Andy Warhol, 1950s Drawings at Anton Kern

Don’t think for one second that I didn’t fully appreciate the fact that Anton Kern Gallery painted its walls Pepto Bismol Pink for its current exhibit of Andy Warhol Drawings. Because I did.

Andy Warhol: 1950s Drawings brings together 150 never before seen works on paper from the late 1940s through 1960. They show Warhol as a skilled draftsman and great experimenter. Using ink and graphite, he investigated the possibilities of the hand-drawn line, and in the course of this developed his characteristic blotted-line technique, which involved tracing projected photographic images onto paper and blotting the inked figures to create variations on a theme. This exhibition reveals a lesser-known side of Warhol and provides unique insight into the foundation of Pop Art.

If you only know Warhol through his most popular works such as the mass produced, silk screened Celebrity Portraits and Campbell’s Soup Cans, this exhibit will really show you where the artist came from and reveal how truly talented he was. I mean, the guy could draw a face.

This one reminds me of John Lennon.

You can see by the above photo that every wall is covered with drawings, so you could spend well over an hour here just looking at each one and finding your favorites.

I like this Peacock.

This one looks like Morrissey to me.

This one is so great.

The group of drawings currently on view was discovered in the flat files at the Andy Warhol Foundation’s warehouse space in 2011-2012, and marks the third exhibition by the American artist at the Anton Kern Gallery. Very highly recommended.

Andy Warhol 1950s Drawings will be on Exhibit Through December 20th, 2014 at Anton Kern gallery, Located at 532 West 20th Street, In the Chelsea Gallery District.