Famous illustrator and artist – Andy Warhol’s talent comes to life at The Baker Museum

Andy Warhol: Portfolios a Life in Pop, Works from the Bank of America Collection, is on display at The Baker Museum in North Naples.

Gulfshore Life’s Jacquelyn Kisic got a firsthand look at the new exhibition and took some photos of her own.

Andy Warhol was born Andrew Warhola on August 6, 1928, in a working-class neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, according to Warhol.org. 

The site goes on to describe his childhood: “Warhol suffered from Sydenham chorea, a neurological disorder commonly known as St. Vitus dance, characterized by involuntary movements. When the disorder occasionally kept him home from school, Warhol would read comics and Hollywood magazines and play with paper cutouts. Warhol’s parents bought him his first camera when he was eight years old.”

If you want to know all about Andy Warhol, just look at the surface of my paintings and films and me,
and there I am. There’s nothing behind it. ANDY WARHOL, THE EAST VILLAGE OTHER, 1966

He later attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) in the late 1940s.

In the 50s, after graduating from art school with a degree in pictorial design, Warhol moved to New York City to pursue a career as a commercial artist. He also dropped the final “a” in Warhola.

The rest, as they say, is sort of history.

According to his bio, in 1960, Warhol turned his attention to the pop art movement. Everyday life inspired pop artists, and their source material became mass-produced products and commercial artifacts of daily life.

In the 70s, he became involved in publishing, found a renewed focus on painting, and compiled Time Capsules.

He turned his attention to television in the 80s. But Warhol passed away at the age of 59 in February of 1987 due to complications following gall bladder surgery.

The Baker Museum exhibition includes rare complete portfolios and individual prints by Warhol, starting with iconic works from the mid-1960s to the series of monoprints titled Vesuvius that he created in 1985.

In total, 94 items are on display, showcasing Warhol’s work, from sculptures, paintings, publishing, and silkscreens.

According to Courtney McNeil, the Chief Curator of the Baker Museum, she hopes the younger generation will remember the great pop-art icon.

“Many of us grew up with Andy Warhol’s images sort of blazing in our minds as these iconic art images,” said McNeil. “I think it’s important in a show like this to remind folks just how revolutionary he was when he debuted this pop art style.”

The Warhol exhibition has been loaned to The Baker Museum through the Bank of America Art in our Communities program. The images will be on display through the summer, the second longest in the Baker Museum’s history.

“We are proud to deepen our commitment to the arts and continue our partnership with Artis—Naples, The Baker Museum by presenting Andy Warhol Portfolios: A Life in Pop as part of our Arts in our Communities program that loans exhibitions at no cost to museums and nonprofit galleries,” said Gerri Moll, President of Bank of America Southwest Florida.

If you would like to check out the exhibition, it runs through September 8, 2024, at The Baker Museum, ArtisꟷNaples, 5833 Pelican Bay Blvd., Naples, FL 34108. Click here for ticket information.