Synthetic polymer paint and silkscreen ink on canvas - National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. ©2020 The Art Story Foundation. Warhol subtly comments on our society, and its glorification of celebrities to the level of the divine. Making these items in his "factory" Warhol again makes fun of (or brilliantly provokes) the art world and the artist-creator. Trailer. The background is reminiscent of Byzantine religious icons that are the central focus in Orthodox faiths to this day. His openness to subject matter was matched by a willingness to explore all media, resulting in an innovative approach to painting, photography, drawing, printmaking, and experimental filmmaking. Warhol's reputation was flagging in the early 1980s, and he had painted little since the 1960s, but his collaboration with Basquiat, which spanned two years between 1984-5, energized him and placed him amidst a young and more fashionable generation. Another challenge to the domination of Abstract Expressionism, Warhol's Coca-Cola is equal in size to many of the popular canvases of the time (6ft x 5ft) but is devoid of their abstractions. From superimposing brand names over the faces of the apostles, to cutting up the unity of the scene, Warhol honored the original painting while adding it into his business enterprise. His drawings were often comic, decorative, and whimsical, and their tone is entirely different from the cold and impersonal mood of his Pop art. Warhol believed that much abstract painting functioned in a similar way: instead of artists being able to communicate thoughts through abstract form, as many believed, he thought that viewers simply projected their own ideas on to the pictures. 1: Paintings and Sculpture 1961-1963, Andy Warhol Prints: A Catalogue Raisonne 1962-1987, Andy Warhol: The Record Covers 1949-1987, Catalogue Raisonne, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Prince of Boredom: The Repetitions and Passivity's of Andy Warhol, Ric Burns interview of Andy Warhol for PBS. Please contact our customer service team within 45 days if you need to return anything from your order. Consumer goods and ad imagery were flooding the lives of Americans with the prosperity of that age and Warhol set out to subtly recreate that abundance, via images found in advertising. Some of Warhol’s sculptural work-- including reproductions of Campbell’s boxes, Brillo boxes, and a tray of silver Coca-Cola bottles-- sit on a low platform in front of the portraits. Did Warhol like the product itself, think the store displays for the product ridiculous, or as a gay man, did he enjoy the contrast of steel and wool, in one friendly package?