Warhol, Judd, and Hesse: Pop Art, Minimalism, and Post-Minimalism Study Guide
Andy Warhol and the Emergence of Pop Art
Artist Profile: Andy Warhol (1928–1987) * Warhol is characterized as having a persona more well-known than the actual art he produced, similar to Frida Kahlo. * The Persona and the Curator: Donna DeSalvo, curator at the Whitney Museum, noted the difficulty in getting the public to "really look" at Warhol’s work due to the calcified preconceptions people hold about his identity and celebrity. * Work Ethic: There was no definitive boundary between his life and work. An employee of his magazine, Interview, described working for him as being part of a "big peasant family" where they were perpetually "on the clock," receiving calls in the middle of the night. * The Native Informant: Hal Foster described Warhol as an "informant" or "spy" who kept his Polaroid, tape recorder, and video cameras constantly switched on. While he presented a "blank indifference" or a "ditzy airhead" personality, he possessed an "eye for killer images" and was a masterful designer.
Foundational Biography and the American Dream * Born Andrew Warhola in Pittsburgh to Eastern European immigrant parents. His mother, Julia Warhola, famously never spoke English. * The Mining Settlement: His father was a miner injured in a terminal accident. The mine provided a settlement as compensation for the loss. Before dying, Warhol's father earmarked this specific money for Andy’s college education, recognizing his talent for drawing over his two older brothers. * Education and Early Career: He attended Carnegie Mellon to study Commercial Art, moving to New York in the late 1940s. By the 1950s, he was an extremely successful commercial illustrator. * The Blotted Line: His signature commercial style involved a "blotted line" technique (creating wet ink drawings and blotting them with paper for an irregular line). His mother provided the distinctive cursive writing for his commercial labels. * Shirley Temple Influence: As a child, Warhol signed away for an autographed photo of Shirley Temple ("to Andrew Warhola from Shirley Temple"). He once explicitly stated, "I never wanted to be a painter. I wanted to be a tap dancer."
Pop Art Concept and Context * Defining "Pop": Popular or media culture. It focuses on the surface of the American scene in the 1960s, appropriating images from magazines, TV, and movie posters. * Consumerism and Repetition: Warhol captured the "intense repetitiveness" of American life (e.g., memorizing random deodorant jingles). He depicted consumer goods (Campbell’s soup) and celebrities (Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Liz Taylor). * Reaction to Abstract Expressionism: Pop Art was the antithesis of the 1950s New York school. While artists like Pollock and Rothko ("tragedy, ecstasy, and doom") sought depth, angst, and interiority, Warhol declared himself "all surface." * Identity and Masculinity: Warhol was a gay artist in a "macho" art world. In the 1950s, his homoerotic drawings were laughed out of galleries. This rejection of his interior life may have influenced his pivot toward a "vacuous" persona and a focus on superficial surfaces.
The Ferrus Gallery Exhibition (1962) * Located on La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles. This was Warhol’s first solo show as a painter. * The 32 Soup Cans: He showed 32 hand-painted (pre-silkscreen) canvases representing the 32 flavors then offered by Campbell’s. * Sales History: Initially sold for each. Only five sold (one to Dennis Hopper). Gallery owner Irving Blum eventually realized they belonged together, cancelled the individual sales, and bought the set from Warhol for . Later, MoMA acquired them for approximately .
Technical Analysis: Gold Marilyn (1962)
Composition and Media * Dimensions: Approximately . * Medium: Silkscreen ink on synthetic polymer paint on canvas. * Process: Warhol painted the entire canvas with gold paint first, then silkscreened the image of Marilyn Monroe on top. * Source Material: A publicity still from the film Niagara (circa 1953).
The Mass Subject and Iconography * Timing: Created in 1962, the year Marilyn committed suicide. The press coverage was astronomical, creating a peak desire for her image. * Mass Subject Theory: Michael Warner states, "The mass subject cannot have a body except the body it witnesses." Thus, a photo of Marilyn is a depiction of the millions who recognize her—it is a portrait of America itself. * Religious Parallel: The gold surface references religious icon painting (e.g., Bernardo Daddi's Virgin Mary with Saints, 1335). Gold leaf was traditionally used to illuminate figures in pre-electric churches (using candlelight/sunbeams). Warhol repurposes this "sacred illumination" for celebrities, suggesting they are the new gods of American culture.
Marilyn Diptych (1962): A related work consisting of two canvases. One features garish, "clown-like" colors, while the other is black-and-white, either over-inked (blotted out) or under-inked (fading), symbolizing the erasure of the individual by the celebrity persona.
Donald Judd and Minimalism
Artist Profile and Philosophy * Background: Born in Missouri, served in the military, studied Philosophy and Art History at Columbia, and painting at the Art Students League. * Criticism: He began as an art critic known for "stubborn clarity" and directness. * "Specific Objects" (1965): His seminal essay arguing that the best new work is neither painting nor sculpture but a "whole coherent object" with internal logic. These objects should not reference anything else; they are simply "that thing there."
Minimalism: Key Characteristics 1. Space as Material: Interest in the literal space around and between the work. 2. Viewer Relationship: A reflexive relationship between the object's presence and the viewer's heightened awareness of their own body in space (phenomenology). 3. Anti-Illusionism: Rejection of pictorial space or "distractions" like depth. A painting is a flat rectangle; a sculpture is an object in the world. 4. Anti-Composition: Rejection of personal expression or "fussy" balancing of elements. Focus on modularity and repetition. 5. Elimination of the Artist's Hand: Use of industrial materials (aluminum, plexiglass, plywood) and professional fabrication.
Untitled (Stack), 1967 * Comprised of 12 modular units made of galvanized iron. * Painted with a blue-green lacquer hue. * Installed at specific nine-inch intervals to include negative space as part of the composition.
The Factory and Labor * Warhol named his studio "The Factory," treating it like an assembly line with various assistants. This was a direct contrast to the "rarified" space of a traditional artist studio. * Judd similarly used fabricators, arguing (like Renaissance artists Michelangelo and Leonardo) that the artist is an intellectual designer rather than just a manual maker.
Marfa, Texas and the Chinati Foundation * In the early 1970s, Judd began buying property in Marfa, including a defunct military base (former German POW camp). * Goal: To create permanent installations away from the "shuffling" of the museum system. * 100 Untitled Works in Mill Aluminum (1982–1986): One hundred boxes of the same outer dimensions but different interiors, housed in buildings Judd redesigned with open sides to interact with the West Texas light.
Evaluation of Minimalism and Its Connections
"What You See Is What You See": Frank Stella’s famous 1964 quote regarding his Black Paintings epitomizes the literalism of the era—the idea that there is no hidden meaning or representation.
Constructivist Affinity: Minimalism has strong ties to Vladimir Tatlin and Russian Constructivism (Factura, real materials in real space). This connection was revitalized for the West by Camilla Gray’s 1962 book The Great Experiment.
Critics' Response: Michael Fried critiqued Minimalism as "theatrical," arguing it was weak because it required a viewer to "turn it on" and complete the work through their presence.
Eva Hesse and Post-Minimalism
Biography and Tragedy (1936–1970) * Born a Jew in 1936 Germany; family fled the Nazis. Her mother committed suicide when Hesse was 10. * Studied at Yale under Joseph Albers. Died of a brain tumor at age 34. * She described her life as "absurd in the extreme," a theme that permeates her work.
Hang Up (1966) * Media: Padded wood frame wrapped in cloth, painted in a gradation of white to dark gray acrylic. A steel tube (wrapped in cord) arcs out into the viewer's space. * Dimensions: . * Concept: Hesse called it a "pictureless picture." It links the space of art (the rectangle on the wall) with the space of its viewing (the arcing tube that "scoops up" the viewer's space). * Absurdity: She called it "the most ridiculous structure I ever made, and that is why it is really good."
Post-Minimalism: Characteristics and Subversion * Organic vs. Geometrical: Unlike the hard-edged boxes of Judd, Hesse used droopy, squishy, and bodily forms. * The Abject: A concept referencing physical fragility, vulnerability, and substances we excrete (sweat, drool, etc.). Her work mimics skin, internal organs, and the effects of gravity (drooping, sagging). * Feminist Sabotage: Her work is often seen as a reaction against the "macho" logic and "cold geometry" of Minimalism, reintroducing the messiness of life and humor. * Experimental Materials: Frequent use of latex, resin, fiberglass, and vinyl, often sourced from the light manufacturing shops on Canal Street in Lower Manhattan.
Key Works by Hesse * Accession Series: Perforated metal cubes with thousands of short vinyl tubes poked through, creating a "furry," tactile interior. Hesse once noted it was like a "soundproof cube" she could stick her head into to escape the noise of the Bowery. * Rope Piece (1970): Her last major work; rope dipped in latex and strung up, resembling an intestinal tract. Created while she was "giddy" and recovering from brain surgery. * Aught (1968): Four modular latex-over-canvas rectangles stuffed and hung in a row, subverting the grid with skin-like textures.
Correspondence: A 1966 postcard from painter Ad Reinhardt requested slides of Hang Up and "one of the baggy ones" for his lectures in San Francisco and Los Angeles, highlighting the work’s immediate impact on the art community.