Andy Warhol’s Pop Art and Commercialism
When it comes to the sale of a poster print, probably the most controversial decision in the history of posters sales was Andy Warhol’s decision to mass produce poster prints of his art. Perhaps the use of the word “controversial” is not an accurate assessment − maybe “scandalous” would be more apropos. For some, the most precise term would be the word “heretical.”
Being an Iconoclast
The reason for all this was that in the 1960s, there were many preconceived notions as to what constituted art and what did not. Yes, there were a variety of art movements, all of which were different and all of which built upon one another. Yes, there was the belief that there is no such thing as bad art, and this belief still permeates today.
When Warhol decided to create a work regarding the classic “Gods and Kings” art work of the ancient world by painting pictures of JFK and Marilyn Monroe because he felt that current, modern stars meant more to the public than the classic images of centuries past, Warhol created a sensation in the movement that would become known as “pop art.”
When Warhol added Campbell soup cans to his artwork, people thought it was the most awesome thing they had ever seen − Warhol could do no wrong. Then Warhol decided that instead of making money just by selling his artwork, he would make poster print reproductions of them and sell them at a low price en mass. At that point, the art world felt Warhol had done wrong, a huge wrong.
Underlying Themes
Releasing poster print reproductions of serious art was considered a crass commercialization. However, those who raved about Warhol’s pop art movement but decried his poster print sales totally missed the point of pop art. Pop art was about demystifying the seriousness of the art world and making it a nonrealistic, commercialized movement. Selling thousands of poster prints fit right into this mold.
Luckily, Warhol was undeterred. Then again, it would be hard to be deterred when people were buying his poster prints in huge volumes. Soon after, the sales of other work that was reproduced as poster prints were released into the marketplace. Today, one can find a poster print reproduction of virtually every famous artist, although pop art, surrealism, and abstract art seem to be the most popular. Warhol truly was a visionary ahead of his time.