Andy Warhol Self-portrait, 1979. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Untitled (Room Service, London), 1979. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Jessica Lange and Fran Lebowitz, 1979. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Fashion Show, 1981. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Madonna at Like A Virgin Record Release Party, 1984. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Flowers, 1979. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Dinner Party, 1980. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Union Square, 1980. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Grace Jones Talking to Andre Leon Talley, 1980. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Untitled, 1981. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Self-portrait with Maura Moynihan, 1982. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Untitled (Montauk), 1982. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Charity Run in Central Park with Grace Jones, Bill Boggs, Mason Reese, Dina Merrill and Gordon Parks, 1978. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Debbie Harry at 860 Broadway, 1979. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Untitled, 1978. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University have worked together to provide online access toAndy Warhol’s largest archive of photographs. Roughly130,000 negatives and 3,600 contact sheetstakenin the last decade of the artist’s life—arenowdigitized andavailableonline. The photographs represent aremarkablerecord of the 20thcenturyandprovide a fascinating glimpseinto Warhol’spublic and privateworlds.Makingthemavailable onlineis one of the many ways the Foundation has amplified Warhol’s democratizing approach to making art and fascination with mass media.
Photography was fundamentalto Warhol’sart, andone of the primary connections he hadwith theworld.He waslong partial to Polaroids,but in1977 he acquired a 35mm camera, andproceeded to shooton averageat least a roll a day over the next decade.Just as social media does today, littleescapedWarhol’slens, from street scenes and hotel interiors, toportraits and candid snapshots of hisrotatingsocial circle.Of thetens of thousands ofimageshe shot between 1977 and ’87 in 35mm film,heenlarged only a small fraction.Now, through this archive, Warhol’s negative and contacts sheets reveal thefullextent of Warhol’spassion forphotography and obsession withdocumentinghis life through the lens of his camera.
Andy Warhol, Jodie Foster and Bob Colacello, 1980. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Untitled (Montauk), 1982. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Self-portrait with Jon Gould, Falmouth, MA, 1981. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Halston's Birthday Party at Studio 54, 1978. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Untitled (Walkman) 1980, Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Party at Studio 54, 1979. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Untitled (Coatrack), 1981. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Sylvia Miles, 1982. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Untitled, 1980s. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Mick Jagger at Dinner, 1980. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Self-portrait with Henry Geldzahler, 1980. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, David Byrne, 1978. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Liza Minnelli and Nell Carter, 1979. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, New York City Street Scene, 1983. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Recognizing the immense cultural valuein expanding access to the images,in 2014the Andy WarholFoundationfor the Visual Artsinvitedaselection of American museums topropose aplan to digitizethem and maintain a free online archive. In return for the colossal undertaking, theselectedinstitution would retain ownership of thephysicalnegatives and contact sheets.In 2014, theCantor Arts Centerwas chosen as the permanent home for the archive, and aftermore than twoyears of extensive research and cataloging, thephotographsbecame availableonline, at no charge,in 2019.The contact sheets are searchable online through a Stanford University Library database, while the entire cache can be viewed on the Cantor’s website, museum.stanford.edu.
Accompanying the launch of the archive wasContact Warhol,an exhibitioncurated by Stanford Professors Richard Meyer and Peggy Phelan,thattracedWarhol’s photography from the most fundamental level of the contact sheet to the most fully developed silkscreen paintings. The exhibition brought tolife Warhol’s many interactions with the social and celebrity elite of his timeandwas accompanied by a catalogue with essays by the curators, three additional scholarly texts and 65 plates.
Andy Warhol, Self-portrait with Farrah Fawcett, 1979. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Bianca Jagger, 1979. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Untitled (Room Service), 1980. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Self-portrait, 1978. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, New York City Street Scene, 1983. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
HyperFocal: 0
Andy Warhol, Untitled (Party), 1980. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Victor Bockris, 1980. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Untitled, 1980. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Jackie Kennedy Onassis at a Party, 1980. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
AWF_Still Life (Blocks), 1978. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Contact Sheet, 1978. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negatives.
Andy Warhol, Michael Caine at Studio 54, 1979. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Untitled (Refrigerator), 1980. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, Untitled, 1980. Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative.
Andy Warhol, AMos and Archie on a Bed, 1980, Photographic reproduction from 35mm negative
See Also
1986
Warhol painted more than 100 works related to Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, which some have read as complex reckoning of his hom*osexuality, Catholicism, and mortality in response to witnessing AIDS devastate the gay community.
