02/09/2026
🖤 NEW ACQUISITION 🖤
Richard Avedon
Andy Warhol, Artist, New York City, August 20, 1969
9 ⅝ by 7 ⅝ in.
24.4 by 19.4 cm.
Shocking in its mapping of violence Richard Avedon took the iconic portrait showing Warhol stripped to the waist and revealing the severe surgical scars from the 1968 assassination attempt by Valerie Solanas. Avedon has cropped out superfluous identifying material and used the artist’s arms and black leather jacket as framing. The body has a heroic, even mythic presence.
Warhol’s right hand behaves like a calming and restraining gesture as if it were holding back his intestines which might spill out. The left hand peels back the waistband of the pants and underwear tentatively beckoning us to take a closer look. The whole form is a becomes an unsettling portrait, but not overwhelming, striking a balance between being unseemly or grotesque and mesmerizing.
The portrait serves a metaphor for the horrific violence of the late sixties. Indeed Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated two days after Warhol was shot (June 6, 1968).
We find this image profoundly moving, pertinent and masterful. A deeply haunting image that serves as a reminder that unlike the historic Momento Mori images rooted in Roman-Stocic traditions this image is distinctly modern as it reminds us of second chances. The ability to survive in the face of the most violent adversity. 🩶
Charles Riva The Richard Avedon Foundation