Exhibition of the week: Andy Warhol at the Jewish Museum

MOSCOW, March 18. /TASS/. Exhibition "Andy Warhol. Endangered Species", consisting of a series of silk-screen prints of Amur tiger, African elephant, giant panda, bald eagle and other rare animals, opened in Darwin Museum in Moscow and will work until May 28. This was reported by the press service of the museum.

"The Endangered Species series of silk-screen prints was created by the king of pop art in 1983 at the request of friends, wildlife advocates Ronald and Freida Feldman. It includes portraits of the Amur tiger, African elephant, orangutan, black rhinoceros, Grévy's zebra, giant panda, bald eagle , bighorn sheep, a tree frog from the tree frog family and a butterfly,” the report says.

This series of works is being exhibited in Moscow for the first time. The head of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources, Sergei Donskoy, will be one of the first to see it during an exclusive showing.

Earlier, the curator of the project, head of the exhibition department of the museum, Yana Shklyarskaya, told TASS that this exhibition is a way to attract people’s attention to the problems of preserving wildlife in the Year of Ecology. The series consists of 10 works. It was presented for display by collectors from Germany, members of the European Cultural Club Irina Stezhka and Georg Pornschlegel.

"Animals in Makeup"

Another name of this series - "Animals in Makeup" - is associated with the method of producing portraits. Warhol selected the most interesting, in his opinion, photographs of rare animals, and then experimented with color, applying it layer by layer to paper through special mesh stencils. Bright colors and their unexpected combinations, together with a large format, attract viewers' attention to the danger that threatens the animals depicted.

This cycle was a great success at exhibitions during the author’s lifetime; it became one of the most famous in his work, along with “Liz” and “Marilyn”. One of the most notorious thefts of the 21st century is associated with Endangered Species. In 2015 in Los Angeles three works in the series were stolen. However, the lost treasure was returned.

Among the rare animals depicted by Warhol, the Amur tiger, bald eagle and bighorn sheep live in Russia. The number of Amur tigers in the world over the past 100 years has decreased by 97% - from 100 thousand to 3.9 thousand individuals. In Russia, this subspecies of tiger lives on Far East. Bighorn sheep are found in the Kronotsky Nature Reserve, national park"Beringia" in Chukotka, in the Putorana Plateau nature reserve in Siberia. The bald eagle lives mainly in the territory North America, and in Russia it is found in the Far East.

King of Pop Art

Andy Warhol is the founder and icon of the pop art genre. His scandalous and world-famous Coca-Cola series, silk-screen printing of Campbell soup cans, a series of canvases with society idols, of which the portraits of Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley became the most popular - were made in unusual flashy colors, moreover, using revolutionary new technology. Warhol photographed a person or object with a regular camera, and then transferred the enlarged photograph to canvas using silk-screen printing. The resulting work could be replicated on a printing press.

“Everyone is entitled to their fifteen minutes of fame,” once proclaimed Andy Warhole and in his own way dealt with the centuries-old concept of “high art”.

As is known, devaluations American classic exposed the “portrait” genre, which plays a core role in his work. This program included not only geniuses and pop stars, but also wild animals. But here, rather, the customer, taking advantage of the artist’s fame, decided to pay attention to endangered species.

This is about Ronald Feldman, who at one time left the chair of a successful lawyer for a career as an art dealer and whose gallery between Sixth Avenue and Broadway is today one of the most successful in Manhattan. One day fate brought him together with 52-year-old Andy Warhol. The artist simply returned to the space in New York that he wanted to rent, but changed his mind, and during this time Feldman managed to choose it for his gallery. They became friends. Warhol, coming here on Saturdays with his dog Archie, kept asking Feldman if he had any thoughts about joint project. Thus, in 1980, the series “Ten Famous Jews of the 20th Century” was born, which the Moscow public, by the way, could see three years ago. In 1983, Feldman produced the series "Endangered species"(“Endangered Species”), which includes ten portraits of rare animals: the Amur tiger, the African elephant, the orangutan, the black rhinoceros, Grévy’s zebra, the giant panda, the bald eagle, the bighorn sheep, the tree frog of the tree frog family, and a butterfly.

Darwin Museum within the framework of the Year of Ecology in Russia, shows prints of a silk-screen series provided by collectors, members of the European Cultural Club (Germany), spouses Irina Stezhka And Georg Pornschlegel.

Second name "Animals in Makeup" emphasized creative method Warhol, who sacrifices volume and depth, turning images into emblems, into surfaces for applying color, into multi-layered signs. In fact, the synthesis of photography and painting is the basis of the current graphic design and circulation advertising - now you won’t surprise anyone. IN in this case unexpected combinations of bright colors and a large format are designed to draw attention to the danger that threatens animals.

"Amur tiger"
series "Endangered Species"
1983

"Orangutan"
series "Endangered Species"
1983

"Black Rhino"
series "Endangered Species"
1983

Location: Exhibition halls museum / 0 floor (basement)

In March 2017, the Darwin Museum will open the exhibition “Andy Warhol. Endangered species". A series of 10 portraits of rare animals is being exhibited in Moscow for the first time and is dedicated to the Year of Ecology in Russia. Together with the European Cultural Club and news agency"ArtContract".

The Endangered Species series of silkscreens was created by the King of Pop Art in 1983 at the request of friends and wildlife advocates Ronald and Freida Feldman. It includes portraits of the Amur tiger, African elephant, orangutan, black rhinoceros, Grévy's zebra, giant panda, bald eagle, bighorn sheep, tree frog and butterfly.

One of the most notorious thefts of the 21st century is associated with Endangered Species. In 2015, in Los Angeles, 3 works from this series by Warhol, as well as 6 paintings from the “Ten Famous Jews of the 20th Century” series, worth a total of about 350 thousand dollars, were stolen by criminals. Some of the lost valuables were recovered.

Interestingly, the cycle has another name, “Animals in Make-up,” reflecting the method of making these portraits. Warhol selected the most inspiring photographs of rare animals, and then experimented with color, applying it to paper through special mesh stencils, layer by layer. Deep bright colors and their unexpected combinations, as well as a large format, attract viewers' attention to the problem of danger that threatens the depicted animals. In addition, the portraits are incredibly beautiful, they clearly show the style of the mature Warhol, a pop art star of the first magnitude. It is not surprising that the “Endangered Species” series was a great success at all exhibitions during the author’s lifetime and became one of the most famous and expensive in the world. creative heritage Andy Warhol.

Magic pictures from sand

Only until May 28 - new sand pictures in the style of Andy Warhol!

Pop, try your hand at pop art!

Using a stencil and bright sand, make your own souvenir for the exhibition "Andy Warhol. Endangered Species"

Sand pictures are the joy of color, complete freedom of creativity and always an interesting result!

Exhibition partners:

General partner: EKC

Informational partner:

Current events

Magic pictures from sand

Sat. Sun. Multi-colored dolphins, dinosaurs, turtles and other sand animals will appear on a white stencil. The master class can captivate both a child and an adult...

Current events

Magic pictures from sand

Sat. Sun. Multi-colored dolphins, dinosaurs, turtles and other sand animals will appear on a white stencil. The master class can captivate both a child and an adult...

Today, at the Jewish Museum of Moscow, with the support of the Blavatnik Family Foundation, an exhibition of one of the most successful artists modernity Andy Warhol "Ten Famous Jews of the 20th Century". Our correspondent talks about the meaning of this exhibition and the museum’s plans for next year

The series by the famous American, created in 1980, became almost the quintessence of his work, combining pop art and kitsch.The customer of these works, gallery owner Ronald Feldman, initially offered to paint portraits of 10 American presidents, but Warhol rejected the idea, saying that they would not sell well. This is how the idea was born to create portraits of 10 famous Jews, who are always heard and always appreciated.

Warhol heard about many of the participants in the series for the first time, but the names of Alphonse Mucha’s muse Sarah Bernhardt, the Prague recluse Franz Kafka, the herald lost generation Gertrude Stein or the libido exposer Sigmund Freud were heard in Jewish salons more often than any others. The final ten included both the mystic-existentialist Martin Buber and the scientist Albert Einstein. It is symbolic, but for the first time the artist depicted deceased celebrities, and not his acquaintances. The series was made in five versions in different colors and different techniques.

The presentation at the Jewish Center in New York caused an uproar: Warhol was accused of hypocrisy, cynicism and an attempt to profit from the suffering of the Jewish people. The “vulgar” exhibition received the status of “non-art”. However, prints and copies sold in millions of copies.

Warhol's 11th Jew

Andy Warhol has exhibited in Moscow more than once, but the current exhibition has become unique in this regard, because not ten, but eleven heroes are presented in the capital.

As the organizers themselves noted, this is not a Warhol exhibition - this is a story about the characters depicted in the portraits. Jewish Museum precisely became the eleventh hero at the exhibition: having supplemented the artist’s works with archival materials, photographs, and videos, the organizers created a large-scale canvas framed by the museum. And if Warhol tried to describe the phenomenon of “Jewishness” with his works, the Jewish Museum decided to tell about the history of the Jewish people through the prism of the heroes of the exhibition.

The center does not intend to stop at Andy Warhol and draws new prospects for itself.

Financial independence

The museum's program and poster for this year are more than impressive, but all this is impossible without Warhol's main incentive - money.In January, the Jewish Museum announced the creation of its own endowment fund, which managed to raise $4.5 million in one evening. An endowment is a fund formed through donations from philanthropists. The collected target capital, managed by financiers, is invested in securities, real estate, is placed on deposits to ensure constant growth and support the work of the museum. This will help the Jewish Museum develop and expand its exhibition.

Museum endowments are rare in Russia; only the Hermitage and the Peterhof Museum-Reserve could boast of this. In the West, this practice is much more popular, and the Jewish Museum follows in the footsteps of such important sites as the Louvre, the British and Metropolitan Museums, as well as the Guggenheim Museum.

Archival avant-garde

The Jewish Museum has only been open in Moscow for a year, but it has already become an involuntary exhibit. The museum is located in a building designed by architects Konstantin Melnikov and Vladimir Shukhov. The Bakhmetyevsky Garage building is one of the main monuments of the Soviet avant-garde.

It is not surprising that interest and attention to this area is very high here. As the leaders of the center note, the avant-garde is inseparable from the history of the Jewish people, because it was the Jews who became one of the main driving forces new art.

The “Soviet” program in 2014 is impressive: in the spring the exhibition “Vasily Maslov. Vanguard of the Labor Commune” will open - the first exhibition of an undeservedly forgotten original artist since 1937. Then there will be an exhibition "Aviation and the Avant-Garde", which will tell about flights and aircraft in the works of the leaders of the Soviet avant-garde.In parallel, the excursion cycle “Names of the Avant-Garde” will take place, within which works by Rodchenko, Melnikov, Shukhov, and Malevich will be shown.

"Project Geography" will guide guests through the heritage of the avant-garde, scattered across other post-Soviet cities - Yekaterinburg, St. Petersburg, Kharkov, Yerevan.

Children's block

The Jewish Museum plans to actively work with children and youth. The center focuses on educational programs, seminars, film screenings, master classes, and also offers unusual bus tours of the monuments of Moscow 1920-1930. with the participation of historians.

The museum's children's center is a space where every child can find something to their liking. As part of this program, schoolchildren are offered to listen to lectures on religion, the basics of Judaic studies, and engage in science or creativity.

“Young Coolinar” (the basics of Jewish cuisine), “Science in the palm of your hand” (a design bureau for young Einsteins), “Museum Watch” (for Pinakothek lovers), “Artist’s Workshop”, educating future Modiglianis, “School acting" - that's just small list activities offered by the museum this year. As part of the film club, children and adults can watch and discuss documentaries on socially significant topics.

Babylonian Library

The Jewish Museum is preparing a new large-scale project this year: on the basis of the Schneerson Library, which will be transported to a storage facility from the Russian state library, an educational and Research Center Jewish book. It is expected that in the summer it will be available to everyone.

The Jewish Book Center will become a platform for studying Jewish literature and sacred texts. This year it is planned to hold six book exhibitions, the first of which will be “The History of the Printed Talmud,” from the 16th century to the present day. In addition, the program will identify and describe Jewish books and manuscripts from Moscow libraries and museums.

Finally, the Jewish Center is actively engaged in printing: this year it is preparing for publication a whole series of books on Jewish topics with detailed comments from experts.

On March 18, the exhibition “Andy Warhol. Endangered Species. A series of ten portraits of rare animals is being exhibited in Moscow for the first time; some of the animals depicted no longer exist. Warhol was not an animal rights activist; one of the reasons for the appearance of this series was the artist’s interest in the theme of danger and death, which arose in him after an assassination attempt and clinical death.

Curator of the exhibition, art critic Yana Shklyarskaya:

– Andy Warhol was not one of those artists who takes any kind of critical approach to art. He has no social criticism. If he portrays popular goods, rock-pop stars, it doesn’t say whether it’s good or bad, similar or not. It's like a mirror, like a catalogue. He depicts everything that is currently at the peak of popularity, creating his own world - a double real world. He was not an animal rights activist; it is unknown whether he loved animals or not.

The fact that Warhol addressed this topic suggests that ecological problems have become so global and acute that they have even entered the category of fashionable. And his friend, gallery owner Ronald Feldman, produced the creation of this series. They were both confident that it would be a commercial success. And indeed, this is one of his most popular series. Besides the fact that it is very beautiful and skillfully made (these are, of course, masterpieces of graphic art), these are also works that you can live with, because portraits of other people are hard to perceive if you see them often. And these are animals, nature, which we miss so much. At the same time, they are made in a very fashionable pop style, they are very decorative and “hold” huge wall planes. One picture will set the tone for the entire interior.

“But what is also important is that Andy Warhol was not a “fun” artist, and after ’68, when he experienced clinical death, the motif of death, danger, threat, risk, appeared in his work and already existed until the very end. And here, too, I think, the artist could be attracted by the very theme of acute danger on the verge of life and death, along with explosions, electric chairs, knives and disasters.”

In 1968, the radical feminist Valerie Solanas tried to kill the artist, who believed that Warhol did not pay enough attention to her film script (in addition to graphics at that time, Warhol managed to engage in experimental cinema and producing). After being shot three times in the stomach, he managed to survive, but required a long recovery. The incident introduced new themes into the artist’s work, such as death (including the famous portrait of Marilyn Monroe), illness (a portrait of the sick Elizabeth Taylor) and disasters.

The exhibition consists of silk-screened portraits of the Amur tiger, African elephant, orangutan, black rhinoceros, Grevy's zebra, giant panda, bald eagle, bighorn sheep, tree frog and butterfly. For each work in the museum, they added a certificate about the animal’s habitat and the reason for its extinction. The only mortal enemy of most of them is man.

“This cycle also has another name – “Animals in Make-up”, which reflects the way these portraits were made. Warhol selected the most inspiring photographs of rare animals, and then experimented with color, applying it to paper through special mesh stencils, layer by layer. Deep, bright colors and their unexpected combinations, as well as a large format, attract viewers’ attention to the problem of danger that threatens the depicted animals,” the museum reports.

In 2015, a scandal erupted around these works: in Los Angeles there were three silk-screen prints from the “Endangered Species” series, as well as six paintings from the “Ten Famous Jews of the 20th Century” series. The total value of the stolen goods was about 350 thousand dollars. Part of a Precious Lost.

The silk-screen prints on display at the Darwin Museum are in private collection, and they decided to coincide with the exhibition to coincide with the Year of Ecology, declared in Russia.

“Many people ask – why Warhol, why the paintings in the Darwin Museum? – notes museum director Anna Klyukina. – We thought it was very interesting to present a vision contemporary artist animals that are on the verge of extinction. Although the exhibition is called "Endangered Species", unfortunately, there are animals here that have already disappeared. For example, the black rhinoceros has four subspecies, one of the subspecies has disappeared. The West African black rhinoceros is officially gone. Therefore, the exhibition is an emotional appeal to people: look – we are so beautiful, take care of us, there are only a few of us left.”

As MIR 24 reported, the world may soon see Andy Warhol, and in leading role Jared Leto is scheduled to speak. The film's producer is Michael De Luca, known for the films " Social network" And " American history X”, screenwriter – Terence Winter, author of “The Wolf of Wall Street”. It is still unknown when the film will appear on screens.

Maria Al-Salkhani