Andy Warhol still remains one of the most prolific and consequential artists of the 20th century. He bent the concept of what art could be, mixing mass production techniques and pop cultural influences with high art. Yet in the 1950s, before Warhol was a household name, he was a commercial artist working to gain more clients by showcasing his handmade artist book to valuable contacts.
These seven books, which featured personal drawings and unique texts on a variety of subjects that interested him – from food to cats, shoes, and beautiful people – are the subject of Reuel Golden and Benedikt Taschen’s new book Andy Warhol: Seven Illustrated Books 1952-1959.
The book is a pristine composition of Warhol’s work, replicating the originals that now sell for thousands of dollars at auction, right down to the dimensions and paper stock. Pieces such as Love Is A Pink Cake and 25 Cats Named Sam showcase Warhol’s playfulness and humor along with his creativity.
The seven books delve into his early artistic style while playing with a mix of materials, design, and formats. The lithograph portfolio A Is For Alphabet dedicates each page to a letter along with three-line verses that tell bizarre and off-the-wall stories. In The Bottom Of My Garden is a twist on the traditional children’s book, while Wild Raspberries is a joke cookbook with a host of adventurous recipes spread over 19 portrait format pages of instructions and illustrations.
The entire package also comes with an extra-large sized, 56-page guidebook of each of Warhol’s illustrations along with rarely seen photographs of the artist, providing insight into one of the generation’s greatest cultural influencers.