Mixing Christ and Commercialism: Warhol's "Last Supper" (1986)
Posted by Andrea D. on May 7, 2010 - 4:31pm
Categories: On the Walls
When wandering through Andy Warhol: The Last Decade, The Last Supper (1986) is undoubtedly one of the exhibition's standouts.
The canvas is massive, a sprawling 32 feet long and 10 feet tall, and it is arguably the piece that best ties together Warhol's early and late artistic career...from advertising / graphic designer, to "King of Pop Art", to his final, faith-based introspection.
None of the paintings in Warhol's The Last Supper series are directly based on Da Vinci's original mural, which has become one of the most recognized images in the artistic canon. Instead, Warhol's paintings are based on reproductions of the original, made possible through art books and even an outline drawing from a children's coloring book. Warhol is re-visiting his fascination with repeated images here: how many repetitions "removed" from the original results in a loss of meaning?
In this particular painting of The Last Supper, Warhol
…show more content…
Even the appropriated newspaper headline, "The Big C", is a dual reference to both cancer (the subject of the news article) and Christ. The $6.99 price-tag could easily be interpreted as Christ dying for the sins of mankind – essentially paying "the ultimate price" – or it could further reinforce the idea of consumerism in the piece. Indeed, through these forced connections between religious and secular imagery, Warhol prompts us to think about the more cynical, commercialized aspects of religion, as something that individuals must essentially "buy in to" in order to fully
History plays a very important role in the development of art and architecture. Over time people, events, and religion, have contributed to the evolution of art. Christianity has become a very common and well established religion, however, in the past it was hidden and a few people would worship this religion secretly. Gradually, Christianity became a growing religion and it attracted many converts from different social statuses. Christian art was highly influenced by the Greco-Romans, but it was immensely impacted by the establishment of the Edict of Milan in the year 313 AD. The Edict of Milan was so significant that scholars divide Christian art into two time periods, time before and after the Edict of Milan of 313.
My second piece that I choose was Vincent van Gogh’s, Olive Trees made of oil on canvas in 1889. I have always loved this piece so this was an easy piece to choose. When looking up the dimensions of the piece it was hard to find. There are fifteen different canvases of this series, so it told me all of them. To make a rough estimate I would say it is about 4 feet high and 3 feet width wise.
Now, twenty-three years after Warhol’s death, his face and art are on T-shirts, iPods, blue jeans, sunglasses, Christmas cards, handbags, skateboards and wallpaper. His reputation and popularity are both endless and his works of art continue to fetch enormous sums of money. Even with his death, Warhol’s name continues to be met with both publicity and infamy. Ultimately, Andy Warhol’s legacy lies with his outlandish and exotic style of art and his lust for materialism and wealth.
The location of the artwork was located on the 2nd floor of the museum. It was kind of difficult to find as it is not listed on the map. The painting is framed and placed near the corner of the entrance to another room. The artwork measured about 3 feet by 6 feet. It is placed near paintings of portraits. This was one of the reasons why I choose this painting. As soon as I walked into the room, it caught my eyes right away as not only was it different from the other artwork in the room but it also consisted of many colors in the paintings. It was also one of the biggest artwork in the room. The room itself was fairly large. There was enough lighting to get a good look at the art work but much dimmer compare to the other rooms. The lighting fits perfectly with the period. Every artwork in the room was spread out evenly with enough spacing between them. There were about 2 artworks near the center of the room but most of the artworks were hung up against the wall.
Scorsese’s religious background gave him the inspiration and desire that he poured into making The Last Temptation of Christ, based on the book by Nikos Kazantzakis. Scorsese discusses how he was inspired from a very young age by the church. In an interview with Jim Leach, of The Magazine of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Scorsese says, “I guess the first art that I was exposed to was religious art, plaster saints in the church, and then literally the great masters, pictures being discussed in class,” and “A lot of this found its way into The Last Temptation of Christ. There’s a crucifixion scene which was copied directly from this painting by Antonello de Messina” (Leach, Web). Scorsese was inspired by art from the moment he was introduced to it in the third grade according to the interview. And a lot of what he saw made its way into his many films.
Leonardo da Vinci used flawless subject matter, form, content, and iconography to create his painting The Last Supper. Leonardo da Vinci painted his interpretation of what the Last Supper looked like through his work of art. In the center of his painting he painted Jesus Christ, the son of God, in the middle of all of his disciples. On each side of him there are an even number of six disciples sitting at a table pointing to themselves and to each other. Da Vinci painted this scene inside of a dark room with three windows, eight doors, and a beautiful outside environment. In order to paint this scene da Vinci used flawless form.
Leonardo’s version of the Last Supper was painted El fresco depicting the scene passively without emotion. The work has the supper table horizontal across the lower third and Jesus and his twelve disciples dining behind it, before a backdrop of both man made structure and natural landscape. The artwork is un-cluttered and simple. The lighting is subtle and non-dramatic. Colour is conservative and dull this is partly due to the limited paint available and the technique and decay of fresco painting. The wor...
I choose The wedding Feast at Cana for my second art work by Paolo Veronese. So the history behind this piece is this painting is a creation of the biblical story Marriage of Cana which both Jesus and his mother Mary attended, in this story Jesus is at a wedding and everyone is having a good time at the wedding when all of a sudden they run out of wine and the people hosting knew it’s not a party without wine so Jesus at the command of his mother told the servants at the party to go and fill jugs with water and when the brought them back Jesus turned them into wine and the party continued. Now the Reason I want to save it is because it is a religious piece and for the fact that one of my favorite rappers looked at this piece and found inspirations for his album cover. The story behind that was he was at the Museum and he was looking at the Monna Lisa the piece that everyone goes to see and in his mind he said that I’m surrounded by so much beautiful art that I’m not just going to focus on the Monna Lisa but I want to look for something else and as soon as he turned around he looks and see The wedding Feast at Cana. So if this art was destroyed then who knows what would have inspired one of my favorite
Jesus Christ Superstar, with music written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, is a rock opera portraying the struggles between Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot. The play begins with Jesus’, played by John Legend, entering the stage. His disciples are shown waiting for him and begin praising him when he appears. Judas, played by Brandon Victor Dixon, enters the stage warning Jesus’ that his following may be seen as a threat to the Roman Empire. He claims that Jesus is not a God and acting as so will be dangerous in the long run.
Moffat, Charles. A. http://arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/popart/Andy-Warhol.html. November 2007. Web. 22 November 2013. The Art Story Foundation.
The title of this work undoubtedly aids in interpretation. The title of the work is Last Supper, and that is exactly what the work is supposed to be. You can see Jesus at the center of the pic, and you can see he is surrounded by 12 other men, better known as 'The 12 Disciples'. There is definitely a focal point in this work, and rightfully so, there should be a focal point in the depiction of such a historic and profound biblical moment. The focal point in the work is Jesus and He is in the center of everyone. I also noticed that there is a distinct lighting and illumination differentiation between Jesus and the disciples in the picture. Jesus, being the focal point, appears to have the most light shining on Him. This was surely not something you can chalk up to coincidence, and I theorize it was done deliberately. The disciples closest to Jesus in the painting have more light than some of the others further away. I believe if we could see the work as it progresses, then ultimately all the disciples would have light on them and appear illuminating, which metaphorically would showcase the glory of Jesus spreading and radiating on the disciples. I believe the predominant color scheme most likely falls under the umbrella of analogous colors, and the enhancement of the colors utilized gives it a warm yet pretty and aesthetically pleasing sight. The work can be classified as representational since it is surely recognizable for what it is suppose to be, and because it is intended to represent reality. The work is intended to represent the actual last supper and it does a great job in accomplishing
Andy Warhol 's most notable work made him explode onto the art scene, this being his Campbell’s Soup Cans. This piece of art consisted of 32 images of Campbell 's soup each being a different flavor. Warhol used his advertising skills when making this masterpiece, he used it to convey a sense of mass production and conformity. As well as the message the work conveys there is also another key point to the piece, that being unlike most of his other works that were done in his signature silk-screening process Warhol hand painted all 32 cans. Alas even Warhol 's best could not hold a candle to Da Vinci 's undeniable masterpiece. The piece in question is the undeniable Mona Lisa, Da Vinci 's master piece is the most recognizable piece of art on the planet. The mere mention of the Mona Lisa and the mind instantly snaps to the great masterpiece in question "painted for Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo, who commissioned it for his wife Lisa Gherandini, Mona (Madame) Lisa del Giocondo (La Gioconda), to mark the birth of their second son". citation This undeniable piece of art is so highly regarded that it has been in the Louvre since 1797 and before that in the palace 's of Fontainebleau and Versailles, and even did a short stay in Napoleon Bonaparte 's Bedroom. Now Forever entombed in its climate
Campbell's Soup Cans work suggests a mechanical uniformity that is repeated in the thousands of homes that have a similar object, a banal and common representation of the spirit of our time. Warhol continued to express his ideas about consumerism and kept using repetition in his work. He created several works that involved the same theme of Campbell’s Soup Cans throughout the years.
He meant to get his ways of thinking out there for the world to see. He knew that if you were a deep thinker and learner as him, you would see and understand the way he saw and understood. He knew it would be a great asset to the Renaissance period and that he would leave an imprint on the world to view. I could tell that in the painting of The Last Supper that, he wanted you to be in deep thought and wonder what Jesus could have been talking about with his disciples. It has been rumors of what he was saying, but the truth is nobody really knows. It gets you to thinking because you are wondering like what he said, what they said back, what his reaction was when they did respond and what the ending result was. With the Mona Lisa, it leaves you in deep thought because you want to know what could she be smirking about or did he even mean to have that smirk on her face. He wants you to wonder what was the point of adding the slight smirk to her face, or could you just be seeing a smirk that actually was a frown. The memories and emotions of the artworks were based on religion and his thoughts of how a woman should be portrayed. The Mona Lisa looks innocent, natural and pure. It shows realism in the portrait, because of the way she is positioned in the painting. I believe Leonardo da Vinci made this artwork to compare the Mona Lisa to a mother-figure or his mother in particular. In conclusion, the Last Supper with Jesus and his disciples focused on what was happening at that time. I think he based it on the bible, but translated them into his own thoughts to show that it is possible to read something and comprehend it on a different level than how it was
Through his magnificent work da Vinci is able to make The Last Supper come to life. The Last Supper is a visual description during the evening before Christ was betrayed by one of his disciples. Corresponding to Christian belief it is the final meal that Jesus shared with his Apostles in Jerusalem before his arrest and crucifixion. As they are eating and drinking Christ announces the betrayal of him by one of his twelve apostles which reacts in horror, shock, and anger. Christ gave precise commands on how to eat and drink in remembrance of him in which is now known as communion.