Andy Warhol in Amsterdam, Apeldoorn and Heerlen

For fans of Andy Warhol (1928–1987), these three exhibitions are a must-see. Warhol was an American artist, film director, and author. Drawing on his background and experience in applied art, Warhol belonged to the Pop Art movement of the 50s and 60s. Warhol is most famous for his 'flat' and high-contrast paintings and screen prints of packaged products and everyday objects such as Campbell's soup cans, flowers, and the banana (album The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)). He also became known for his stylized portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Grace Jones, Elvis Presley, Judy Garland, and Elizabeth Taylor. Now there are three exhibitions where Warhol has been given a prominent place. Don't miss it!

Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol (Pittsburgh, August 6, 1928 – New York, February 22, 1987) was an American artist, film director, and author. Warhol also worked as a music producer and actor. Drawing on his background and experience in applied arts, Warhol was one of the leading figures of Pop Art in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s. Warhol is also known as the Silver Prince of Pop.

Warhol is primarily famous for his 'flat' and high-contrast paintings and screen prints of packaged products and everyday objects such as Campbell's soup cans, flowers, and the banana on the cover of the album The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967), as well as for his stylized portraits of 20th-century celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Grace Jones, Elvis Presley, Judy Garland, and Elizabeth Taylor.

'UN-stamp' design

Andy Warhol's original print 'UN Stamp' was commissioned by the World Federation of United Nations Association (WFUNA), an organization that aims to support the principles and objectives of the United Nations. For more than two decades, the association has raised funds for the United Nations through the sale of artworks promoting the ideals of the UN, as well as for its educational programs.

For several decades in the 20th century, WFUNA conducted a fundraising program to promote the ideals of the UN. A large part of the fundraising was based on the sale of UN stamp first-day covers and lithographs produced by artists and celebrities such as Pablo Picasso, Lou Zheng Jang, Joan Miro, Salvador Dalí, Ruben Leyva, Al Hirschfeld, and Andy Warhol. Warhol created the UN stamp lithograph based on a first-day cover of a real United Nations stamp. The total print run of the lithograph is 1000, of which 500 are the UN Swiss stamp and the other 500 are the UN American stamp.

Queens by Andy Warhol, Paleis Het Loo, Apeldoorn

The colorful pop art series Reigning Queens consists of screen prints of four iconic queens. Andy Warhol created the Reigning Queens series in 1985. The 'royal edition' consists of sixteen screen prints coated with diamond dust. Paleis Het Loo has this special edition in its collection. This is the last time the series will be on display for the time being, due to the fragility of the material. This edition of Reigning Queens consists of four colorful portraits of former Queen Beatrix. In addition to the Dutch queen, he also portrays Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, and Queen Ntombi Tfwala of Swaziland, the current Kingdom of Eswatini. At the time the series was created, these four women were the only reigning queens in the world.

Queen Beatrix by Andy Warhol. Photo: R. Koch.

Reigning Queens is a series of screen-printed portraits from 1985 by the American artist Andy Warhol. The screen prints were presented as a portfolio of sixteen; four prints of each of the four reigning queens. The subjects were Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth countries, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Queen Ntfombi Twala of Swaziland, and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. The images Warhol used to create the screen prints were derived from official photographs. The images were subsequently overlaid with Warhol's characteristic abstract color blocks.

Queen Margrethe II with Andy Warhol. Photo: R. Koch.

A separate 'Royal edition' of the portfolio was released, featuring portraits with diamond dust or 'ground glass' applied to the portrait while it was wet. Tate Galleries described the dust as having 'a sparkling, extravagant effect'. Thirty sets of the Royal edition were produced. Time wrote that Warhol's portraits of Queen Elizabeth II 'treat her like any other celebrity, frozen in time and bright colors'.

Koningin Elizabeth II by Andy Warhol. Foto: R. Koch.

The portrait of Queen Elizabeth II was based on the official photograph released for her Silver Jubilee in 1977, taken by Peter Grugeon at Windsor Castle on April 2, 1975. The British Royal Collection wrote in a description that “Warhol simplified Grugeon’s portrait so that only a mask-like face remains. All character has been removed and we are faced with a symbol of royal power”.

Four prints from the royal edition of Queen Elizabeth II from the Reigning Queens series were acquired by the Royal Collection of the British Royal Family in 2012. These prints are the only ones in the Royal Collection that Queen Elizabeth did not have pose for or commission. Queens is an exhibition about monarchs, art, and the contemporary perspective. The exhibition offers a special opportunity to admire both art and royal history.

Daughter

One of the queens portrayed is Ntombi Tfwala. Ntombi Tfwala served as Queen Regent of Swaziland, the present-day Kingdom of Eswatini, between 1983 and 1986. Warhol used official state photographs of the queens as the basis for his portraits. There are no such photographs of Ntombi, as the country has no tradition of distributing state portraits by means of photographs. Warhol was not granted permission by the government to use another portrait of their queen. They felt it was inappropriate for the artist to earn millions from her portrait.

Koningin Ntombi Tfwala by Andy Warhol. Photo: R. Koch.

Warhol asks intermediary George Mulder to obtain photographs after all. George Mulder was a Dutch art dealer working in New York who gave Warhol the idea to create the Reigning Queens. He traveled to Swaziland in 1984 to mediate. Cooperation from the government was not granted. Through a journalist from a national newspaper, Mulder managed to obtain a few informal photographs of her. Against the wishes of the royal family, Warhol proceeded with his plan.

He adds a headdress, by way of a crown, to her portrait. In doing so, he disregards the way headdresses are used in Swazi culture. Ntombi's identity is compromised by Warhol's portrait. After the publication of the series in 1985, the government takes no further steps to remove the portrait.

Although various Dutch newspapers reported on this state of affairs in 1984 and 1985, this story has been forgotten. During the preparations for this exhibition, Paleis Het Loo unsuccessfully sought contact with the Embassy of the Kingdom of Eswatini. It was decided, however, to show the complete series, but with clear space for this story, which casts Warhol's conduct in a different light.

Source used: Paleishetloo.nl

Underground, American Avant-Garde Film in the 1960s, Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam.

This autumn, Eye Filmmuseum shines a spotlight on American avant-garde cinema of the 1960s. The exhibition and extensive film program include both iconic and lesser-known films, highlighting the explosion of formal experimentation in experimental film of that period. On display is work by key figures in avant-garde cinema, including Jonas Mekas, Maya Deren, and Stan Brakhage, alongside films by creators from the visual arts world, with Bruce Conner, Yayoi Kusama, Yoko Ono, and Andy Warhol as well-known names. All this against the turbulent backdrop of a society in flux.

In the exhibition, Eye showcases the breadth characteristic of this period of cross-disciplinary film experiments: from independent, idiosyncratic films for (self-managed) cinemas to expanded experiments, such as Andy Warhol's eight-hour-long Empire (1964) or Stan VanDerBeek's impressive, 11-channel installation Movie Mural (1965-1968), which will be on display in the Netherlands for the first time.

Empire is an American silent black-and-white film from 1964, produced and directed by Andy Warhol. Jonas Mekas was responsible for the cinematography. There are no actors in the film. The protagonists are Warhol himself and people who happened to be captured on film.

(The Made in America ~ Building a Nation issue in 2013 honors the workers who were essential to the growth of the modern United States. There are five different sheets. Each sheet contains the same 12 stamps but has a different photo on the left-hand side. The top row features an aircraft maker, a rig operator on the Empire State Building, a hatmaker's apprentice, and a man on a hoisting ball on the Empire State Building. The middle row features a linotyper in a publishing house, a welder on the Empire State Building, a coal miner, and riveters on the Empire State Building. The bottom row features a power plant mechanic, a track runner, a textile worker, and a man guiding a beam on the Empire State Building. Eleven of the 12 stamp images were taken by photographer Lewis Hine, a chronicler of early 20th-century industry. The image of the coal miner is from the Kansas State Historical Society. Three of the photos (Left side of sheet) were taken by Hine. They feature two ironworkers from the Empire State Building and a General Electric worker measuring the bearings in a casting. The fourth photo (left side of sheet) is the same image of the coal miner as on the stamp. The last photo (left side of sheet) was taken by Margaret Bourke-White and shows a female welder.

The film consists entirely of an eight-hour and five-minute continuous shot of the Empire State Building during the night. The film begins with an entirely white screen. As the sun is seen setting, the Empire State Building becomes visible. The lights in the building turn on, and for the next 6,5 hours, the lights are seen alternately turning on and off. Eventually, all the lights go out, and the final part of the film takes place entirely in the dark.

Andy Warhol: Vanitas, Schunck, Heerlen

SCHUNCK Museum, together with The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, presents the exhibition Andy Warhol: Vanitas. Vanitas explores Warhol's fascination with transience, spirituality, and astrology through more than one hundred original works and objects in which skulls and self-portraits play a major role.

Andy Warhol: Vanitas focuses on the theme of religion in Warhol's work and life, as previously explored in the successful exhibition Andy Warhol: Revelation (2019) at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh. Vanitas builds upon Revelation and delves deeper into the themes of transience and finitude in the artist's life and work.

Warhol was a devout Byzantine Catholic. Until his mother's death in 1974, Warhol went to church with her almost every Sunday, and he continued to attend regularly in the years that followed. Warhol was aware of the finitude of life, especially after the failed assassination attempt on his life.

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Viewing tip: For the true Andy Warhol fan, I recommend seeing the two exhibitions at Paleis Het Loo and Schunck. The 'Schunck' exhibition, in particular, is surprisingly beautiful to see. There are also other things to see in Heerlen, including the Mining Museum. Those traveling to Paleis Het Loo soon (until January 5, 2025) will also see Winter Palace Het Loo with the theme 'What the Oranges Ate', featuring a variety of royal dinnerware and Christmas trees in the permanent collection (two routes): https://paleishetloo.nl/over/pers/persupdate/winterpaleis-het-loo