Other editions of book A: A Novel

A 1962 newspaper photograph of a plane crash inspired Andy Warhol (1928–87) to produce a series dealing with catastrophes and horrific accidents. In his grainy silkscreens―some brightly colored, others in black and silver―both the content and form refer to the reportage aesthetics, general appetite for sensation and the confusion of images that dominate modern society, using this as a background against which to explore transience and mortality. In a 1963 interview about the Death and Disaster series, Warhol mentioned the photograph of the plane crash but also referenced his pictures of Marilyn Monroe: "I realized that everything I was doing must have been Death." This catalogue, published to accompany an exhibition at the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, goes beyond the Death and Disaster series, and includes Warhol's pictures of Jacqueline Kennedy, skulls, race riots and electric chairs in a survey of this critical theme in Warhol's oeuvre.

Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró and Andy Warhol each significantly shaped the development of art in the twentieth century. These Modern masters are the subjects of four small books, the first volumes in a series featuring important artists in the collection of The Museum of Modern Art. Each book presents a single artist and guides readers through a dozen of his most memorable achievements. Works are reproduced in color and accompanied by informative and accessible short essays that provide background on the artworks and on the artist himself, illuminating technique, style, subject matter and significance. Written by Carolyn Lanchner, former Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the Museum, these books are excellent resources for readers interested in the stories behind masterpieces of the Modern canon and for those who wish to understand the contributions of individual artists to the history of Modern art. This volume focuses on Warhol.

"Andy Warhol - Photography is the first book publication that pays tribute to the entire context of Andy Warhol's extensive photographic oeuvre. Andy Warhol stood both in front of and behind the camera lens. The camera was his constant companion, serving him as a sketchbook, a diary, and a means of communication."--BOOK JACKET. "Accompanying the extensive plate sections are essays by renowned art historians and interviews with personalities from Andy Warhol's world. A final section of the book is dedicated to Andy Warhol and the Factory as seen by other photographers like Duane Michals, Richard Avedon, Cecil Beaton, Robert Mapplethorpe, Oliviero Toscani, a.o."--BOOK JACKET.

Description from the foreword: This book is published on the occasion of the exhibition Andy Warhol: A Retrospective, which marks the first full-scale critical examination of this remarkable American artist's career. At a time when we may appropriately begin to assess his contributions to 20th century art, this book and exhibition span the wide range of his creativity, from the earliest work of the fifties to works executed just before his untimely death, in February 1987. Through his art, ideas, and style, Andy Warhol left a lasting imprint on the history of modern art and on our culture.

Featuring artwork from The Museum of Modern Art’s unparalleled collection, each volume in the MoMA Artist Series guides readers through one artist’s most memorable achievements, explaining their significance and placing them in context among the groundbreaking innovations of their time. This series is an invaluable resource for exploring and interpreting some of the most beloved artworks by key artists who shaped the trajectory of modern art.Through his art, ideas and style, Andy Warhol made an indelible mark on the history of modern art and on popular culture. This book features ten paintings by Warhol selected from The Museum of Modern Art’s collection of his work. His famous Gold Marilyn Monroe and Campbell’s Soup Cans are here, along with other equally groundbreaking and iconic silkscreen paintings―from his early work of 1961 to The Last Supper, a painting in progress at the time of his death, in 1987. An insightful essay by Carolyn Lanchner, a former curator of painting and sculpture at the Museum, accompanies each work, illuminating its significance and placing it in its historical moment in the development of modern art and in the artist's own life.

Andy Warhol first found success as an award-winning commercial artist in New York. He soon put the commercial techniques he learned as an illustrator to work in his now-famous studio, dubbed the "Factory." Appropriately enough, the artist once said, "I want to be a machine," reiterating the commercial, serial themes displayed in his paintings. Surrounding himself with a notorious coterie of assistants - from drifters and junkies to musicians and "poor little rich kids" - Warhol installed himself in his Factory, which itself quickly became New York's most famous counter-culture nucleus.Ghostly pale and silver-wigged, Andy Warhol has become an icon himself, an impenetrable enigma who became one of the most singularly identifiable figures of the turbulent sixties. And while Warhol's work may be best known for its stark reflections of popular and commercial culture, the artist did not hesitate to explore some of the more sinister traits of his era - from war and criminality. His grainy images of highway accidents and his serial panels of the handgun or the electric chair seem to drown emotion while at the same time recovering some of the shock power lost in the media's trivialization of disaster. Warhol's work has been called both naive and sophisticated, thought-provoking and mindless, superficial and profound, and the furor he created refuses to die down - more than a decade after the artist's death. This book explores the paradox of Andy Warhol's life and work with flair and intelligence and brings all the vibrance, humor, and genius of his work into full view.

First edition, first printing. Soft cover. Photographically illustrated wrappers with French folds. Paintings by Andy Warhol. Essays by Gerard Malanga, Walter Hopps, Dennish Hopper, Tony Shafrazi and Rene Ricard. Includes a list of plates and a biography (by Martin Cribbs). 52 pp., with 31 four-color plates and additional illustrations. 11 x 11 inches. This first edition was limited to 1500 copies. Published on the occasion of the 1997 exhibition "Andy Warhol: Thirty Are Better Than One" at the Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York.