Past Exhibition

Warhol: Headlines

This vertical painting imitates the front page of a newspaper, with mostly black text in different sizes against a white background. The bottom two-thirds is dominated by a black and white photograph of a woman and three lines of a single, large headline. To our left, the narrow, vertical portrait shows a smiling woman looking off to our left from the corners of her eyes. She has prominent, arching eyebrows and wears a white, possibly fuzzy hat over dark hair. The background behind her is charcoal gray. The largest text on the page fills the space next to her, to our right. It reads, “A BOY FOR MEG” in slanted letters. Under her portrait is the caption, “See Page 3” in small text. Moving to the top third of the painting: at the top left is a square portrait showing just the face of a man wearing a fedora, done in sky and royal blue. The caption under the portrait reads, “In the Magazine.” The headline that runs next to it has white text against ocean blue, and it reads, “Sinatra and his ‘Rat Pack’ TODAY: The Leader Himself (Con’t).” In the horizontal zone beneath the blue banner and above the portrait and headline about Meg, the title of the newspaper is the “New York Post.” To the left, a box reads, “WEATHER Fog tonight. in the 60s. Tomorrow: cloudy and warm, chance of showers.” In a box under the newspaper name, it reads, “NEW YORK, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1961 10 Cents.” A secondary headline, to our right, reads, “LATEST STOCK PRICES Pages 85-88.”
Andy Warhol, A Boy for Meg, 1962, oil and egg emulsion on canvas, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Burton Tremaine, 1971.87.11

Details

  • Dates

    -

  • Locations

    East Building, Mezzanine and Upper Level, Northeast
This vertical painting imitates the front page of a newspaper, with mostly black text in different sizes against a white background. The bottom two-thirds is dominated by a black and white photograph of a woman and three lines of a single, large headline. To our left, the narrow, vertical portrait shows a smiling woman looking off to our left from the corners of her eyes. She has prominent, arching eyebrows and wears a white, possibly fuzzy hat over dark hair. The background behind her is charcoal gray. The largest text on the page fills the space next to her, to our right. It reads, “A BOY FOR MEG” in slanted letters. Under her portrait is the caption, “See Page 3” in small text. Moving to the top third of the painting: at the top left is a square portrait showing just the face of a man wearing a fedora, done in sky and royal blue. The caption under the portrait reads, “In the Magazine.” The headline that runs next to it has white text against ocean blue, and it reads, “Sinatra and his ‘Rat Pack’ TODAY: The Leader Himself (Con’t).” In the horizontal zone beneath the blue banner and above the portrait and headline about Meg, the title of the newspaper is the “New York Post.” To the left, a box reads, “WEATHER Fog tonight. in the 60s. Tomorrow: cloudy and warm, chance of showers.” In a box under the newspaper name, it reads, “NEW YORK, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1961 10 Cents.” A secondary headline, to our right, reads, “LATEST STOCK PRICES Pages 85-88.”
Andy Warhol, A Boy for Meg, 1962, oil and egg emulsion on canvas, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Burton Tremaine, 1971.87.11

Overview: 101 works by Andy Warhol were shown in this exhibition, which explored the artist's use of tabloid newspaper headlines and presented examples of his newspaper sources. Works on view were in a wide range of media, including paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, sculpture, film, video, and television. Collaborations with Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and David Dalton were among works on view. The exhibition was drawn from the collections of the National Gallery of Art and The Andy Warhol Museum, with loans from other public and private collections.

Molly Donovan, associate curator of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art, presented the lecture "Warhol's Headlines: To Whom Does the News Belong?" on September 25. A public symposium, including lectures by Thomas Crow, Rosalie Solow, professor of modern art and associate provost for the arts, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University; Jonathan Flatley, associate professor of English, Wayne State University; Neil Printz, editor of the Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonné; and Fred Tomaselli, artist, was presented on October 22. On December 4 John Hanhardt, Smithsonian American Art Museum, presented a lecture on "Time Frames: Andy Warhol's Film and Video." Concerts in honor of the exhibition were performed by the National Gallery of Art New Music Ensemble on November 9 and by the Verdehr Trio on November 23.

Organization: The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, in association with The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Rome, and the Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt. Molly Donovan, associate curator of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art, was curator.

Sponsor: The Terra Foundation for American Art was the foundation sponsor for the international tour of the exhibition. The exhibition in Washington was made possible by The Exhibition Circle of the National Gallery of Art. It was supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

Attendance: 90,545 (100 days)

Catalog: Warhol: Headlines by Molly Donovan et al. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 2011.

Other Venues:

  • Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, 02/11/2012–05/13/2012
  • Galleria nazionale d'arte moderna, Rome, 06/11/2012–09/09/2012
  • The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, 10/14/2012–01/06/2013

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