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Published on August 6, 2014 — Leave a comment

Andy Warhol: The Brant Foundation Exhibition in Rome

written by Marie Claire

If Andy Warhol was still alive today he’d be turning 86. On his birthday, I have reviewed an

ongoing exhibition at the Palazzo Cipolla in Rome, as well as his relationship with Peter Brant, the

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3/23/2018 Andy Warhol: The Brant Foundation Exhibition in Rome | 200 Thoughts a Day

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founder of the Brant Foundation which was responsible for the setting up of the exhibition.

From my own perspective, I would say that Andy Warhol was always a �gure I felt I knew

very little about, and who I had misunderstood. Yet, a brilliantly set up exhibition which is

currently being held in Rome presents Warhol in such a tangible manner that the audience

is almost subconsciously forced to relate to what the artist had in mind while producing

his works.

The works exhibited are all works that were collected by a close friend of the artist, Peter

Brant, and now belong to the Brant Foundation. At the age of 19, in 1967, Brant bought his

�rst work by Warhol, which was a drawing of Campbell’s Soup can, and started what has

become one of the most important contemporary art collections today. In an interview

given to Artspace, Brant said:

Brant also goes on to mention how Warhol changed the way he looked at art:

The exhibition seems to take a similar approach since the way it evolves produces enough

familiarity with Warhol’s known works while introducing lesser known works, which,

when analysed, seem to have played an equally important role in his development as an

artist.

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At 15 and 16 I was interested in the Impressionists, and then as I got older and

learned more I naturally progressed through art history from Impressionism to

Modernism and then Abstract Expressionism and the postwar New York schools. At

some point, I asked myself the question, “If I were collecting artists working today,

who would be the most interesting ones?” And that put me on a journey to be more

involved with what was going in New York.

He drew wonderfully and was a great colourist – he had all the skills of a great artist

– but I think his real reference point came from the Dada, Duchampian philosophy

that beauty is all around us, and can be found in an object that we take for granted

every day, like Duchamp’s urinal, or a rack, or a bicycle wheel. Andy very much

noticed what was made by creative people who were artisans or designers or

whatever else, and he looked at the world as being �lled by artistic and beautiful

things, like a Campbell’s Soup can. So I think what I learned from Andy is that

beauty is all around you, and you just have to open your eyes and look at the

architecture and the clothes and the magazines and the movies – that’s the culture.

Creative things are being done every day in all of these mediums, and if you’re

aware of it then your life will be more beautiful.

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Shot Light Blue Marilyn, 1964, Courtesy The Brant Foundation, Greenwich, CT, USA

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Silver Coke Bottles, 1967, Courtesy The Brant Foundation, Greenwich, CT, USA

Some of the most intriguing works display an evident interest in popular culture, and in

popular mass-produced items, such as food products, and in consumerism. The Silver Coke

Bottles (1967) on display are a good example, and in fact, Warhol had said:

One of his well-known works representing Marilyn Monroe is also on display, entitled the

Shot Light Blue Marilyn (1964). Warhol had started working on representations of the star

shortly a�er her death since he believed she was the perfect representation of beauty, fame

and tragedy in 1960s America. Its title refers to the fact that it was actually shot through

with a pistol by Dorothy Podber, an American performance artist. Podber walked into

Warhol’s Factory and asked if she could shoot his Marilyn Monroe works. Assuming that

she wanted to take pictures of them, Warhol agreed. The works were then restored, but the

title stuck.

What’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the

richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be

watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you can know that the President drinks Cokes,

Liz Taylor drinks Cokes, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke

and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the

corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good. Liz Taylor

knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it. 4

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A B O U T

I have always wanted to start noticing more, reading more and writing more. I’ve wanted to understand the

sources of inspiration, and the creative and intellectual process that leads to the creation of works of art. I’ve

wanted to instil the desire to learn more into others by introducing unfamiliar environments and distant

traditions, cultures and customs. Most importantly, I want to help people pay more attention to the world,

and to appreciate it better.

L I F E S T Y L E

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Even for audiences with very little knowledge on Warhol, the exhibition provides a certain

understanding on the artist, and in the organisers’ own words, what is being presented is

not just Warhol’s masterpieces, but the ‘intimate Warhol, friend, and the man.’

Notes:

1. The featured image was taken by Jack Mitchell. ↩

2. The Warhol exhibition at the Palazzo Cipolla in Rome is on until the 28th of

September. ↩

3. The full interview with Peter Brant can be read here. ↩

4. The quote by Andy Warhol comes from his own book, entitled The Philosophy of

Andy Warhol (From A to B & Back Again). It can be bought on Amazon. ↩

5. A short but interesting analysis of Andy Warhol’s Orange Marilyn, another version of

his Marilyn Monroe works, can be found on Sotheby’s website. ↩

FILED UNDER: Fairs and Galleries

TAGGED WITH: 20th Century, Andy Warhol, Art Exhibitions, Campbell's soup cans, Marilyn Monroe, Peter Brant, PopArt, Rome