Andy Warhol Polaroids on display at the de Saisset Museum: Princess Caroline, Wayne Gretzky, and dozens more.
A little-known side of Pop Art icon Andy Warhol was the focus of a new show at Santa Clara’s de Saisset Museum: a treasure trove of Polaroids and portraits that offer an intimate glimpse into Warhol’s world.
Best known as a painter and filmmaker, Warhol regularly traveled with a camera in hand during the latter years of his life in order to capture candid moments in the studio, at social events, and everywhere in between.
Why the snaps? Some of the images he shot were studies for larger silkscreen prints or painted portraits; others were taken on a whim, capturing unguarded—and often unglamorous—moments in the lives of his friends and acquaintances. There are parties. There is laughter. Even the occasional teddy bear.
“I think anybody can take a good picture. My idea of a good picture is one that’s in focus and of a famous person doing something unfamous. It’s being in the right place at the wrong time.” —Andy Warhol
Flash forward to 2008: SCU’s de Saisset Museum received a substantial gift of 157 photographs from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts through the Andy Warhol Photographic Legacy Program. In celebration of the Foundation’s 20th anniversary, the Photographic Legacy Project donated more than 28,500 photographs by Warhol to educational institutions throughout the United States. More than 180 college and university art institutions received these works in an effort to broaden access to Warhol’s work.
This exhibition marks the first time that the de Saisset Museum has showcased a significant portion of the works donated through the Photographic Legacy Program.
Andy Warhol: Polaroids and Portraits runs at the de Saisset Museum through July 1. See a list of all current exhibits here.