Here is the continuation of the article, Brian Epplyarda about Andy Warhol from the magazine «Intelligent life». The first part of the publication can be found here , second - here .

In 1962, a number of exhibitions of Andy Warhol was in New York. They public saw the famous "diptych of Marilyn," composed of 50 slightly differing versions of photos of Marilyn Monroe, 100 cans of soup, Campbell's, 100 paintings depicting the dollar sign, as well as a number of boxes of "Brillo" (another sign of Warhol) .

Andy Warhol Brillo Box. 1964 Source: edu.warhol.org

Arthur Danto (Arthur Danto) , who was then professor of philosophy at Columbia University, visited the exhibition galleries Stables, which demonstrated the box "Brillo". «I was working on the five-volume book on analytic philosophy - he says - and my head was filled with Descartes, Russell, and other highly uneasy thinkers, so that when I went to the Stables, my first thought was: art has finally caught up with the philosophy, and the merit of this belongs to Andy. I was amazed and completely changed the direction of their work. It was a totally new way of thinking about art. "< /p>

Danto, later made a significant contribution to the apology of Warhol in the 1960s, he studied the philosophical problem of perception of reality by the human mind. It was the question that has analyzed the Descartes: how do we distinguish wakefulness from state Sleep? Based on what we can conclude that some of them more realistic? According to Danto, Warhol boxes "Brillo" put the same question in relation to art: how to determine which is more an art - the work of Van Gogh or a box of "Brillo"? "Andy has shown that the simple act of perception the difference between art and non-art can not be established", - believes Danto. However, Marcel Duchamp (Marcel Duchamp) showed that a few decades earlier, in 1917, taking the urinal, signed it and titled "Fountain". urinal But at least different kind of solidity, so to speak, "Capital", Warhol also made it harder work that has chosen to articulate the same ideas of something ultra-modern and ephemeral - a cardboard box from a popular product at the supermarket.

the year following the creation of boxes, "Brillo" Warhol removes the film "Dream", all the action which consisted in the fact that the character for five hours twenty minutes sleep. By this time it was founded "The Factory" - Warhol's headquarters in Manhattan with a catchy, provocative title, which served as both an artist studio and a conveyor belt. The caller turned the radicality of Warhol in the hero's young, often, however, with disastrous consequences for them. The same Arthur Danto tells about a couple of his best students, who began to visit the "Factory" and sat down there for drugs. Danto expect them to become serious philosophers, but because of the pernicious influence of Warhol and his entourage did not happen.

Andy Warhol Diptych "Marilyn." 1962 Source: tate.org.uk

controversial idea of ​​"Factory" lay in the fact that art can be produced on an assembly line, like any other commodity. Art Warhol had no relationship to the living feelings, reflection and spiritual search. At the heart of it lay stripped of meaning visual image. "In my opinion, in the 1960s - wrote an eyewitness Warhol era - people have forgotten what a feeling. And I think they later about this and did not remember. " It is this commitment to purity of emotion so annoyed and irritated some critics and artists in the works of Warhol. Thus, the philosopher and critic Gary Indiana says that angered de Kooning once threw Warhol's face: "You have destroyed art!»

great critic Robert Hughes (Robert Hughes) formulated the meaning of works by Warhol Turning to art in a wonderful paragraph of his book "American way" in 1998: "Everything came from one main thesis: in a culture of information crammed to overflowing, where most people are experiencing the reality indirectly, from the second and third-hand - through TV and newspapers, become a commonplace and do not carry because of the frequent repetition of the semantic load images, there is room for an empty art. It is no longer required to be warm and full of feeling. It can be extremely cold, like a little mirror ... Winterhoof Warhol ... announced the state of the collective unconscious of Americans, in which the concept of fame - whether famous people or famous brand - completely replacing the traditional idea that is worthy of reverence and respect ».

critic Clement Greenberg, a theorist of abstract expressionism, realizing that Warhol was, figuratively speaking, a vinyl paint splashed in the face of abstract expressionists, treated him contemptuously. "His art seems to me foolish. Huge portraits and so on. Who is it interesting? "- Said Greenberg. He felt that the importance of the principles that he championed throughout his career in jeopardy the advent of Pop Art.

«All Pop Art - Julian believes Stellabrass, art critic of the London Courtauld Institute - Greenberg was the answer. " Greenberg defended the idea of ​​the special status of art, separated from the world of everyday life. However, as noted by Danto, Warhol created art, formerly an integral part of everyday life. Works of art have ceased to be sort of a special class of things, the imprint depth and significance: with the filing of Warhol's art could be announced anything at any time convenient for the artist. Goal is to become famous and rich for the artist was just as legitimate as introspection.

Andy Warhol and his assistants to" Factory » Source: theartnewspaper.com < /a>

Since then, the main reproach, addressed Warhol, is that he sold it for money not only himself but also a sacred art. It believes philosopher Roger Skruton (Roger Scruton): in his view, the whole art of Warhol's only about money. "It should be noted that that did Warhol, there is no beauty nor elegance nor style - and even technology, in which he worked, reflect his spiritual emptiness. And because it works (for example, portraits of Marilyn Monroe) also convey this emptiness, and they have nothing to understand, then they are in no way of no interest to the viewer, except for his checkbook. If you are incredibly rich, incredibly stupid and morally empty, why not prove it by writing a check? »

Warhol Supporters could argue that study the financial aspect of the art world has become an integral part of his artistic method. "I suppose you can argue that in a sense, all [that Warhol did] the whole of his style, his whole way of creating works of art have been inextricably linked with the market, and take this into account - the only sure way to analyze, analyze, and evaluate it aesthetically, Warhol seized it [the market] and turned it into part of his aesthetics ».

Sixties far behind, and disputes over Andy Warhol's art do not cease to this day, and to assess its role and works of art sometimes diametrically opposed. So, apparently, each for himself must decide who is this Andy Warhol - an empty shell, created by the market, or a person who turned the market into art.

To be continued .

Prepared by Mary Estrova, AI

Source : artinvestment.ru