Kelly Devine Thomas

Seventeen years after Andy Warhol’s death, controversies surrounding the Warhol Art Authentication Board and the catalogue raisonne of his work reflect confusion about his intent, his working methods and his legacy. (ARTnews, September 2004)

Andy Warhol was the most successful and famous American artist of the 20th century. His signature images––the Jackies, Elvises, and Marilyns––are as familiar to us as the Mona Lisa. His pictures sell for millions, and he is represented in virtually every public and private collection of contemporary art in the world. Everyone knows what an “Andy Warhol” looks like.

Or do they? The coeditors of the second volume of The Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonne, published by Phaidon, would dispute that statement. Warhol himself, write Neil Printz and Georg Frei, didn’t make it easy. Not only did he “deflect those who would attempt to know his work or to discern his hand in it, he disputed the role of the artist as the author of a work of art.” He made hundreds of virtually identical paintings. He overturned traditional notions of rarity and uniqueness. He even suggested that he didn’t care if people couldn’t see “whether my picture was mine or somebody else’s.”

“There are so many Andy Warhols,” says Printz. “Everyone has their own Andy. We wanted to look at the Warhol we can see.”

Download the ARTnews article here.