Children - Biography, Children - Art & Architecture

Andy Warhol: Pop Art Painter

Name: Andy Warhol: Pop Art Painter
Author: Susan Goldman Rubin
ISBN: 9780810954779

by Susan Goldman Rubin

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Overview

Soup cans! Dollar bills! Movie stars! Paint by numbers! Is it art? Yes! Andy Warhol's art.

Following award-winning artist biographies Degas and the Dance, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Cezanne, an exciting new book from Abrams Books for Young Readers looks at Andy Warhol. A leader of the American art movement known as Pop, short for "popular culture," Warhol changed the way we think of art. Assisted by photographs taken of Warhol throughout his life, and examples of his early drawings and best-known works, Susan Goldman Rubin traces his rise from poverty to wealth, and from obscurity to fame.

After attending art school in Pittsburgh, Warhol started a career as a commercial artist in New York, and quickly won acclaim for his creative advertisements. When he turned to "real" painting, he used his background in commercial illustration and blurred the line between high and low art.

Some critics have said that Warhol's pictures of Campbell's soup cans and Coca-Cola bottles represent American life. But Warhol said, "I just paint those objects in my paintings because those are the things I know best. I think of myself as an American artist." Warhol's unique images will appeal to young readers, and inspire them to see the world around them in new ways.

Synopsis

Publishers Weekly

Rubin (Margaret Bourke-White) emphasizes child-friendly angles on Andy Warhol in this glancing biography. She focuses on Warhol's underappreciated art-school genius, his enthusiasm for drafting fashion spreads of shoes, his prolific Siamese cats and his pop culture fixations. Rubin frequently cites Warhol's Carnegie Tech classmate Leonard Kessler, a children's author and artist who thought Warhol might one day "teach, work with young children." She quotes affectionate childhood memories of Warhol nephew James Warhola, who created the more intimate picture book Uncle Andy's: A Faabbbulous Visit with Andy Warhol; without elaboration, she takes up Interview editor Bob Colacello's remark that "children were drawn to Andy." Brief anecdotes treat Warhol's idiosyncrasies as youthful rather than disturbing: he lugs around an enormous teddy bear, compares the nonstop party of the Factory to "a children's TV program" and creates giant paintings of "his favorite cartoon characters: Dick Tracy, Superman and Popeye. `They were the things I knew,' he said." Warhol's Pop experimentation is attributed to whimsy: "as a reaction to the Abstract Expressionists, [Warhol] created work with a greater sense of fun"; questioned as to why he painted Campbell's soup cans, Warhol remarked, "They're things I had when I was a child." The glossy pages-including a vague timeline-feature blocky layouts, iconic Warhol images, documentary photos and text printed on solid backgrounds of fuchsia, intense yellow, rich lavender and neon green. Like the artist's famous silkscreens (minus the irony), this squeaky-clean biography is all surface. Rubin offers safe, evasive commentary on a complicated person. Ages 8-12. (Nov.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

Children's Literature - Michele Tremaine

An excellent introduction to one of America's most iconic modern painters, this book should find a place in any elementary school library, as well as on the shelves of youngsters who have a special interest in art. Clear and readable text combines with a striking visual layout that evokes Warhol himself, using stencil-like headings and vivid reproductions of famous as well as obscure works. Rubin never strays from her focus of Warhol himself while sharing many insights into the turbulent artistic milieu of the last half of the twentieth century, which Warhol came to dominate. A time line of Andy Warhol's life and achievements at the end of the book is detailed and interesting. The back of the book also contains an excellent glossary, source notes, and exhaustive reference material, including a list of museums where Warhol's works may be viewed.

School Library Journal

Gr 5-9-Andy Warhol was a colorful figure who revolutionized how the world looks at art. Rubin's coherent and interesting narrative is filled with quotes by the artist and people who knew him. The major phases of Warhol's life and art are represented, focusing on the motivations and techniques behind his work. Excellent-quality black-and-white and full-color photographs of Warhol and his family and reproductions of his paintings and those of others who influenced him appear throughout. The text is printed on brightly colored backgrounds that match the color scheme of the surrounding pictures. Rubin does not address Warhol's filmmaking in depth or his personal life. She does include a lengthy time line, resource list, and other reference materials. Jan Greenberg and Sondra Jordan's Andy Warhol: Prince of Pop (Delacorte, 2004) delves deeper into the artist's lifestyle and personality. Rubin's title is a great choice for those looking for a relatively short, accessible introduction to a leader of the Pop Art movement.-Donna Cardon, Provo City Library, UT Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A Mondrian-like design provides a pleasing backdrop for this lavishly illustrated biography. Primary sources-many obtained from interviews conducted by the author-augment the flow of the account, which concentrates on Warhol's development and career as a painter. Rubin's compact narrative moves easily from biography to art history, explaining both the context of his work and his technique, drawing comparisons between his methodology and the workshops of the Renaissance. Although Warhol clearly comes across as a bizarre character-a picture of the silver-and-tinfoil Factory features the artist lounging on a couch with a toy car on the floor-his sexuality receives no mention, and his "offbeat underground" filmmaking and the attempt on his life appear only in the narrative timeline that follows the body of the text. It's a pleasingly respectful treatment for younger readers that will help to prepare them for Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan's Andy Warhol: Prince of Pop (2004) a few years down the line. A glossary, notes, references, illustration credits, author's note and a list of museums where Warhol's work can be found round out the book. (Biography. 9-12)