Indepth Arts News:
"Photographs by Nadar and Warhol"
1999-07-20 until 1999-10-10
J. Paul Getty Museum
Los Angeles, CA,
USA United States of America
On July 20, the J. Paul Getty Museum will open Nadar/Warhol:
Paris/New York, an exhibition exploring the photographic visions of two artists who each
in their time became synonymous with fame and celebrity. Focusing on Nadar (Gaspard
Félix Tournachon) in Paris during the 1850s-1860s, and Andy Warhol (Andrew Warhola)
in New York during the 1960s-1980s, the exhibition explores how they both used
photography to create and consecrate a circle of famous people. Each emerged from the
bohemia of his day and added photography to his earlier artistic pursuits: Nadar as a
journalist and caricaturist, Warhol as a commercial graphic artist, then painter and
filmmaker. While celebrating their individual achievements, the exhibition explores the
changing nature of fame.
Gordon Baldwin and Judith Keller, Associate Curators in the Department of Photographs,
organized the exhibition. Baldwin noted: Despite the many differences between
19th-century Paris and 20th-century New York, there are remarkable similarities between
the careers in photographic portraiture of Nadar and Warhol. Each was the most
important visual artist of his time to set out deliberately to create celebrity for their
subjects. Keller commented: Even though Nadar would have been baffled by Warhols
idea that everyone would have his or her 15 minutes of fame, his studio, like Warhols
‘Factory,’ was an important gathering place for the culturally adventurous. Both artists
were interested in multiple imagery and both achieved acceptance by the establishments
that, ironically, they had sought to provoke.
As a newspaper writer and illustrator, Gaspard Félix Tournachon (French, 1820-1910)
adopted the pseudonym Nadar (Tournachon transformed into Tournadar and then into
Nadar) during the 1840s in Paris. The ethos and values of the bohemia of this period
exerted a lasting influence on him. He befriended some of the most significant French
writers, painters, sculptors, and social theorists of the time, many of whose caricatures he
included in an oversize lithograph, the Panthéon Nadar. His photographic career was an
outgrowth of this project. From 1854 until 1860, he created a remarkable series of portrait
photographs that included the most creative Parisians of the time as well as princes and
ambassadors. Highlights in the exhibition include Henri Mürger (1857), the impoverished
writer whose Scenes from the Bohemian Life provided the inspiration for Puccini’s 1896
opera, La Bohème. The sad, bearded man appears older than 35; he would die five years
later in Nadar’s arms. In a portrait of Gustave Doré (1856-58), whose work Nadar
collected, the debonaire artist is captured under subtle lighting in a casual pose, a stylish
scarf giving emphasis to his panache. The beautiful Finette, (1858-59) who danced the
cancan in London and had been romantically connected to the painter James Whistler,
cuts a peculiarly somber figure in her elegant costume. Her lace-patterned cap and the
bold bow at her throat direct attention to her delicate facial features.
Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987) grew up in Pittsburgh and began a successful
career in advertising in New York after studying art at the Carnegie Institute of
Technology. Moving beyond commercial art, he began experimenting with silkscreening
photographic images onto canvas in the early 1960s as a form of painting. Warhol’s
portrait photography grew as much out of these early silkscreen paintings as his other
experiments in filmmaking and the automated photo-booth pictures that had fascinated
him since childhood. A compulsive documentarian, he used Polaroid and 35 mm cameras
to capture personalities and events. A full-scale portrait business occupied him
throughout the 1970s and until his death. He chose many of his subjects from the arts as
well as from New York café society and the international jet set. The 1975 Polaroid
portrait of Mick Jagger was made in preparation for a ten-image screenprint portfolio
about the musician. It conveys both the rebellious spirit and eroticism of the slender,
full-lipped Rolling Stones star. In Liza Minnelli (1977), the big-eyed diva (who had recently
starred in the film New York, New York) appears mournful in a red-orange hooded dress
that lends a strange religious overtone. Among other highlights are several
head-and-shoulders portraits of actress Jane Fonda (1982, The Andy Warhol Foundation
for the Visual Arts). Warhol made them for use in supporting the political campaign of her
husband at the time, Tom Hayden, who was running for the California State Assembly.
She appears in alternate three-quarter views. A full mane of hair frames her face, her eyes
are boldly directed toward the viewer, and her neck and bare shoulder emphasize her
sensuality.>Organized by the Getty Museum, the Nadar/Warhol exhibition will be on view in Los
Angeles at the Getty Center from July 20 through October 10, 1999. It will then travel to
The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh (November 6, 1999 through January 30, 2000)
and to the Baltimore Museum of Art (March 12 through May 28, 2000).
The exhibition includes 44 works by Nadar and 43 by Warhol. Among Nadar’s portraits
are images of the actress Sarah Bernhardt, the artists Gustave Doré and Jean-François
Millet, and writers Alexandre Dumas, Henri Mürger, and George Sand. Warhol’s subjects
include Factory Superstar Edie Sedgwick, Truman Capote, Jane Fonda, Grace Jones,
Liza Minnelli, and visual artists Robert Rauschenberg, Keith Haring, and Jean-Michel
Basquiat. The photographs are drawn from the holdings of the Getty Museum and from
the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, New York; The Andy Warhol Museum,
Pittsburgh; the Musée d’Orsay, Paris; the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris; and
the Gilman Paper Company Collection, New York.
Gordon Baldwin and Judith Keller, Associate Curators in the Department of Photographs,
organized the exhibition. Baldwin noted: Despite the many differences between
19th-century Paris and 20th-century New York, there are remarkable similarities between
the careers in photographic portraiture of Nadar and Warhol. Each was the most
important visual artist of his time to set out deliberately to create celebrity for their
subjects. Keller commented: Even though Nadar would have been baffled by Warhols
idea that everyone would have his or her 15 minutes of fame, his studio, like Warhols
‘Factory,’ was an important gathering place for the culturally adventurous. Both artists
were interested in multiple imagery and both achieved acceptance by the establishments
that, ironically, they had sought to provoke.
As a newspaper writer and illustrator, Gaspard Félix Tournachon (French, 1820-1910)
adopted the pseudonym Nadar (Tournachon transformed into Tournadar and then into
Nadar) during the 1840s in Paris. The ethos and values of the bohemia of this period
exerted a lasting influence on him. He befriended some of the most significant French
writers, painters, sculptors, and social theorists of the time, many of whose caricatures he
included in an oversize lithograph, the Panthéon Nadar. His photographic career was an
outgrowth of this project. From 1854 until 1860, he created a remarkable series of portrait
photographs that included the most creative Parisians of the time as well as princes and
ambassadors. Highlights in the exhibition include Henri Mürger (1857), the impoverished
writer whose Scenes from the Bohemian Life provided the inspiration for Puccini’s 1896
opera, La Bohème. The sad, bearded man appears older than 35; he would die five years
later in Nadar’s arms. In a portrait of Gustave Doré (1856-58), whose work Nadar
collected, the debonaire artist is captured under subtle lighting in a casual pose, a stylish
scarf giving emphasis to his panache. The beautiful Finette, (1858-59) who danced the
cancan in London and had been romantically connected to the painter James Whistler,
cuts a peculiarly somber figure in her elegant costume. Her lace-patterned cap and the
bold bow at her throat direct attention to her delicate facial features.
Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987) grew up in Pittsburgh and began a successful
career in advertising in New York after studying art at the Carnegie Institute of
Technology. Moving beyond commercial art, he began experimenting with silkscreening
photographic images onto canvas in the early 1960s as a form of painting. Warhol’s
portrait photography grew as much out of these early silkscreen paintings as his other
experiments in filmmaking and the automated photo-booth pictures that had fascinated
him since childhood. A compulsive documentarian, he used Polaroid and 35 mm cameras
to capture personalities and events. A full-scale portrait business occupied him
throughout the 1970s and until his death. He chose many of his subjects from the arts as
well as from New York café society and the international jet set. The 1975 Polaroid
portrait of Mick Jagger was made in preparation for a ten-image screenprint portfolio
about the musician. It conveys both the rebellious spirit and eroticism of the slender,
full-lipped Rolling Stones star. In Liza Minnelli (1977), the big-eyed diva (who had recently
starred in the film New York, New York) appears mournful in a red-orange hooded dress
that lends a strange religious overtone. Among other highlights are several
head-and-shoulders portraits of actress Jane Fonda (1982, The Andy Warhol Foundation
for the Visual Arts). Warhol made them for use in supporting the political campaign of her
husband at the time, Tom Hayden, who was running for the California State Assembly.
She appears in alternate three-quarter views. A full mane of hair frames her face, her eyes
are boldly directed toward the viewer, and her neck and bare shoulder emphasize her
sensuality.> The exhibition includes 44 works by Nadar and 43 by Warhol. Among Nadar’s portraits
are images of the actress Sarah Bernhardt, the artists Gustave Doré and Jean-François
Millet, and writers Alexandre Dumas, Henri Mürger, and George Sand. Warhol’s subjects
include Factory Superstar Edie Sedgwick, Truman Capote, Jane Fonda, Grace Jones,
Liza Minnelli, and visual artists Robert Rauschenberg, Keith Haring, and Jean-Michel
Basquiat. The photographs are drawn from the holdings of the Getty Museum and from
the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, New York; The Andy Warhol Museum,
Pittsburgh; the Musée d’Orsay, Paris; the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris; and
the Gilman Paper Company Collection, New York.
Gordon Baldwin and Judith Keller, Associate Curators in the Department of Photographs,
organized the exhibition. Baldwin noted: Despite the many differences between
19th-century Paris and 20th-century New York, there are remarkable similarities between
the careers in photographic portraiture of Nadar and Warhol. Each was the most
important visual artist of his time to set out deliberately to create celebrity for their
subjects. Keller commented: Even though Nadar would have been baffled by Warhols
idea that everyone would have his or her 15 minutes of fame, his studio, like Warhols
‘Factory,’ was an important gathering place for the culturally adventurous. Both artists
were interested in multiple imagery and both achieved acceptance by the establishments
that, ironically, they had sought to provoke.
As a newspaper writer and illustrator, Gaspard Félix Tournachon (French, 1820-1910)
adopted the pseudonym Nadar (Tournachon transformed into Tournadar and then into
Nadar) during the 1840s in Paris. The ethos and values of the bohemia of this period
exerted a lasting influence on him. He befriended some of the most significant French
writers, painters, sculptors, and social theorists of the time, many of whose caricatures he
included in an oversize lithograph, the Panthéon Nadar. His photographic career was an
outgrowth of this project. From 1854 until 1860, he created a remarkable series of portrait
photographs that included the most creative Parisians of the time as well as princes and
ambassadors. Highlights in the exhibition include Henri Mürger (1857), the impoverished
writer whose Scenes from the Bohemian Life provided the inspiration for Puccini’s 1896
opera, La Bohème. The sad, bearded man appears older than 35; he would die five years
later in Nadar’s arms. In a portrait of Gustave Doré (1856-58), whose work Nadar
collected, the debonaire artist is captured under subtle lighting in a casual pose, a stylish
scarf giving emphasis to his panache. The beautiful Finette, (1858-59) who danced the
cancan in London and had been romantically connected to the painter James Whistler,
cuts a peculiarly somber figure in her elegant costume. Her lace-patterned cap and the
bold bow at her throat direct attention to her delicate facial features.
Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987) grew up in Pittsburgh and began a successful
career in advertising in New York after studying art at the Carnegie Institute of
Technology. Moving beyond commercial art, he began experimenting with silkscreening
photographic images onto canvas in the early 1960s as a form of painting. Warhol’s
portrait photography grew as much out of these early silkscreen paintings as his other
experiments in filmmaking and the automated photo-booth pictures that had fascinated
him since childhood. A compulsive documentarian, he used Polaroid and 35 mm cameras
to capture personalities and events. A full-scale portrait business occupied him
throughout the 1970s and until his death. He chose many of his subjects from the arts as
well as from New York café society and the international jet set. The 1975 Polaroid
portrait of Mick Jagger was made in preparation for a ten-image screenprint portfolio
about the musician. It conveys both the rebellious spirit and eroticism of the slender,
full-lipped Rolling Stones star. In Liza Minnelli (1977), the big-eyed diva (who had recently
starred in the film New York, New York) appears mournful in a red-orange hooded dress
that lends a strange religious overtone. Among other highlights are several
head-and-shoulders portraits of actress Jane Fonda (1982, The Andy Warhol Foundation
for the Visual Arts). Warhol made them for use in supporting the political campaign of her
husband at the time, Tom Hayden, who was running for the California State Assembly.
She appears in alternate three-quarter views. A full mane of hair frames her face, her eyes
are boldly directed toward the viewer, and her neck and bare shoulder emphasize her
sensuality.>Organized by the Getty Museum, the Nadar/Warhol exhibition will be on view in Los
Angeles at the Getty Center from July 20 through October 10, 1999. It will then travel to
The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh (November 6, 1999 through January 30, 2000)
and to the Baltimore Museum of Art (March 12 through May 28, 2000).
The exhibition includes 44 works by Nadar and 43 by Warhol. Among Nadar’s portraits
are images of the actress Sarah Bernhardt, the artists Gustave Doré and Jean-François
Millet, and writers Alexandre Dumas, Henri Mürger, and George Sand. Warhol’s subjects
include Factory Superstar Edie Sedgwick, Truman Capote, Jane Fonda, Grace Jones,
Liza Minnelli, and visual artists Robert Rauschenberg, Keith Haring, and Jean-Michel
Basquiat. The photographs are drawn from the holdings of the Getty Museum and from
the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, New York; The Andy Warhol Museum,
Pittsburgh; the Musée d’Orsay, Paris; the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris; and
the Gilman Paper Company Collection, New York.
Gordon Baldwin and Judith Keller, Associate Curators in the Department of Photographs,
organized the exhibition. Baldwin noted: Despite the many differences between
19th-century Paris and 20th-century New York, there are remarkable similarities between
the careers in photographic portraiture of Nadar and Warhol. Each was the most
important visual artist of his time to set out deliberately to create celebrity for their
subjects. Keller commented: Even though Nadar would have been baffled by Warhols
idea that everyone would have his or her 15 minutes of fame, his studio, like Warhols
‘Factory,’ was an important gathering place for the culturally adventurous. Both artists
were interested in multiple imagery and both achieved acceptance by the establishments
that, ironically, they had sought to provoke.
As a newspaper writer and illustrator, Gaspard Félix Tournachon (French, 1820-1910)
adopted the pseudonym Nadar (Tournachon transformed into Tournadar and then into
Nadar) during the 1840s in Paris. The ethos and values of the bohemia of this period
exerted a lasting influence on him. He befriended some of the most significant French
writers, painters, sculptors, and social theorists of the time, many of whose caricatures he
included in an oversize lithograph, the Panthéon Nadar. His photographic career was an
outgrowth of this project. From 1854 until 1860, he created a remarkable series of portrait
photographs that included the most creative Parisians of the time as well as princes and
ambassadors. Highlights in the exhibition include Henri Mürger (1857), the impoverished
writer whose Scenes from the Bohemian Life provided the inspiration for Puccini’s 1896
opera, La Bohème. The sad, bearded man appears older than 35; he would die five years
later in Nadar’s arms. In a portrait of Gustave Doré (1856-58), whose work Nadar
collected, the debonaire artist is captured under subtle lighting in a casual pose, a stylish
scarf giving emphasis to his panache. The beautiful Finette, (1858-59) who danced the
cancan in London and had been romantically connected to the painter James Whistler,
cuts a peculiarly somber figure in her elegant costume. Her lace-patterned cap and the
bold bow at her throat direct attention to her delicate facial features.
Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987) grew up in Pittsburgh and began a successful
career in advertising in New York after studying art at the Carnegie Institute of
Technology. Moving beyond commercial art, he began experimenting with silkscreening
photographic images onto canvas in the early 1960s as a form of painting. Warhol’s
portrait photography grew as much out of these early silkscreen paintings as his other
experiments in filmmaking and the automated photo-booth pictures that had fascinated
him since childhood. A compulsive documentarian, he used Polaroid and 35 mm cameras
to capture personalities and events. A full-scale portrait business occupied him
throughout the 1970s and until his death. He chose many of his subjects from the arts as
well as from New York café society and the international jet set. The 1975 Polaroid
portrait of Mick Jagger was made in preparation for a ten-image screenprint portfolio
about the musician. It conveys both the rebellious spirit and eroticism of the slender,
full-lipped Rolling Stones star. In Liza Minnelli (1977), the big-eyed diva (who had recently
starred in the film New York, New York) appears mournful in a red-orange hooded dress
that lends a strange religious overtone. Among other highlights are several
head-and-shoulders portraits of actress Jane Fonda (1982, The Andy Warhol Foundation
for the Visual Arts). Warhol made them for use in supporting the political campaign of her
husband at the time, Tom Hayden, who was running for the California State Assembly.
She appears in alternate three-quarter views. A full mane of hair frames her face, her eyes
are boldly directed toward the viewer, and her neck and bare shoulder emphasize her
sensuality.
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