The Religious Art of Andy Warhol

by Jane Daggett Dillenberger, Andy Warhol

An examination of the spiritual side of Warhol looks at his art during his final years, which includes paintings based on Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper," and Warhol's "Skull" and "Cross" paintings

Genres: Art

128 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1998

Reviews

[Cris]

With the opening of Warhol’s exhibit at the Vatican recently, his religious art has been in the spotlight. However, few reliable curators have enough knowledge about religious art as well as as modern art to give a proper analysis. Dagget (RIP) may have been the exception. Too bad this book is so hard to find in the public domain. The biography of Warhol should be taken with a grain of salt, though. A lot more is known about Warhol’s private life nowadays. It seems that his Byzantine rite Catholicism lived side by side if not always in harmony with his gay side. Daggett’s reading of the art was very good however. I enjoyed the close ups of the icons and religious art from Andy’s bedroom and that of his childhood living room. For Daggett, the lover of art must look to Warhol’s background in commercial art in order to see the connection between religious iconography and dollar symbols in his paintings. Andy may indeed have been trying to sell people on the Mother of God. You have to wonder how much of this was lost his hanger ons as well as his critics.

[Peggy]

This is a beautiful coffee table book with lovely illustrations of some of Warhol's most striking pieces. The author has researched thoroughly to gain a grasp of the vast scope of religiosity to be found within the body of Warhol's work. She does a fine job of describing various of the Warhol series and interpreting through her own vision the religious significance of colors, patterns, line, subject matter he has utilized in individual pieces. The book is more about the work than the man insofar as it can be separated from the personal; in Warhol's case much IS very personal which does emerge in Dillengerger's treatment. I did enjoy reading this, although it took me a while to get through it. I found for myself that taking it in separate sessions spread out over time helped in digesting earlier concepts and readying for later efforts to progress through the book.

[Paige]

There's so little information and documentation about Warhol's religious life, but what there is is very interesting. His mother, who he mostly lived with until her death, was a devoted Byzantine-rite Catholic. Andy himself went to church his whole life, though as he got older he didn't take communion and stayed near the back of the church, praying.

It seems strange somehow to try to fit the normal impression of Andy Warhol into this idea of a very religious, if conflicted, man. This book helps, though it's not very long of text and does't have tons of analysis of the religious artwork in the book. This is probably largely due to the aforementioned lack of information and documentation.

I'm still hungry for information about this. I'll keep digging.

[Ellen Johnson]

it is a little hard to accept the idea of Warhol as a devout Christian, as the author tries to persuade us. Whatever, the prints here show some interest in religion, whether as a subject for popular schmaltz to be mocked or sign of a deeper, hidden belief. Interesting in the way the author takes us through the many steps of working with a single image, the many experiments and parts of the series, particularly on the Last Supper. the cover photo is that image covered in camouflage shapes, by the way.

[Rob Woodard]

Very good coffee table book on Warhol's last and least explored years as an artist. Great plates and some insightful commentary make this book a must for Warhol fans and those interested in late 20th century art in general. My only real gripe is that I wish the book had been longer. This is the first (and only) book to cover Warhol's religious work this topic deserves a more in depth treatment with a far greater number of reproductions. Still, highly recommended.

[Zara]

I had no idea Warhol was a devout Catholic.

[GK Stritch]

Fascinating for the reader who wants to understand the complete man, not just the media creation, this is not a large book, but it serves as an introduction to an interesting facet of Andy's life and contains images such as the program for the Memorial Mass at St. Patrick's and the holy card from Andy's funeral Mass, as well as the glorious pink and red Last Supper paintings. The text at times is repetitious, but worth a fast read through. Regardless of one's interpretation of Andy's religious stance, "The Last Supper paintings are the largest series of religious art by any American artist."