Customer Reviews

Andy Warhol (Icons of America)

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What has happened to Arthur C. Danto? Once Danto was amongst the greatest living aestheticians, as well as an eminent art critic for "The Nation". One could always assume that his writings would be interesting and often provocative. After this volume one can not rely on the assumption.

The book is part of a series of short books from the Yale University Press, aimed at exploring American culture by exploring the lives of particular individuals. Danto quickly claims that this is not a biography of Warhol but rather a "study of what makes Warhol so fascinating as an artist from a philosophical point of view." However he then chronicles Warhol's life with generous references to other Warhol biographers. Along the way he asserts that Warhol forced philosophers to redefine art, but goes on to say that he will not discuss this since he has written elsewhere of it.

There is no doubt that Andy Warhol was an important cultural icon, perhaps as much from self-marketing as from the content and form of his work. Danto identified the importance of his work at an early time. He asked and asks a useful question. Why is a Brillo box created in a factory and displayed in a supermarket not art, while a Brillo box created in an atelier and displayed in a gallery is art? The clear inference, made express elsewhere in Danto's writings, is that intentionality is somehow essential to art. Danto asserts that this was one of Warhol's breakthroughs, and unconvincingly dismisses DuChamp's ready-mades as not really making the point.

The fact of the matter is that this is old ground for Danto, having been expressed more clearly and with greater detail in earlier works. I suppose that for generations that never heard of Warhol and that may be interested into a quick peek into his life and work, without too much effort (the essay is less than 150 pages of easily-grasped language and generously-sized type) the volume may be of interest. The few illustrations in the book are in black and white and of rather poor quality, but perhaps that is all that is necessary to illustrate Warhol's work. Perhaps his work is better to read about then to actually see.

Those who have believed that Danto was an important guide through the philosophy of art may begin to wonder if the guide will return to providing new insights.

I like the accessibility of Danto's book. Without losing his reader, Danto explains the art movements before and after Warhol, giving the reader the ability to focus on how Warhol became the icon he is today. The reader is not left behind in highbrow art definitions or in-depth analysis. You begin to think about what is art and how that definition changes as the culture changes. You can focus on the Marilyn paintings, the Brillo Boxes or the Campbell Soup Cans and begin to understand how Warhol changed how we understand what is art. The book even made me think about what Warhol might have done with the Internet. Danto's basic premise is refuted by Louis Menand in the Jan 11 2010 issue of The New Yorker. Read the book, read the article and then read Warhol's Diaries. A good book always makes you want more. Danto keeps the dialogue going on in your head long after you have finished the book.

Like all philosophers' ponderings, this book is more about Arthur Danto than it is about Andy Warhol.