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Lot Essay
Andy Warhol stares out from the surface of the canvas in this striking self-portrait from 1966. With his features partly hidden by the veil of dark shadow that falls across his face, the present work becomes the ultimate rendition of an artist who much preferred being behind the camera than in front of it. Belonging to arguably his most well-known series of his self-portraiture, it shows Warhol at the height of his artistic powers. It belongs to the third series of self-portraits that the artist had completed up to this point, and is the most complex in its daring and complex use of color. The alternating layers of bold pigments cause the surface to resonate with visual intensity, and it is with these self-portraits that Warhol finally harnesses the supremacy of color with thrilling effect.
With his chin resting on the palm of his hand, Warhol appears to be caught in a moment of deep reflection, yet his direct stare engages the audience directly. Unlike his previous two series of self-portraits, in which a younger Warhol appears to avoiding this direct form of engagement, in the present work he appears to have gained enough confidence to accept a degree of self-reflection. As the critic and Warhol scholar David Bourdon points out, this series was pivotal in marking the maturity of the artist: “They marked a new development in his portraiture with increased emphasis on garish, non-natural color and avoidance of flesh tones... The bold, jarring colors called attention to this face while simultaneously cancelling out most of his recognizable features. The self-portraits offered no detailed information about either his physiognomy or his psychological state; instead, they present him as a detached, shadowy, and elusive voyeur” (D. Bourdon, Warhol, New York, 1995, p. 250).
Self-Portrait also displays Warhol’s increasingly sophisticated use of color. Here, he employs planes of light and dark blues, a soft purple and a pigment described in the catalogue raisonné as Napthol red light (a pale pink) to heighten the drama inherent in this particular self-portrait. Thus, it is not only the dramatic lighting, but also the juxtaposition of these different tones that adds to the visual tension. The critic John Coplans writes: “Warhol's instinct for color is not so much vulgar as theatrical. He often suffuses the whole surface of a canvas with a single color to gain an effect of what might be termed colored light. It is difficult to use any of the traditional categories in discussing Warhol's usage, which bends toward `non-art’ color… It is sometimes inert, always amorphous, and pervades the surface… In other paintings Warhol moves into what may best be described as a range of psychedelic coloration. For the most part his color is bodiless and flat and is invariably acted on by black, which gives it a shrill tension. Further, the color is often too high-keyed to be realistic, yet it fits into a naturalistic image. This heightens the unreality of the image, though the blacks he so often uses roughen the color and denude it of sweetness" (J. Coplans, Andy Warhol, New York, 1970, pp. 51-52).
The 1966 self-portraits became a turning point for Warhol. Finally amongst the images of the rich and famous or the press images of death and disaster, he had become a celebrity in his own right, an element in his own visual repertoire. By this time, Warhol was the central figure in both the New York art world and the wider social scene and had become an icon, a constant and glamorous figure who frequented the city’s art galleries, celebrity parties, and nightclubs. Self-Portrait is as much about self-presentation—and self-celebration—as anything else. Here, he gazes out of the picture with an intense driven air. His pose tells of the thinker, the intellectual. This is a man who was single-handedly turning preconceptions upside down, a revolutionary, the pioneer of Pop. Beginning in 1964, and lasting until 1984, Warhol's self-portraits bookended his career, and now that he was known, a recognized face, it was only fitting that he should have enshrined himself amongst his pantheon of cultural gods. Not only does Self-Portrait capture Warhol, but it also captures the spirit of the age. The incongruous colors that he has used harness a mixture of the darkness of the Velvet Underground's music and the psychedelia of the 1960s. The presentation of the image reminds us of billboards. High culture and popular culture are being combined to create a contemporary cocktail of an image. Thus, Self-Portrait resonates with the brooding energy and life of its age.
With his chin resting on the palm of his hand, Warhol appears to be caught in a moment of deep reflection, yet his direct stare engages the audience directly. Unlike his previous two series of self-portraits, in which a younger Warhol appears to avoiding this direct form of engagement, in the present work he appears to have gained enough confidence to accept a degree of self-reflection. As the critic and Warhol scholar David Bourdon points out, this series was pivotal in marking the maturity of the artist: “They marked a new development in his portraiture with increased emphasis on garish, non-natural color and avoidance of flesh tones... The bold, jarring colors called attention to this face while simultaneously cancelling out most of his recognizable features. The self-portraits offered no detailed information about either his physiognomy or his psychological state; instead, they present him as a detached, shadowy, and elusive voyeur” (D. Bourdon, Warhol, New York, 1995, p. 250).
Self-Portrait also displays Warhol’s increasingly sophisticated use of color. Here, he employs planes of light and dark blues, a soft purple and a pigment described in the catalogue raisonné as Napthol red light (a pale pink) to heighten the drama inherent in this particular self-portrait. Thus, it is not only the dramatic lighting, but also the juxtaposition of these different tones that adds to the visual tension. The critic John Coplans writes: “Warhol's instinct for color is not so much vulgar as theatrical. He often suffuses the whole surface of a canvas with a single color to gain an effect of what might be termed colored light. It is difficult to use any of the traditional categories in discussing Warhol's usage, which bends toward `non-art’ color… It is sometimes inert, always amorphous, and pervades the surface… In other paintings Warhol moves into what may best be described as a range of psychedelic coloration. For the most part his color is bodiless and flat and is invariably acted on by black, which gives it a shrill tension. Further, the color is often too high-keyed to be realistic, yet it fits into a naturalistic image. This heightens the unreality of the image, though the blacks he so often uses roughen the color and denude it of sweetness" (J. Coplans, Andy Warhol, New York, 1970, pp. 51-52).
The 1966 self-portraits became a turning point for Warhol. Finally amongst the images of the rich and famous or the press images of death and disaster, he had become a celebrity in his own right, an element in his own visual repertoire. By this time, Warhol was the central figure in both the New York art world and the wider social scene and had become an icon, a constant and glamorous figure who frequented the city’s art galleries, celebrity parties, and nightclubs. Self-Portrait is as much about self-presentation—and self-celebration—as anything else. Here, he gazes out of the picture with an intense driven air. His pose tells of the thinker, the intellectual. This is a man who was single-handedly turning preconceptions upside down, a revolutionary, the pioneer of Pop. Beginning in 1964, and lasting until 1984, Warhol's self-portraits bookended his career, and now that he was known, a recognized face, it was only fitting that he should have enshrined himself amongst his pantheon of cultural gods. Not only does Self-Portrait capture Warhol, but it also captures the spirit of the age. The incongruous colors that he has used harness a mixture of the darkness of the Velvet Underground's music and the psychedelia of the 1960s. The presentation of the image reminds us of billboards. High culture and popular culture are being combined to create a contemporary cocktail of an image. Thus, Self-Portrait resonates with the brooding energy and life of its age.