Andy Warhol

03rd October 2019

Andy Warhol Poloroids 1958-1987

Edited by Reuel Golden (2017), Andy Warhol Poloroids 1958-1987. Italy: TASCHEN

Front cover – TASCHEN

This book is a large hardback full of a huge collection of Warhol’s polaroids they are a diary to the past and into Warhol’s amazing life.

The book opens with an introduction to Warhol and his works, written by Richard B. Woodward and titled ‘Instant Andy Instant Art.’It is then repeated again in German and Italian. These pages cover pg9 – pg33 and are printed on white paper with large photographs of his silkscreen artwork which are produced from his photographs.

pgs 12 – 13

Following on from the introduction we have the selection of Polaroid images which are split into a timeline as follows:

• 1958-1968
• 1969-1970
• 1971-1972
• 1973-1974
• 1975-1979
• 1980-1983
• 1984-1987
• Appendix – Selected Biographies of the sitters, credits and acknowledgements

I love how the Polaroid images are shown on black pages which obviously means the Polaroid white borders stand out. They look very striking either presented as individuals on a page or in sets of four on a page.

After each year section there are further timelines of that particular era recording important dates connected with the fashion and art world, celebrities and musicians, catalogues and galleries to name but a few categories covered. This in its self is a wonderful historic timeline of little bits of knowledge and one that I found not only very interesting to read with so many facts that I did not know but very informative of how people and places are entwined but also new insights into Andy Warhol’s.

June ’75 Halston’s first collaboration with legendary choreography Martha Graham. The designer creates costumes for her production of Lucifer, starring Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn. One of AWs preferred bands, The Talking heads, performs live on stage for the first time, at CBGB. AW went frequently to their gigs and invited them to the factory. Calvin Klein becomes the youngest designer to be elected to the fashion Hall of fame.

ANDY WARHOL POLAROIDS 1958-1987 PG 299

Andy Warhol in drag, 1981

This book is one that I return to every so often just to sit and relax with and reminisce over, very nostalgic indeed.