Product Description
Now in trade paperback, the sensational national bestseller that turns the spotlight on one of the most influential and controversial figures of our time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (36)

Awesome Take
Awesome take on the last years of Andy... I heart it! Like you were in the genius's presence and in stream of thought... just like everybody else, I would have enjoyed the company of this great man and this book is just perfect as it gives me an insider's look at Andy's life...

Overated, Boring, and Self Indulgent
This book is entirely overated. Warhol's prose is horrible considering the creative mind he posseses. I bought it used (thank God) and was bored to tears reading about taxi rides and what so-and-so was wearing. It was like reading a dreadfully boring gay man's blog. A bio on this character would be much more enlightening and a much less waste of time.

Wore out my original copy
Bought this book years ago in hardcover. Since I'm an Andy Warhol freak, I have worn the book out reading it so many times.Shipping was very fair and it got here quick so I was very grateful.

Since I lived very close to NYC at the times this book was written, I remember most of the people he writes about as well as the places and yes, met him several times.My mother called him a freak, she did not understand his very simple outlook on life. His observations of life and people are very keen.

If you like his art, reading from his view will give you a new look!

warhol diaries
Upon receiving this book, I am amazed at how warhol chronicled his life. many run ins with celebrities and the fact that he kept a record of all his small finances were surprising.

Very interesting read and very informative of the life and times of the 1960's

thank you warhol for all the great art.

Feels like a brick!!!
That's an interesting book because it offers you a real close idea about who Andy Warhol was and how he went about his daily routine. You gotta have patience because it can get boring at times. Too much unnecessary information ( like how much he paid for the taxi on his way home ) some would say, but then again, if you are a fan of Warhol and his way of thinking, many parts of the book will just make you laugh!It's 800 pages long! ... Read more

Product Description
This stellar stocking stuffer--the follow-up to last year's phenomenally successful Angels, Angels, Angels and Cats, Cats, Cats--showcases a selection of Warhol's whimsical holiday drawings and watercolors, all accompanied by playful quotations from the artist's books and diaries. 37 illustrations, 29 in color. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A very Warhol Christmas
"Ho, Ho, Ho!", by Andy Warhol, is a delightful little book. It brings together a number of Warhol's works of visual art, done in various media, together with quotes from some of his writings. As the title indicates, the illustrations and text all have a Christmas theme.

Some of the illustrations are black-and-white, but most are in vibrant color. Warhol uses Santas, Christmas trees, presents, angels, poinsettias, and other motifs. The artwork as a whole is playful and charming. The quotes are fun too. A typical Warholism: "Big smiles make a party better because they're energy." A supplement at the end of the book gives the date and medium for each work of art--a definite plus for serious Warhol scholars!

I have to admit, I'm known as my family's "Scrooge" (doesn't every family have one?) around the holiday season. But Andy Warhol's "Ho, Ho, Ho!" even appealed to me. Even if you don't celebrate Christmas, you may also be delighted by this whimsical book. ... Read more

Product Description
Bedazzled lovers, playful cupids, luscious red lips, a shower of hearts and more--this enchanting book presents 42 of Andy Warhol's wittiest, most charming illustrations of passion and romance. Warhol's pre-Pop drawings and paintings--the basis for this book--are part of the archives of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A whimsical tribute to love
"Love, Love, Love," by Andy Warhol, reproduces several different works, done in various media, by graphic artist Andy Warhol. Some of the selections are black-and-white, and some are in full color. These drawings and paintings are complemented by many quotes from Andy Warhol on the title subject.

This is a delightful book, full of witty and whimsical images. Hearts, flowers, angels, lips, and other motifs are frequently used. This is a great book both for both Warhol devotees and for general readers.

Great lines, great pictures...
The pages pour out with emotion! I loved every minute of it! You wouldlove this if you love love... Give it to your lover and you're sure toreceive smiles and more!!! ... Read more

Product Description
Published in association with the Whitney Museum of American Art

In the mid-1960s, at the height of his creative powers, Andy Warhol produced hundreds of three-minute cinematic portraits, called "Screen Tests." Although rarely screened now, these short films captured a virtual who's who of the avant-garde, including such cultural icons as Edie Sedgwick, Bob Dylan, Salvador Dali, and Susan Sontag. At last, in the initial volume of the authorized catalogue raisonné of Warhol's films, Warhol authority Callie Angell examines all 189 people captured by Warhol's lens. Stills from many of the films appear here for the first time. Drawing on 13 years of original research into the Screen Test subjects and their relationships to Warhol, Angell provides an unprecedented look at the pop art master's working method, and a unique record of his colorful social and professional life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Essential Warholia
Wow, it's hard to top Billy Name himself writing a review of this, but this book is a real gas and an essential catalog of Warhol's screen tests.You get stills from each of the tests, with a brief bio of each of the subjects.Always interesting and informative, full of surprises and humor, and exhaustively detailed.There were even a few color tests done, and you get stills from each of them too.Some of these people are true shadows and we know little, and some are truly beautiful (Amy Taubin!).I am really looking forward to Volume Two and the "features."Warhol being the most important artist of the second half of the 20th Century, it is even possible that these films may be his most important art works.Mailer said that we wouldn't recognize their value for fifty years, but we've now passed the forty year mark and my impression is that most people would still want to ignore these -- but time will tell.

probably the bestScreen Tests reference-not that I'd know
Bought it as an anniversary gift. Before wrapping it I paged through and quickly became engrossed. I'm not sure I would have been as interested if I hadn't previously seen many of the screen tests. Author accepts Screen Tests as canonical films whose production details are of tremendous significance. Brief bios and gossipy tidbits cater to shallower retro-interest in the usual superstars, although numerous people cast in the Screen Tests were rich patrons and art industry knobs. Like much of Warhol's oeuvre, the Screen Tests merit sustained viewing only if you're willing to invest a lot in the experience. Vol 1 provides innarestin' background for people so inclined. Might buy Vol 2, if it isn't bloated with stuff on the Warhol-Morrissey productions.

the best film document for warhol
callie angell's expert volume 1 of the warhol film catalog raisonne (screentests) is a must for all libraries as the most authentic referrence manual for this ouvre.all information is from direct viewing of the films and interviews with actual participants.it is therefore the primary source for this series of warhol film art.the publication is beautiful and the illustrations, actual stills from the acutal films, are exciting.the text and essays are chock full of technical info on the making of the series, social notes included.a must have for all serious warhol souces. abrams and the whitney museum of american art did a fine job; it's a historical documentary publication in the art world. ... Read more

Product Description
Soup cans! Dollar bills! Movie stars! Paint by numbers! Is it art? Yes! Andy Warhol’s art.

Following award-winning artist biographies Degas and the Dance, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Cezanne, an exciting new book from Abrams Books for Young Readers looks at Andy Warhol. A leader of the American art movement known as Pop, short for “popular culture,” Warhol changed the way we think of art. Assisted by photographs taken of Warhol throughout his life, and examples of his early drawings and best-known works, Susan Goldman Rubin traces his rise from poverty to wealth, and from obscurity to fame.

After attending art school in Pittsburgh, Warhol started a career as a commercial artist in New York, and quickly won acclaim for his creative advertisements. When he turned to “real” painting, he used his background in commercial illustration and blurred the line between high and low art.

Some critics have said that Warhol’s pictures of Campbell’s soup cans and Coca-Cola bottles represent American life. But Warhol said, “I just paint those objects in my paintings because those are the things I know best. I think of myself as an American artist.” Warhol’s unique images will appeal to young readers, and inspire them to see the world around them in new ways. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Bright color photos of his art accompany clear explanations of his style and approach.
Andy Warhol took ordinary objects from daily life and transformed them into big paintings and art, becoming known as a leader of the American Pop art movement. ANDY WARHOL: POP ARTIST surveys his career as a commercial artist and his perspective on painting, and is a perfect pick for kids in grades 4-6 who are receiving introductions to modern artists. Bright color photos of his art accompany clear explanations of his style and approach.

Get a shot at Andy Warhol
The construction of your average everyday children's book biography is a complex proposition.You have to examine your biographical subject and determine their kid-friendly appeal.If, for example, you are doing a biography of an obscure Pope of limited charm, you may wish to reconsider the task at hand.If, on the other hand, your subject is the infinitely amusing, not to say fascinating, Andy Warhol then you may have better luck.Next, this may shock you, but not all children are the same age.What age group are you writing for?It sounds backwards, but it's sometimes more difficult to write for younger rather than older children.Author Susan Goldman Rubin, however, has taken the challenge and has fashioned a book that someone under the age of 11 might find of interest.Finally, your pictures.With very few exceptions, young kids are not going to pay your book a whole lot of mind unless you find some cool and colorful photos/art with which to spot your book.In this sense, Ms. Rubin has not been entirely fulfilling.And so, "Andy Warhol: Pop Art Painter" is a great read and will certainly have young `uns grabbing for it, but it could have been a bit more forthcoming with the pretty pretty pictures of his work.Just my two cents.

He was born Ondrej Warhola in 1928 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Slovakian parents.Never the most athletic of children (at age eight he came down with rheumatic fever), Andy loved comics, paper dolls, and coloring books.Once well, he started going to art classes and it was clear he had found his calling.Readers watch as Andy goes to school, moves to New York, and starts drawing shoes for Glamour magazine.Real pop art was soon to follow as Andy challenged what made something important and worthy of consideration.Can a comic be art if you blow up a frame?What about something as simple as a soup can?What is the worth of celebrity?By showing Andy's life and the choices he made, Rubin is able to show us a man, his unique style, and why that man and style were important to the world.

Rubin takes certain steps to make the book kid-friendly right from the start.The almost picture book size of this ten by ten inch title makes it clear from the get-go that kids who pick this puppy up won't have to contest with any 500+ page tomes.The text then pops out at the viewer on top of colored squares that change their hue with the turn of every page.The author also knows that kids like to read about famous people AS kids, so we get a nice glimpse of Andy's younger years.Mind you, there are only 48 pages in this book and 15 of those are just a Time Line, Glossary, Source Notes, References and Resources, Illustration Credits, and an Author's Note.Now one of my favorite books about Andy Warhol was, "Uncle Andy's", by James Warhola.In that book, Andy Warhol's actual nephew recounted how he used to visit his favorite uncle once a year and discover through him what "art" was.Rubin doesn't mention this detail, but does show and tell about Andy's love of kids.As the book says at one point, " `Children were drawn to Andy like a comic character with his wig askew, glasses and ... jeans,' remembered Bob Colacello who worked for him for twelve years. `Andy loved to talk to kids.He found it interesting.'"And with this book, kids can find Andy interesting right back again.

Here is what I loved.I loved that at the end of the book there was a small section entitled, "Some Museums Where You Will Find Work By Andy Warhol."Why doesn't every single biography of an artist DO this?It is infinitely more useful than some of the other stuff they cram into the back of children's books.Just the same, there is the occasional peculiarity.The Time Line is a bit of an extravagance here.More space filler than anything else, each date included is huge and the nine pages of Time Line after Time Line seem excessive.I would have loved to have seen a lot more of Andy's work in the book too.Just exchange 8 of those Time Line pages for a couple portions dedicated solely to displaying some cool Warhol work and I'm there.Otherwise, it rankles with the rest of the book.

The other day I covered three tables in my library's Story Hour Room with books published in the year 2006.At 4 o'clock that day I led in my homeschooler bookgroup, a small collection of kids between the ages of nine and twelve.I told them that we'd be doing something a little different that week.Instead of everyone reading the same book, the kids would have a chance to grab whichsoever book most tickled their fancy.They'd take it, read it over break, and return it to me the next week.Some kids snatched up Susan Cooper's, "Victory".Others took great pleasure in reading Janet Taylor Lisle's, "Black Duck".And sure as shooting, one of my more reluctant readers found a great deal to love in "Andy Warhol: Pop Art Painter".It's a lovable book.There are things that I would have changed about it, but that doesn't make it any less of a wonder.If you're going to have one children's biography of Andy Warhol, let it be this one.Definitely a keeper. ... Read more

Product Description
This beautiful set evokes the spirit of Andy Warhol's Factory studio and invites creative inspiration including a hand-painted figurine of Andy, display stand, stickers, and 48-page booklet. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great collector's piece
I think it makes for a great collector's piece, someone who's a fan of Andy Warhol and his work, it's just a fun little thing to have, the little statue is really great with the pose and all, and the little stickers are awesome and the book is a nice short bio kind of thing. Really great for Andy fans! ... Read more

Product Description
This third revision of Andy Warhol Prints has been substantially revised to incorporate numerous works that only publicly came to light after the artist's death in 1987. Of the more than 1,100 color images presented here, more than 660 are works that were not included in the earlier editions and have not been previously published in book for, . These include unpublished prints, trial proofs, and unique edition prints that have only recently been rediscovered. 1244 photos, 1124 in color. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Directed at the expert, fine for the fan, too!
I would like to add to the reviews below that this book is a pleasure to hold and to view because it is so well made.If there is any 'art' book that should be made for posterity it is the catalog raisonne of an artist.In this instance, the publisher has done the artist's audience a real service for, the book is beautifully printed and bound in Italy by Amilcare Pizzi; Italy seeming to have usurped Switzerland's place as the world's premier art book printer.The pages are thick and glossy and the reproduction is top notch.
For those of you who are unaware of what a catalog raisonne is, it is meant to be a compilation and historical record of an artist's work that documents execution date, medium, size of image or plate, size of edition if a print, whether signed or unsigned, etc.This information is used by artists, historians, collectors and dealers to attribute a piece of art and place it in the artist's oevre, and of course to aid in placing relative value on it.Here too, the archivists, publisher, and editor have done a fine job of documenting the relevant facts.This is especially important in the case of Warhol who was a serial printer, sometimes to the point of intentional promiscuity.So, the fact that wherever possible relevant information is provided speaks volumes about the prodigious effort that must have gone into this undertaking.I rate this book four stars because I fear that since this is the third edition, there will be yet another edition published that renders this one obsolete.I understand this is precisely because Warhol was an inprecise documentarian, when he chose to do so at all, but I don't relish having to purchase another high dollar, though valuable book that is only slightly different from the one I already own.For people who don't give a darn, the book rates a five.

Definitive Guide to Warhol
Prints, proofs, paintings -- everything is here, plus essays that explicate and set context.

The best catalog of Andy's Prints
This gem of a book gets into all the details of Warhol's print making. See source images as well as artist's and printer's proofs. A must for any collector wanting to explore Warhol's work as well as a real eye opener as to how busy this man really kept himself. ... Read more

Product Description
Andy Warhol is one of the most compelling figures of the twentieth-century art world, and his body of work has transformed the landscape of contemporary art. As well as being a prolific artist, Warhol was a notorious hoarder, saving everything that came his way in Time Capsules, boxes he kept beside his desk and into which he carefully deposited photographs, newspapers and magazines, fan letters, business and personal correspondence, artwork, source images for artwork, books, exhibition catalogues and telephone messages, along with objects and countless examples of ephemera, such as announcements for poetry readings and dinner invitations. After his death, The Andy Warhol Museum became the repository for these Time Capsules, along with some of the paintings, prints, sculptures, photographs and films for which Warhol is best known. For this project, the museum has gathered together the highlights of its collection to create a book that is as comprehensive as its holdings. The images of the collection are accompanied by fun and informative texts written by the curators, as well as quotes from Warhol himself. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
An early Artist Book containing 8 pop-up/out images as follows: Pop-up castle; Harmonic accordion; Pop-up airplane; Paper disc on spring with "the Chelsea Girls" in type; an illustrated dodecahedron attached by string; 45 RPM flexi-disc recording by Lou Reed (Velvet Underground); large fold-out Warhol photograph; Pop-up Hunts Tomato Paste can; sheet of perforated tabs; Balloon. ... Read more

Product Description
New York City, the 1960s: Inside a ramshackle studio known as The Factory, the post-war art world encountered the industrial revolution. For more than two years, Nat Finkelstein was on the scene, documenting the explosive emergence of Pop Art, a subversive spectacle created by the constantly calculating Andy Warhol. Andy Warhol: The Factory Years is an extraordinary photographic account of the twisted, the addicted, the nameless, and the famous. As a member of the club, Finkelstein discreetly captured icons in the making, including Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Allen Ginsberg, Edie Sedgwick, and Nico, along with such legends of another era as Salvador Dali and Marcel Duchamp. And, of course, Warhol himself. Engagingly sequenced by renowned design firm Pentagram, Andy Warhol: The Factory Years features Finkelstein's seminal black-and-white photographs, in addition to several series of previously unpublished color photographs that were thought lost for the past three decades. Finkelstein accompanies these striking images with vivid memories, poetic recollections, and acerbic commentary, providing both visual and intellectual insight into the culture of The Factory. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Worth buying but only just: color photos a big plus!
It is not a little ironic that the photographic record of an artist as prolific and as wrapped up in making and taking film and photographs as Andy Warhol was suffers from a dearth of great photos of the scene of Andy Warhol, The Factory and his Superstars:For real.I mean, I would love to own a book that is just chockablock full of all of the characters, primary, secondary, tertiary and beyond who populate the pages of the many books about Andy Warhol and the Warhol Experience.Unfortunately, there just doesn't seem to be any out there.Most of the books by and about the actors in the Warhol drama are text-based with a few, often the same few, grainy, shadowy, poorly framed black & whites.This book is an attempt by one to bring together more and better photos that fans such as I desire.It is a fair effort but only just.The book is over-size or 'folio' form which is GREAT, and mostly photographs.The text is composed of an opening statement of a couple of pages of over-sized type by the author followed by lots of photographs.The essays contain some valuable information that have the ring of truth to them, but they also seem spontaneous, off-the-cuff and free associative and as a result are not easy to follow.They are more blurted out than intoned, if you get me.The book is printed in the UK on non-glossy heavy stock.I'm unsure if this was done to save money or to impart a flat, gritty, industrial feel to the photos.It is a different look than anything else out there about Warhol and I can live with it; although, I catch myself wondering what this book would look like if done on really expensive, glossy paper with top notch production values.The author explains at one point that his photos were criticized by media critics for being odd and unconventional.He states that today this is recognized as a somewhat ground-breaking and very original and excellent representation of the scene.I think that they are a bit odd and unconventional.There are some great shots there though, and the author gets some portraits of Edie Sedgewick that are heart-breakingly prescient in retrospect.There are a couple great shots of Nico too and, of course, Andy.I was pleased to see some good ones of Taylor Mead and Paul Morissey which is a refreshing change; although, I must say that it would have been cool to see how the author would have represented Andy's mother, Billy Name, and Andrea Feldman.Oh, well, I suppose one must be happy with what one can get.I believe that if you are a huge Warhol admirer such as I you would be mad to not own this.If you are curious but indifferent to Warhol and the scene, right now as I speak you can buy this book right here on Amazon for a fraction of what it is worth and you should buy it NOW.If you don't care for Andy Warhol or care about him this book will certainly not change your mind so don't bother.

new edition
the book expanded redesigned and with the addition with a complete section of color phots has been republished by canongate books ,scotland ... Read more

Product Description
Painter, filmmaker, photographer, philosopher, all-round celebrity, Andy Warhol is an outstanding cultural icon. He revolutionised art by bringing to it images from popular culture - such as the Campbell's soup can and Marilyn Monroe's face - while his studio, the Factory, where his free-spirited cast of 'superstars' mingled with the rich and famous, became the place of origin for every groundswell shaping American culture. In many ways he can be seen as the precursor to today's 'celebrity artists' such as Tracey Emin and Damian Hurst. But what of the man behind the white wig and dark glasses?Amazon.com Review
Do a faithful rendering of a soup can, a silk-screened photograph of a starlet, or a film of an empty chair constitute works of art? They do, poet and critic Wayne Koestenbaum ably demonstrates, if their author was Andy Warhol.

Warhol, who once observed that in time everyone would be famous for 15 minutes, himself earned early fame "as artist and whirlwind, as impresario and irritant." That fame endured over a career that stretched over four decades, as does his influence, even in some unexpected quarters: "Martha Stewart owes a lot to Andy Warhol," Koestenbaum volunteers. But Warhol, Koestenbaum argues, was much more than an artist. He helped shape the popular culture of his day; he launched the careers of dozens of musicians and artists; he revolutionized interior design, making his studio, the Factory, "an ambient artwork"; and he used art as a way of exploring matters of life, death, sexuality, and group behavior. He was, in short, a self-made phenomenon, an odd American success story.

The price for that success was high, Koestenbaum writes: the controversies Warhol inspired did not always serve him well, his associates had a habit of dying young, and he himself survived an assassination attempt that gave his later work an air of being "bulletins from the afterlife." This slender biography tells all those stories very well, and students of art and contemporary culture will learn much from it. --Gregory McNamee ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

A Delight
This is one of my very favorite books. Wayne Kostenbaum's trademark rococo prose enlightens and delights. Clearly enraptured with his subject, he pulls out all the stops: free-associative, linguistically complex interpretations of Warhol's subconscious motivations and sexual neuroses abound. I cheerfully allow the author every metaphorical , grammatical, and Freudian excess, because here, at last, is someone writing about the 20th Century's most notorious and influential artist as if he were human. Significantly, Kostenbaum ushers the reader into an intimate, reverent viewing of the several important, rarely seen, and shamefully under-appreciated films Warhol made the 60s. You will either love this book, and want to revisit it again and again, or loathe it and not even be able to finish it. And, I bet those of you in the latter category are not all that engaging in flirty conversation over an after-dinner drink.

Perverted
I think that Wayne did a humiliating job with this book.He mostly focused on the [...] things that Warhol did in his lifetime.You know what i think, i think that Wayne had a crush on Andy himself, because the are both[...]and Wayne seems to like to talk about Andy's [...]

Horrible
There is no other word capable of describing how utterly pointless, random, and pretentiously written this book is.Wayne Koestenbaum has produced the single worst biography I have ever read.Not only is the writing style painful and full of semi-fancy language used as a subsitute for content, but the book skips over major parts of Warhol's career, concentrating instead on his many movies.After mentioning the Velvet Underground, Koestenbaum writes "Their music has many admirers, but it may be the aspect of Warhol's world with which I have least sympathy, and so I will beg off any attempt at analysis."The utter ridiculousness of this sentence speaks for itself.

One of the most infuriating things about this book is that Koestenbaum repeatedly attempts to make connections between Warhol's works that do not exist, and to analyze his art in ways that don't make sense.

Do not make the same mistake I did and waste time and money on this book.

A gorgeous, innovative work
As a Warhol scholar, and someone who has read dozens of books and essays about him, I would heartily recommend this as an _addition_ to the other works.It's not really a biography in the traditional sense at all, and it certainly shouldn't be the first or only thing you read.

If you prefer a clinical, detached, "just the facts, ma'am"approach - skip this.If you are terrified by 20th century philosophy and psychoanalysis - skip this.If you find it easier to disparage strawman concepts like "postmodernism" rather than actually reading and thinking about continental philosophy (yes, I know it's difficult) - skip this.And judging from the reviews, if you're terribly uncomfortable with sexual themes or "swishiness" in art or writing - forget it.

The book is excellent.The prose is often rich and compelling - my copy is dogeared from all the passages I've marked - and the philosophical and psychoanalytic themes, while not developed, can be very suggestive.Koestenbaum has an excellent reading of many of the films - perhaps the most important and underexamined aspect of his work.Warhol's art is certainly not reduced to postmodernist cliches (as it has been so often elsewhere) nor is it reduced to being "about" his sexual identity.In a striking change, Warhol is not considered as a celebrity or a monster, but like the frail yet determined individual he was, the complex and multifaceted life he led, and the gorgeous, troubling, powerful art he produced.If you don't know anything about Warhol, if you've haven't seen much of his work or any of his films, don't start with this book - you'll be confused and dissappointed.But if you already think you know all about Warhol, and you read this book -slowly - while looking at his work, I think you've find it an incredibly helpful guide.

For real reviews, ...read Hal Foster's review in the London Review of Books

A Repetitive Artist
Frankly, I didn't know very much about Andy Warhol until I read this book.I learned how sexual and abstract (to use one of his favorite words) he really was.The book is a nice overview.It makes me want to learn more about him and see more of his work.There is a wonderful source reference at the end of the book for anyone who may want to continue research and study of WARHOL. He definitely made a mark in the art world for the 20th Century..... ... Read more

Product Description
Bob Colacello presents an insider's look at the man and phenomenon that was Warhol. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Decoding the Pop Madonna
This book is like a big box of candy--gossipy and chummy--compulsively readable and bittersweet.

Colacello was a top Warhol insider--for a while--so he was in a good position to give us a first-hand account of what it was like. However he isnt an art critic or art historian, and he's not an artist. So don't expect a lot of analysis into Warhol's art.

This book is more about what it was like to live and work with Andy Warhol. At least what it was like for Bob Colacello. For the most part Colcello seems to remember that and doesn't do a lot of sideline psychoanalysis...for the most part. He draws his conclusions, like the rest of us, and, like the rest of us, tells us probably more about himself than he does about Warhol.

Other people are impossible to know. Probably the best we can do is report as directly as possible what we *see*--without commentary. What we see, all by itself, is commentary enough.

Perhaps Warhol understood this better than any other major artist. It may very well be the key to his oeuvre--the films and paintings, the books and interviews that all seem to be about either nothing, or whatever one makes of them.

It's a lesson that Colacello seems to have drawn from to write "Holy Terror," which is refreshingly free from a lot of the usual compromising motivations of first-person, I-was-there books of this sort: the judgment and self-aggrandizement of the author, and the demonizing of the (usually) dead and now voiceless and therefore defenseless subject.

These sorts of books are usually written, to one degree or another, for revenge...and profit. Indeed, at the very end of this lengthy volume, Colacello acknowledges that his original purpose in writing *Holy Terror* was to "liberate" himself from Andy Warhol. Fortunately, this ulterior motive comes through only rarely, and mostly and most strongly in the concluding chapters, where Colacello tries to sum up Andy Warhol for us.

Colacello has some axes to grind. He felt underappreciated by his boss, for whom he labored to the point of physical and psychological collapse, for thirteen years. He ghostwrote the books for which Warhol was given credit, made Warhol's "Interview" magazine a significant cultural signpost, and accompanied Warhol on what seems to have been a non-stop rollercoaster of all-night parties, openings, and get-togethers with the rich and famous. He served his boss as assistant, commissions pimp, social crutch, and, on many occasions, a shoulder to cry on. And all of this for relatively little financial reward--and even less recognition.

On the other hand, Colacello does seem to remember--even if only in passing and primarily by implication--that without Warhol he and so many others who lived, worked, and complained about the artist would not be the chroniclers, critics, and footnotes to art history and American culture that they are.

Warhol, who, according to Colacello, expressed himself primarily in a series of "gees, umms, oh reallys" comes out of this biographical autopsy relatively intact--by which I mean, pretty much as much of an enigma as before. And inasmuch as this is the case, it is to Colacello's credit.

More than perhaps any other artist, Warhol was a blank screen. It's what he aspired to and what he to a large degree succeeded in achieving. He reflected the people and events around him. Peel the reflective part off a mirror or the paint off a canvas and what have you got?

You cant get the answer you really want from Mona Lisa by asking her. Or by scraping away at her vague smile. There isnt anything underneath. That's the mystery, the horror, the beauty, the holy joke of it all.

Not that "bitchy"
I found this book on the shelf recently unread and found it, after the annoying first chapter on Bob quitting, a rather quick read for the length. While there are stories about famous people, I didn't find the tone mean and the stories about the famous people played to make them sound awful. A lot of time has passed since the book was written and certainly since the events described took place. The names of certain socialites discussed at length will mean nothing to most readers.

In terms of the profile of Warhol, it's fairly rewarding in terms of how he managed people, his projects, how he operated socially and yes what some of his eccentric habits were. But once again, this is more 'tell it like it is' than bitter and negative.

Engaging and disturbing
I did not intend to read this book.I read the first chapter because my wife told me to, and couldn't put it down.The book is like watching a train wreck.I kept hoping that somebody would stand up and inject some sanity into the lives of these people, but they just kept heading toward disaster and oblivion.While I found that the gossipy nature of the book get in the way of the story, I must admit that Bob Colacello made that time in that place seem both glamorous and horrible.I think it is worth a read, if for no other reason than to be able to sit back and say "I'm so glad my life isn't like that!".

Ages well
I didn't intend to reread this book, but I opened it while searching for an obscure New York address and didn't put it down again until I'd finished reading every page. When it first came out, I remember critics mostly tsk-tsking Colacello because they seemed to think he'd gotten to the place he was through Warhol and no doubt he did...What I failed to notice when the book was first published, was how Colacella and every single "Warhol" person who's written a book had a nervous breakdown as they were spinning (or trying to spin) out of his orbit. I want to read the book that tells WHY these intelligent creative people threw themselves so totally into Warhol's world...a world that couldn't have existed without them.....All I can say is, if your intent is to try and understand Warhol, then Bob Colacello's book is the absolute best take...besides yourself.

Royal Crown Cola
Bob Colacello put all his unpublished Warhol writing projects into a cocktail shaker and added some ice. The result is this frothy, gossip ridden, whiskey sour. A 504 page, tall drink that doesn't get any sweeter as you suck it down. The anecdotes about Imelda Marcos, Truman Capote, Farah Diba make it seem like the 70's took place on another planet. It's a fun read and I laughed out loud quite a few times. But one get's the feeling that this book was written as revenge on Warhol for the social abuse that Colacello "suffered" during the years they worked together. ... Read more

Product Description
Now in trade paperback, the sensational national bestseller that turns the spotlight on one of the most influential and controversial figures of our time. These pages are filled with previously undisclosed facts about the lives and loves of the irch and famous--from royalty to movie and music stars to renowned artists. ... Read more

Product Description
Pop artist Andy Warhol is a source of continuing fascination and visual excitement. While he first worked as an illustrator, he grew most famous for appropriating images from popular culture and incorporating them into his paintings and silkscreen prints. Abrams' 2011 Warhol engagement calendar features more than fifty full-colour images from the 1950s through the 1980s. It highlights the artist's most fabulous and recognizable works of art along with a rich and rare selection of drawings, photographs, illustrations, and quotations. ... Read more

Product Description
Andy Warhol (1928-1987) is one of the most iconic figures in 20th-century art, an enigmatic man who not only altered the definition of art but also in his wake left a vast and staggeringly complex record of his daily activities. This work is the definitive record of the artist's paintings, sculptures, and drawings: some 15,000 works produced by Warhol between 1948 and 1987. Also included is an array of rarely published source material such as newspaper scraps and movie star publicity stills that inspired Warhol's life and career. "The Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonne" was initiated in 1977 by Thomas Ammann. The editors Georg Frei and Neil Printz began primary research in 1993 and have been advised throughout the project by the curators and art historians Kynaston McShine and Robert Rosenblum. Experts from the Andy Warhol Foundation examined the vast majority of Warhol's works and began a thorough review of his archive, which at his death consisted of 1500 cardboard boxes, flat files, and trunks filled with source material, memorabilia, correspondence and junk mail.The editors examined works in museums in their conservation facilities and discussed them with conservators, submitted works for review by the Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board, and interviewed Warhol's assistants and colleagues to assemble a customized database of works unparalleled in Warhol scholarship. All of their findings are documented in this project. Each annotated catalogue entry includes the works' title, date, medium, dimensions, and present owner, followed by a record of inscriptions, provenance, exhibitions, and literature. Related works are linked by general introductory texts that address historical circumstances, shared themes, and studio practices. Supplementary figures to the texts illustrate source materials Warhol appropriated for his works - newspaper articles and advertisements, soup cans, publicity stills - as well as related drawings, works by other artists, and studio and exhibition views. "Volume 1" includes classic and much-prized Warhols such as the "Campbell Soup paintings", images of icons Marilyn, Liz, and Elvis and early self-portraits. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

not by andy warhol
The project is co-sponsored by two of the largest dealers in Warhol's work. The editors have no first hand knowledge of Warhol's working methods and although in this raisonne they claim to refer to Warhol's inner circle, in most cases they do not. Great pictures though!
Have a look at the statements written by those closest to the artist before making such an expensive purchase.

[...]

Not even for Warhol fans
The main problem with this book is the layout of each page into three columns, thus all the pictures are quite small. So this is not a book to really enjoy the art. The text is also often far from essential, for example it contains relevant quotes from "The Andy Warhol diaries" or "Popism", which any Warhol fan will already have. It is worth remembering most of the original prints/paintings are measured in meters, so there is little satisfaction in looking at passport-photo sized pictures. "The Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonne" is really only a reference book for art galleries or perhaps art collectors, and I'd recommend Warhol fans to stay away from this extremely expensive purchase, it contains zero enjoyment compared to leafing through the superb "Giant Warhol", where the appreciation of the immensity of Warhol's work can be much better appreciated.

GREAT! (except for the design)
WOW. This is a real work of research. The amount of detail and care that has gone into this study of Warhol's early paintings is not to be believed. The editors have compiled a completely staggering amount of information about each work shown here--and who knew there were so many original paintings?

My only complaint is the book's design, which doesn't seem to have anything to do with Warhol's own aesthetic. The pictures are beautiful, but the words are tough on the eyes--the table of contents is especially awful. This is really a shame, because you can see pictures of Warhol paintings in lots of places. I don't know where you'd find all this wonderful data, though. (Put it on CD-ROM!)

It's definitely an expensive book, but unmatched, as far as I can tell, in its field. Bravo! ... Read more

Product Description
Andy Warhol (1928–1987) is arguably the most iconic figure in twentieth century art, an enigmatic personality who not only altered the definition of art itself but also in his wake left a vast and staggeringly complex record of his activities. Warhol’s archive consists not only of his artworks but also 1,500 cardboard boxes, flat files, and trunks filled with source material, memorabilia, correspondence, and junk mail. When the catalogue raisonné is complete, it will constitute an indisputable record of the artist’s paintings, drawings, and sculptures — some 15,000 works produced by the artist between 1948 and 1987, the year of his death.

Volume 2 documents the artist’s paintings, sculpture, and installations made between 1964 and 1969, the important period known as "The Factory Years," when Warhol began to acquire Pop Art fame as well as a cadre of collaborators and hangers-on — all of which made "The Factory" into one of the most mythologized artist’s studios ever, and Warhol’s work at this time emblematic of his career. This volume documents 23 series and more than 1,400 individual works, including the well-known series Thirteen Most Wanted Men, the box sculptures, approximately 300 works in the Jackie series, and the 1964 and 1964–65 Flowers series, among others. As in Volume 1, Volume 2 includes a fascinating collection of source material — in particular rare studio photographs taken by Billy Name-Linich, who became the Factory’s first de facto photographic historian.

In this volume editors Georg Frei and Neil Printz focus on Warhol’s serial production, analyzing the evolution of Warhol’s working methods and the growing relationship between Warhol’s exhibitions and his studio production. They establish a chronology for the works of this period, many of which have been difficult to locate and date due to their seriality. Their text provides both a compelling overview and unparalleled detail of an endlessly fascinating life and career.

The project is co-sponsored by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts in New York and Thomas Ammann Fine Art in Zurich. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

myandywarhol.com
The project is co-sponsored by two of the largest dealers in Warhol's work. The editors have no first hand knowledge of Warhol's working methods and although in this raisonne they claim to refer to Warhol's inner circle, in most cases they do not. Great pictures though!
Have a look at the statements written by those closest to the artist before making such an expensive purchase.

http://www.myandywarhol.eu/my/authentication.asp ... Read more

Product Description
In Andy Warhol's silent black-and-white movie, Blow Job (1964), a youth is filmed as he is apparently being given the sex act named in the title. The 35-minute film is accentuated by the paucity of expression on the actor's face: we see only his head and shoulders, rigidly framed so that all offscreen space has to be imagined, or avoided. Sometimes the young actor looks bored, sometimes as if he is thinking, sometimes as if he is aware of the camera, sometimes as if he is not. Like the protagonists of other Warhol films, he is apparently left to his own devices.

Warhol's 16mm films (including Blow Job, Sleep, Empire, and Henry Geldzahler), with their take on boredom, voyeurism, and the supposedly unmoving camera, continue to be influential today. In their own era of the early 1960s, they forced avant-garde film away from various forms of romantic illusionism and onto the reality of the specific film-as-projected. The film process itself became inseparable from the act of the viewer's viewing. In this extended examination of Blow Job, Peter Gidal deciphers the structures, abstract and concrete, of Warhol's crucial film. Warhol's techniques—the use of the close-up, the general use of camera movement, and the complete theatrical mise en scène—(especially when compared to the Godardian cinéma vérité of the time) make the materiality of the film process, its making and viewing, ineluctably present. ... Read more

Product Description
"Warhol's early drawings are characterized by a stylized reductivism or mannered simplicity that manages, like the artist's infrequent but affected speech, to say more in its special manner of saying less. In addition to their spare, magical, frequently uncanny otherworldliness, the one characteristic that most distinguished Warhol's early drawings from his peers' was the use of the blotted line technique," writes Todd Alden in his introduction to this focused volume. Strange World: Drawings 1948-1959 includes an eclectic collection of Warhol's blotted-line drawings, created between 1948 and 1959. These works illustrate Warhol's preference for the deliberately incomplete or unresolved image and often feature unpredictable trajectories of color. A familiar cast from Warhol's commercial art and illustrated books--friends, lovers, small children and the anonymous faces of office workers--are presented in concert with charged paper surfaces. ... Read more

Product Description
Andy Warhol has been called the pope of twentieth-century pop culture-a one-man show who dazzled with his innovative influence not only on modern art, but also on film, music, fashion, and even the idea of celebrity. This box offers a unique peek at this modern legend’s vibrant, chaotic life, with exact reproductions of fascinating ephemera from the Factory years and beyond.

Includes

*Full-color booklet

*Self-inking Factory ring stamp

*Film wheelie

*Photo booth strips of Warhol's self-portraits

*Campbell's Soup button

*Astrological chart

*Warhol's personal stationery and business card

*Letters from Elizabeth Taylor and Mick Jagger

*New clippings

*Exhibit invitations

*Postcards showing stages of his work

*Complimentary pass to The Andy Warhol Museum

*And much more! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

This is a blast for the Warhol fan
I just love this little collection of "stuff" from Andy Warhol, because that is what he was all about-- "stuff!" I have thought about framing some of the items inside, but it's fun topull the box out once in a while and just look through it. It's a real glimpse into his goofy, eccentric life and the things that were important to him. I have his diaries and many of his books, too, but this is really fun to have.

Awesome
I saw this at an urban outfitters store, and brought it a couple of days later. I have always had a fascination with the 1960s, and everything that came out during that decade,so I thought this was a cool thing for me to get. It contains, letters, postcards, a stamp, articles, a poster, a book explaining each item, and much more. Its fun to dig through it, once in a while. I would recommend this if you are a Warhol fan.

Factory Fans Rejoice
I recently gifted this box to an extremely knowledgeable fan of Andy Warhol and the Factory, who gleefully assures me of the excellence of its content.The box includes an explanatory bookletfor the uninitiated (like me), which illuminates the significance of each scrap of paper and memorabilia.Said memorabilia includes replicas of post cards from Warhol to his mother, a letter from Mick Jagger, artwork, and other Warhol ephemera.It's quite fun and interesting, even to someone who lacks a previous base of Warhol knowledge.

The diversity of Warhol hits home via these objects
There are many books on Warhol, but how many ways to inexpensively share in his objects? There are posters (warhol.org has qute a few) but for the price of 1 poster you can have this box.

I'd already read about 10 books on Warhol before I bought this box. I learned a lot but also became confused: Warhol did so many things. A good way to realize that is to lay the contents of this box out around you.

I'm more than satisfied with the number and quality of the reproductions. It seems well worth the list price and so is even a better deal at any discount.

So what about the selection of these objects? Seems to have been made to highlight Warhol's diversity. Nothing to do with his Interview magazine, but objects pointing to his paintings, his movies, his use of reproduction including silkscreens , photo booths, his exhibitions, his closeness to his mother, his being shot,his promotion of the Velvet Underground, his work on album covers, his association with celebrities, and a reminder not to expect everyone to like you (a cold rejection letter from MOMA). And, ever the business man, reminded by stationary and a business card (both of whose lettering was done by his mom).

So is that enough?

Some of these objects you can carry or wear, others you can hang up, some postcards you can send, stationary you can write on. If you do use some of the objects, consider buying a second Warhol Pop Box: you can keep one intact and make use of the objects in the other.

I've had mine 2 weeks and it gives me a good feeling, much warmer than I get from books. It took me a day or two to begin appreciating it. I've been going through it every day, right now it's like a candy store for me.

Creativity is hardly encouraged in our society, so why not identify with Andy by learning about him and from him? The contents of this box may help lift you out of a rut and into a life of heightened possibilities. Or something like that.

Like Fame, This Pop Box is Interesting for Only 15 Minutes
If you're looking for something of substance about the life & artwork of Andy Warhol or even just a time capsule that captures some of the essence of the Silver Factory era, this isn't it.This "Pop Box" is really just an assortment of less-than-authentic looking reproductions of Warhol's personal correspondence & various other flashy gewgaws, all of whose novelty wears thin within seconds after viewing them.Maybe on an artistic level this collection might have worked if the publisher had made more of an effort in trying to make the contents look authentic rather than just settling for the cheesy looking knock-offs that we were presented with.On the other hand I do think this collection would make a nice introduction for youngsters (maybe combined with Lou Reed & John Cale's excellent Warhol tribute CD "Songs for Drella") who are just starting to learn about Andy Warhol and Pop Art, but that's about it. ... Read more