{"id":{"repo_id":"wvu","oai_identifier":"oai:researchrepository.wvu.edu:etd-1752"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/wvu/oai:researchrepository.wvu.edu:etd-1752","repository":{"repo_id":"wvu","name":"West Virginia University","base_url":"https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"The Sacred in the Profane: Understanding Andy Warhol's Relationship with the Visual Image","abstract":"For Andy Warhol (1928-1987), images meant for commercial advertisement, tabloid publication, and entertainment were not merely meaningless reflections of a commodity and media-obsessed world -- they were sacred. In 1986, the Pop artist based the last major series of his career on a reproduction of a Renaissance masterpiece, Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper (1495-97/98, figure 1). Given the slick packaging of Warhol's oeuvre and his cool public persona, it would be easy to dismiss these late paintings as a cynical comment on the proliferation of images in American society. Viewing The Last Supper series from the perspectives of biography, psychology, and cultural identity, however, has led to a startling conclusion that refutes decades of postmodern analysis categorizing Warhol as a shallow artist limiting himself to the simulacral surface. The son of Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants and a devout Byzantine Catholic, Warhol's relationship with the visual image was formed by a rich cultural heritage in which icons, or holy pictures, are experienced as sacred doorways that make the unseen world real. Although he convincingly played the role of a scheming hipster defiantly blurring the line between commercial and fine art, Warhol's style and technique expose his lifelong connection to the religious imagery with which he grew up.","abstract_html":"For Andy Warhol (1928-1987), images meant for commercial advertisement, tabloid publication, and entertainment were not merely meaningless reflections of a commodity and media-obsessed world -- they were sacred. In 1986, the Pop artist based the last major series of his career on a reproduction of a Renaissance masterpiece, Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper (1495-97/98, figure 1). Given the slick packaging of Warhol's oeuvre and his cool public persona, it would be easy to dismiss these late paintings as a cynical comment on the proliferation of images in American society. Viewing The Last Supper series from the perspectives of biography, psychology, and cultural identity, however, has led to a startling conclusion that refutes decades of postmodern analysis categorizing Warhol as a shallow artist limiting himself to the simulacral surface. The son of Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants and a devout Byzantine Catholic, Warhol's relationship with the visual image was formed by a rich cultural heritage in which icons, or holy pictures, are experienced as sacred doorways that make the unseen world real. Although he convincingly played the role of a scheming hipster defiantly blurring the line between commercial and fine art, Warhol's style and technique expose his lifelong connection to the religious imagery with which he grew up.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Rosefsky, Linda"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"MA","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Art History","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Kristina Olson.","Janet Snyder","Jane B. 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Given the slick packaging of Warhol's oeuvre and his cool public persona, it would be easy to dismiss these late paintings as a cynical comment on the proliferation of images in American society. Viewing The Last Supper series from the perspectives of biography, psychology, and cultural identity, however, has led to a startling conclusion that refutes decades of postmodern analysis categorizing Warhol as a shallow artist limiting himself to the simulacral surface. The son of Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants and a devout Byzantine Catholic, Warhol's relationship with the visual image was formed by a rich cultural heritage in which icons, or holy pictures, are experienced as sacred doorways that make the unseen world real. 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