traveling shows of this art form that told a story of American values in contrast to the restrictions being placed on individual freedom by the Communist movement.
Abstract Expressionism would also have had an impact on Warhol.
“When he went to museums, this is what he would have been seeing,’ said Thomas Sokolowski, director of The Andy Warhol Museum.
And The Warhol wants the public to understand this. So it’s featuring Abstract Expressionism in a special show that incorporates the work of Warhol as well as other culture and history of these times.
“Americanisms: Shaping Art and Society in the 1950s’ is actually the first in a series of shows that celebrates the art and culture of those years in which Andy Warhol worked – the 1950s through the 1980s. (Warhol was born in 1928 and died in 1987.)
Sokolowski said the museum, located on Pittsburgh’s North Side by the Seventh Street Bridge, will undertake this through a 10-year project with shows that concentrate on each decade. “Americanisms’ opened last fall and will run through July 20. The next show will focus on the 1960s, but is not expected to open for another two or three years.
“Even though Warhol’s time is fairly recent to our own, one forgets. What was the context of the years that Warhol worked as a professional artist? What were the artistic forces? The culture? The politics?’ Sokolowski said.
The 1950s show presents a complex look at this decade, focusing not only on art but entertainment, the Cold War – including McCarthyism and un-American activities, American intellectuals, the emergence of television, the Beat Generation, rock ‘n roll and women’s roles from the “competent wife’ to the “glamour girl.’
Warhol’s work from this time is featured in a count-counterpoint style, alongside such noted artists as Pollock, William de Kooning, Kenneth Noland and Robert Rauschenberg. Visitors can ponder the differences in the styles as they learn from texts that identify each piece.
Sokolowski said Abstract Expressionists included artists who emigrated from Europe following World War II and brought styles that were “harsh and realistic. They influenced our artists.’
Look, for example, at “Four Figures on a Pedestal,’ by Alberto Giacometti, which was influenced by the war. Kenneth Noland’s “Spread’ is a painting so large that it fills the wall on which it is displayed.
“A lot of times you see large pictures because the critics said that paintings should be real things – as big as a wall so that people feel as if they’re walking into them. And they can be confrontational. Beauty is almost loathed,’ Sokolowski said. “And a lot of work was made in the aftermath of the World War II when there were bombs and gas.
“They’re also bringing into this the introduction of psychoanalysis so paintings can represent hatred and rage,” he addd.
In contrast is the work of Warhol, who started life as Andrew Warhola and left his native Pittsburgh in 1949 to move to New York City.
According to a placard from the show, he “dropped the ‘a’ from his name, bought hip clothing and altered his appearance through plastic surgery. By early 1950, Andy Warhol was born.’
Working as a commercial artist, Warhol was so successful that by 1956, he was earning an annual income of $57,000. But he would turn from commercial to the fine arts late in the decade, earning both popular and critical acclaim.
The show displays Warhol’s work from the 1950s as well as future pieces that reflect these times. Pieces include his popular “Coca-Cola Bottles’ displayed beside Rauschenberg’s “Coca-Cola Plan’ as well as Warhol’s portrait of actress Elizabeth Taylor called “Liz’ that is shown in contrast to de Kooning’s “Woman VI.’
To further assist visitors, the museum has prepared an audio tape that compares the work of Warhol and Pollack in front of a wall that displays pieces by both men: Pollack’s “Number 4′ created in 1950 and Warhol’s “Yarn,’ actually done in 1983.
Besides the Warhol’s own collection, the show features pieces from several museums, including the Carnegie Museum of Art.
There are also pieces of 1950s style furniture as well as – for fun – a 1950s television showing popular commercials for products such as Nestle’s and Maypo, a display of frilly aprons and cocktail glasses, and a 1952 Seeburg Select-O-Matic 100 juke box where the selection includes Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog,’ Buddy Holly’s “Peggy Sue’ and Bill Halley’s “Rock Around the Clock.’
A side gallery – in another point-counterpoint look – reveals the work of jazz artist Miles Davis and classical singer Maria Callas. Visitors can enjoy video as well as audio recordings of the two.
For its detail, Sokolowski recommends “Americanisms’ to anyone studying the 1950s, including school groups as well as those who might be intrigued by the times after seeing the new 1950s-set film “Far From Heaven’ starring Julianne Moore.
Even for those who lived through the ’50s, “Americanisms’ reminds them that this decade was a complicated time when Americans enjoyed not only “I Love Lucy’ but endured the quiz show scandal and celebrated American ideals. Americans also faced the Cold War, fear of the bomb and McCarthyism, and discovered rock ‘n roll as well as the passions of intellectuals who would establish publications like the Partisan Review.
“By the time we pass through a period – even the ’90s – you tend to forget things we want to forget and remember things you want to remember,” Sokolowski said.
“Americanisms’ helps visitors remember the times in all its wonder and complexity.
The Andy Warhol Museum is located at 117 Sandusky St. on Pittsburgh’s North Shore. Hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The museum is closed Mondays. Admission is $8 for adults; $7 for senior citizens; $4 for students with ID and children over age 3; and free to members of the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. Parking is available in the museum lot on Sandusky Street.
For more information on group visits, call the museum at 412-237-8347 or visit the Web site at www.warhol.org.