Andy Warhol: Vanitas

Andy Warhol (1928–1987), a pivotal figure in the Pop Art movement, was strongly influenced by his Byzantine Catholic upbringing and the religious iconography that pervaded his early life. This spiritual undercurrent appears throughout his oeuvre, where themes of mortality, vanity, and the passage of time are recurrent motifs.

This exhibition examines Warhol’s contemplation of life’s transient nature through the lens of three themes: Mortality, Vanitas, and Temporality. Each theme offers a lens through which Warhol’s fascination with death, the fleeting nature of beauty, and the passage of time can be understood. Warhol explored these themes in his work with seriousness, and he infused them with irony and humor, showcasing his unique, often philosophical and contemplative, perspective.

Vanitas, derived from the Latin word for ‘vanity’, refers to a genre of still-life painting that thrived in the 17th century, amongst others in The Netherlands and Flanders. It typically features collections of symbolic objects representing the transience of life, the emptiness of worldly pleasure, and the inevitability of death. These works are designed to remind viewers of their mortality and the insignificance of worldly goods and pleasures. Rich in symbolic imagery, vanitas prints often depict skulls, extinguished candles, wilting flowers, soap bubbles, and timepieces, all serving as memento mori (Latin for remember that you must die). The Vanitas theme was a constant subject for Warhol in works featuring skulls, disasters and tragic beauty.