Analysis of Andy Warhol and the Couple with Balloons, Plaza Hotel, New York City

Andy Warhol was born on August 6th, 1928 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Warhol was not pnly a photographer, but he was also in performance art, filmmaking, and writing, and was a leader in the Pop Art movement of the 1960s. Warhol’s mother was an artist and taught him how to draw, which became one of his favorite hobbies as a child. His mother also bought him his first camera when he was 9, introducing him to photography. Warhol developed huge interest in fame and celebrities, which became the focus of much his art. Much of his art was known as “pop art”. The subject of much of his art was based on what was popular at the time, such as Coca-Cola and celebrities. Many of his paintings used vivid colors and he altered many photographs to have the vivid colors. Warhol was well known for his portraits and photographs of celebrites and made a name for himself with his “pop art”. Andy Warhol died on February 22, 1987 at the age of 58.

One of Andy Warhol’s less famous and rare photographs is “Couple with Balloons, Plaza Hotel, New York City”. The photograph is of a man and woman satnding on the steps of the Plaza Hotel. The woman is wearing a simple, white dress and holding about 24 white balloons in her right hand. Standing to her left is a man in a tuxedo holding a single white balloon in his left hand. The couple is kissing eachother. The balloons cover the woman’s face except for her cheek, chin, the bottom of her nose, and her lips. The balloons also cover the top part of the man’s face; the balloons only cover the top of his hear and his eyes. The photograph is horizontal and the focus seems to be on the couple’s locked lips. It seems as if the photograph was taken at night and a flash was used because the lights inside the h...

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...kissing, but Warhol’s is original in the sense that not many of these kissing pictures have the couple’s faces covered. The use of proportion, emphasis, space, and value help make this photograph a sucess by bringing the attention of the kiss while drawing attention away from the fact that one can barely see their faces.

Andy Warhol will always be remembered as a leader of the “pop art” movement and for his portraits of celebrities and his eye-catching “pop culture art”. He paved the way for the use of pop culture in the arts of drawing, painting, and photography and the use of vivid colors to make his art stand out.

Works Cited

"Andy Warhol." 2013. The Biography Channel website. Nov 25 2013, 09:44 http://www.biography.com/people/andy-warhol-9523875.

Warhol, Andy. Andy Warhol - Photography. Ed. Andy Warhol Museum. Thalwil [u.a.: Edition Stemmle, 1999. Print.