Andy Warhol’s Ten Portraits of Jews of The Twentieth Century highlights 10 esteemed members of the global Jewish community who triumphed in their respective fields of science, politics, theater, and the arts. The prints are based on a series of paintings commissioned by art dealer Ronald Feldman with the intention that the poster-sized portraits be exhibited at The Jewish Museum in New York, upon completion. Warhol personally referred to this set of portraits as his “Ten Jewish Geniuses.”i When selecting the subjects for the series, Warhol insisted they commemorate the deceased. This gave him the opportunity to pay tribute to a group of people that helped further a variety of fields and paved the way for future Jewish changemakers.
Harris & Ewing, Justice Louis Brandeis, circa 1920. Image: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA Louis Brandeis is one of the most well-known lawyers and Supreme Court Justices in American history. Born in 1856 in Louisville, Kentucky, Brandeis rose through the ranks of the American legal system following his education at Harvard University and was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1916 by President Woodrow Wilson. Brandeis’ legal briefs have had a lasting influence in the legality of privacy and the fight against monopolies, large overpowering corporations, and the arrival of mass consumerism in the 20th century.
Warhol’s series received mixed reviews after its exhibition at the Jewish Museum in 1980. The New York Times wrote, 'the show is vulgar, it reeks of commercialism, and its contribution to art is nil.'ii While some saw the series as dull and exploitative, Art Forum wrote that "the paintings are staggering" and noted the "unexpected mix of cultural anthropology, portraiture, celebration of celebrity, and study of intelligentsia all at the same time."iii Warhol’s homage to these Jewish icons received contradictory responses after its conception, but these 20th century icons, pictured above in black and white, continue to be immortalized in his modernist, bright, and colorful style. Despite not being of Jewish descent himself, Warhol used his status and notoriety as one of the most significant artists of the 20th century to pay tribute to a group of Jewish leaders, ensuring that their legacies be remembered along with his paintings.
i Berger, Maurice et al. Masterworks of the Jewish Museum, New York: The Jewish Museum, 2004, p. 230.
ii The National Portrait Gallery, Andy Warhol: 10 Portraits of Jews of the 20th Century, 24 January - 2 July 2006.
iii Ibid.Literature
Frayda Feldman and Jörg Schellmann 230
Artist Biography
Andy Warhol
American • 1928 - 1987
Andy Warhol was the leading exponent of the Pop Art movement in the U.S. in the 1960s. Following an early career as a commercial illustrator, Warhol achieved fame with his revolutionary series of silkscreened prints and paintings of familiar objects, such as Campbell's soup tins, and celebrities, such as Marilyn Monroe. Obsessed with popular culture, celebrity and advertising, Warhol created his slick, seemingly mass-produced images of everyday subject matter from his famed Factory studio in New York City. His use of mechanical methods of reproduction, notably the commercial technique of silk screening, wholly revolutionized art-making.
Working as an artist, but also director and producer, Warhol produced a number of avant-garde films in addition to managing the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground and founding Interview magazine. A central figure in the New York art scene until his untimely death in 1987, Warhol was notably also a mentor to such artists as Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
64
Louis Brandeis, from Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century (F. & S. 230)
1980
Screenprint in colors, on Lenox Museum Board, the full sheet.
S. 40 x 32 in. (101.6 x 81.3 cm)
Signed and numbered 'AP 29/30' in pencil (an artist's proof, the edition was 200), co-published by Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, Inc., New York and Jonathan A Editions, Tel Aviv (with their and the artist's copyright inkstamp on the reverse), framed.
Estimate
$10,000 - 15,000
Sold for $16,510
Editions & Works on Paper
New York Auction 22 - 24 October 2024
149
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344
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376
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