Andy Warhol is one of the most famous artists of the 20th century and a pillar of contemporary art. He is one of the rare artists to achieve legendary status during his own lifetime.
Born in 1928 in the Uinted States, Andy Warhol's career took off in 1949 when he started as a commercial artist in New York. He illustrated articles and disigned ads for high- profile fashion magazines such as Glamour, Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. With his very characteristic artistic style, he rapidly became the darling of New York.
At the beginning of the 50s the appearance of Pop Art changed the face of the contemporary art world dramatically. This trend found its critical inspiration in symbols of mass consumption, including brand names, advertising slogans and comic strips as well as famous cinema actors and pop stars.
Warhol began to incorporate Pop Art into his work in the early 1960s. His drawings and paintings depicted dollars, Campbell's soup cans, bottles of Coca Cola and Heinz tomato ketchup, comic strips, etc. His art, using images from the consumer market, made him a popular figure and he soon became knwon as the "Prince of pop Art".
In 1962, Andy Warhol adopted a new technique which became his trademark, marking the beginning of a new period in the history of art: silk-screen printed photograph reproduced on canvas and painted in very bright colours. He produced a series of celebrity portraits, including Liz Taylor, Jackie Kennedy, James Dean, Mick Jagger and Marlon Brondo, and also Marilyn Monroe ans Elvis Presley, both whom personified the American dream.
This tribute to famous people seems to reflect Warhol's need to own a tiny part of the celebrity generated by these icons. His much-repeated phrase "In the future everybody will be worldfamous for fifteen minutes" reveals his desire to position himself on the same level as his works, and to immortalise both his art and the artist himself.
Warhol worked with film from 1968 to 1972 before taking up pictorial art once again, including Mao Tse portraits. In 1986, he produced his last portraits and a series of self-portraits. He dies in New York in 1987.
His art already fetched incredible sums in the 1980s, with museums all over the world fighting for his works. Some of Warhol's paintings have been sold for over U.S. $4 million.
S.T. Dupont pays tribute to the celebrated figure of pop art with a limited edition made up of three Line 2 lighters, two mini Olympios, two ballpoint pens and two Olympio fountain pens.
Elvis presley, Marilyn Monroe and Andy Warhol, himself are featured on these shiny platinum lighters while Andy Warhol's famous phrase and his signature illustrate them to perfection. The pens come in the same bright pop colours as the portrait: red for Elvis and yellow for Marilyn and Andy Warhol, to match the lighters.
Each Elvis and Marilyn lighter is numbered from 1 to 1964, the year when Warhol produced their portrait and which inspired this limited edition. The pens are also numbered from 1 to 1964. The Andy Warhol lighter is numbered from 1 to 1986, the year when Warhol produced this self-portrait.
Andy Warhol Self Portrait Lighter
Andy Warhol Marilyn Monroe Lighter
Andy Warhol Elvis Presley Lighter
Andy Warhol Red Elvis Ball Pen
Andy Warhol Yellow Marilyn Monroe Ball Pen
Andy Warhol Red Elvis Fountain Pen
Andy Warhol Yellow Marilyn Monroe Fountain Pen
