Andy Warhol
MICK JAGGER (F&S LL.140), 1975
Screenprint on Arches Aquarelle
43 1/2 x 29 ins 110.49 x 73.66 cm
Available at VFA
An exhibit at the Andy Warhol Museum explores the artist’s extensive use of screenprinting. Warhol generated thousands of screenprints during his career, both at The Factory, in collaboration with his studio assistants, and with established print publishers.
Although screenprinting can be labor intensive, it provided Warhol the ability to print on both canvas and paper and vary the colors on each print. It also provided collectors with the ability to acquire Warhol’s masterful works at relatively low cost.
Warhol began experimenting with screenprinting in the 1960s, when few artists, especially in the U.S. were using the technique.
Warhol’s favorite printmaker was Alexander Heinrici (b.1945). Heinrici was born in Vienna. He had a printshop in Europe and moved his workshop to New York in 1969.
Heinrici's first famous client was Jasper Johns. As Heinrici’s reputation grew, his skills were sought after by many fine artists including Willem de Kooning, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Indiana and, eventually, younger artists like Damien Hirst, Donald Baechler and Donald Sultan.
Warhol and Heinrici collaborated until Warhol’s death in 1987.
Good Business: Andy Warhol’s Screenprints will be on view at the Andy Warhol Museum from May 23 through September 1, 2025.
When Warhol wasn’t painting, printmaking or filmmaking, he was clubbing around New York. He often carried a Polaroid camera with him to take photos of the scenes and celebrities around him. He was also a favorite subject of photographers, including Bobby Grossman (b.1954), who captured images of the most influential artists, musicians, intellectuals and creative spaces of the 1970s and ’80s.
In 1978, Grossman made a series of 18 portraits of various celebrities holding a bowl of Corn Flakes. The celebs included Debby Harry, David Johansen, David Byrne and Andy Warhol.
Many artists, including Shepard Fairey, used Grossman’s photos as the basis for their own works.
Corn Flakes & More, a retrospective of Grossman’s works, was recently on exhibit at the Ki Smith Gallery in Manhattan, along with those of Shepard Fairey.
Please contact us if you would like more information about the works of Andy Warhol and Bobby Grossman available at VFA.
References:
Zachary Small and Tim F. Schneider. Can These Six Artists Predict the Fate of the Art Market? The New York Times. May 12, 2025.
Bob Krasner. Corn Flakes and pop stars: Bobby Grossman’s iconic cereal box imagery takes over Lower East Side gallery. The Villager./amNY. March 24, 2025.
