Blake Gopnik Books

When critics attacked Andy Warhol's Marilyn paintings as shallow, the Pop artist was happy to present himself as shallower still: He claimed that he silkscreened to avoid the hard work of painting, although he was actually a meticulous workaholic; in interviews he presented himself as a silly naif when in private he was the canniest of sophisticates. Blake Gopnik's definitive biography digs deep into the contradictions and radical genius that led Andy Warhol to revolutionise our cultural world. Based on years of archival research and on interviews with hundreds of Warhol's surviving friends, lovers and enemies, Warhol traces the artist's path from his origins as the impoverished son of Eastern European immigrants in 1930s Pittsburgh, through his early success as a commercial illustrator and his groundbreaking pivot into fine art, to the society portraiture and popular celebrity of the '70s and '80s, as he reflected and responded to the changing dynamics of commerce and culture. Warhol sought out all the most glamorous figures of his times - Susan Sontag, Mick Jagger, the Barons de Rothschild - despite being burdened with an almost crippling shyness. Behind the public glitter of the artist's Factory, with its superstars, drag queens and socialites, there was a man who lived with his mother for much of his life and guarded the privacy of his home. He overcame the vicious homophobia of his youth to become a symbol of gay achievement, while always seeking the pleasures of traditional romance and coupledom. (Warhol explodes the myth of his asexuality.) Filled with new insights into the artist's work and personality, Warhol asks: Was he a joke or a genius, a radical or a social climber? As Warhol himself would have answered: Yes.

This definitive biography explores the life of a paradoxical figure, one of the most influential artists of any age. While Andy Warhol is often associated with iconic images like soup cans and Marilyn Monroe, his life and work reveal a far more complex individual. Esteemed art critic Blake Gopnik delves into Warhol's depth, emphasizing that "the meanings of his art depend on the way he lived and who he was." Gopnik highlights the significance of Warhol's biography, from his working-class Pittsburgh upbringing as an immigrant's child to his early career in commercial art, culminating in his total immersion in the performance of being an artist. This journey led to global fame, stardom, and even an attempted assassination. The extensive range of Warhol's success and his efforts to evade biographical scrutiny have made it challenging to create a complete image of him. However, Gopnik's biography, marked by unprecedented scope and access to Warhol's archives, brings to life a figure of contradictions—sweet and caring yet coldhearted, a deep thinker but a lover of kitsch, a faithful churchgoer yet a skeptic and cynic. This immersive work offers the most intricate portrait of an artist who defied easy categorization and whose influence continues to resonate in today's culture.

The biography explores the life of Albert Barnes, a groundbreaking drugmaker whose extensive modern art collection aimed to inspire a cultural transformation in America. It delves into his innovative vision and the impact of his artistic endeavors on society, highlighting the intersection of art, medicine, and philanthropy in his quest to elevate the American spirit.