Warhol and Cars: American Icons

The Andy Warhol Museum

Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania | USA

Feb 05, 2012 - May 13, 2012

Warhol and Cars: American Icons is the first exhibition to examine Warhol’s enduring fascination with automotive vehicles as products of American consumer society. This exhibition features more than forty drawings, paintings, photographs, and related archival material spanning from 1946 to 1986. As one of the most iconic and influential artists of the 20th century, Andy Warhol has helped to define America. His signature images of such American products and celebrities as Campbell’s soup cans, Coca-Cola bottles, Marilyn Monroe, and Elizabeth Taylor have become instantly recognizable. The majority of the work in the exhibition is from The Andy Warhol Museum’s collection.

The exhibition, organized by the Montclair Art Museum in New Jersey, traces the development of Warhol’s work with cars throughout his career. Warhol and Cars highlights include drawing created in the 1940s; works on paper of the 1950s, as well as paintings and prints from the 60s, 70s and 80s.

An original BMW M-1 racing car that was hand-painted by Warhol will be on display in the entrance gallery. A film of Warhol painting a BMW in 1979 as part of the BMW Art Race Car Projects introduced by French race car driver Herve Poulin will be on view during the exhibition. The car is part of the BMW Museum’s collection in Munich and was last displayed in the United States at Grand Central Terminal in New York City in 2009.

An exhibition catalogue published by the Montclair Art Museum, Warhol and Cars: American Icons, written by Gail Stavitsky, MAM chief curator, is the first to focus on Warhol’s Cadillac paintings and other car-themed works within the context of his career. The catalog is available at The Warhol Store, Sponsored by: Lanxess