Andy Warhol: Vanitas

Andy Warhol: Vanitas explores Warhol’s preoccupation with temporality, spirituality and astrology. Warhol, a devoted Byzantine Catholic, regularly attended church, especially after his mother’s death in 1972 and following a near-fatal assassination attempt.

This book highlights a lesser-known part of his oeuvre, consisting of paintings and drawings of skulls and self-portraits, reminiscent of the seventeenth-century Vanitas genre. Spiritual subjects such as impermanence and time are explored through multimedia art and archival material from Warhol’s Time Capsules

To elaborate on the genre of Vanitas, the publication includes several original engravings and mezzotints by seventeenth-century Dutch engravers and painters from the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

With contributions from Patrick Moore, Amber Morgan, Matt Gray from the Andy Warhol Museum, Cynthia Jordens, and Fabian de Kloe from the SCHUNCK Museum, Andy Warhol: Vanitas sheds new light on this aspect of his work.