Michael Jordan didn't make his high school basketball team, Dick Cheney flunked out of Yale (twice!), and the guy who started Fage yogurt was once told his yogurt sucked.* From the annals of inspirational failure comes this MoMA rejection letter to Andy Warhol, whose drawing, "Shoe," didn't make the cut because of their "severely limited gallery and storage space." more ›

Photographer William John Kennedy is believed to have taken the only photographs in existence of Andy Warhol and Robert Indiana, and he's about to share what he saw through the lens. On April 19th an exhibition of newly published prints of the two will open at Site/109, where they note the images of the artists show them with their works, including Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe and Indiana’s iconic LOVE. more ›

In 1985, artist Andy Warhol created his first digital painting on an Amiga computer (the family of personal computers marketed by Commodore). See him work his magic on a portrait of Debbie Harry in the machine's "paint system" (Photon Paint?) where he experiences a happy accident with a "leaky flood fill." more ›

Andy Warhol's portrait of Elvis Presley as a cowboy is headed to the auction block in Manhattan on May 9th, y'all. The "Double Elvis (Ferus Type)" silkscreen is the first to appear on the market since 1995, and is expected to go for up to $50 million at Sotheby's. more ›

Andy Warhol scholar Thomas Kiedrowski is launching a new walking tour series based around the artist titled Andy Warhol’s New York City: Four Walks, Uptown to Downtown. According to Untapped (who are collaborating with Kiedrowski), it's all about "bringing enthusiasts to sites Andy Warhol frequented, lived or worked. See Warhol’s Factories, galleries that launched his career, places where he dined and shopped and former homes of his friends such as Halston and Edie Sedgwick." more ›

Artist Rob Pruitt talks about Andy Warhol, soup cans, and his tribute to the artist: that 7-foot-tall, chrome-finished statue now in Union Square. Pruitt explains his piece and how Andy has inspired him, saying, "What propelled me to New York wasn't just the paintings of soup cans and Marilyn Monroe, etc, but the man himself. I knew that I wanted to live a similar life, and so I came to New York to pursue that dream. It's clear to me that so many of us come to New York to pursue a kind of Warholian dream, so I thought a monument to him... it would be something more than art, it would be like filling a void." (Are people still coming to New York to pursue a Warholian dream? Discuss.) more ›

Why spend $1.59 on a can of Campbell's soup when you can get one for free on Craigslist? Someone in Brooklyn is offering up this Andy Warhol muse for the bargain price of zero dollars, and they'll even meet you in a convenient location for the exchange. They write: more ›

We've heard plenty of stories of Warhol paintings being sold for ridiculous sums of money at auction, but yesterday a damaged one was sold at Christie's for $302,500, more than 10x the amount estimated by experts. Of course, it doesn't hurt that it was owned and damaged by beloved late actor Dennis Hopper, which has given the painting a drug-addled backstory for the ages. more ›

A few years ago artist John Chamberlain and former Warhol assistant Gerard Malanga were battling it out, both claiming they owned a work of art called 315 Johns (a series of images of Chamberlain). The former had just sold the piece, as a Warhol original, for $5 million; he had it in his possession because (Malanga claims) it was being stored at his apartment. Now the NY Times reports that the case is finally going to trial. more ›

Breaking: Andy Warhol paintings still fetch a lot of money at auction. According to the NY Post, his "Big Campbell's Soup Can with Can Opener (Vegetable)" piece is expected to get up to $50 million when it's on the block at Christie's next month. Auction house spokeswoman Laura Paulson told the paper that the 1962 classic is an "incredibly important, very iconic work. When he painted the soup can picture... it changed the course of art history. No one had seen anyone do anything like this." There are only 11 large-scale soup can paintings, and 8 are held by museums. more ›

William MacFarland was a product marketing manager for Campbell's at the time Andy Warhol turned their soup cans into a now-iconic work of art. In 1964, MacFarland took pen to paper to write this letter to the artist (full transcript below)—sent to 1342 Lexington Avenue, site of the first Factory. In it Warhol is told that MacFarland wishes he could afford one of his paintings, and then informs him that, "I have learned that you like Tomato Soup. I am taking the liberty of having a couple of cases of our Tomato Soup delivered to you at this address." Wonder if Warhol repaid him with a painting... [via NYMag] more ›

First a Picasso takes in a record $106.5MM at auction, and now Andy Warhol's 1986 self-portrait has sold for $32.5MM, more than double its estimate. The art world is rich again! The 9-foot purple portrait sold at Sotheby's yesterday, where Tom Ford put it up on the block. The buyer is anonymous, but he/she just laid down the most money ever for a Warhol self-portrait. According to the NY Times, "the competition made for good entertainment. Six bidders wanted to buy." There are four other similar portraits out there, all in different colors; two are at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh (blue and yellow), one is at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (green), and newspaper magnate Peter M. Brant owns the red one. more ›

If you've ever wanted to punch Andy Warhol in the face, now is your time to shine! The Brooklyn Museum has created this huge piñata of the pop artist for their Gala on April 22nd. The 20-footer will be smashed open by guests that evening, but until then the museum is keeping mum about what's inside, only revealing that it's edible (Campbell's soup cans?). In June they'll be bringing the artist's last decade to their walls, in a less aggressive show of affection. more ›

With Factory photographer Billy Name's negatives gone missing, it might be nice to check out some other snapshots from the days Andy Warhol reigned as the King of Pop Art. more ›

Move over soup cans, The Brooklyn Museum is bringing Andy Warhol's later works to their walls this year. Andy Warhol: The Last Decade (June 18th through September 12th) is the first major Warhol survey in New York since the 1989 exhibition at MoMA. It will include nearly 50 paintings that the artist created during his 15 minutes; the museum notes that "during this time Warhol produced more works, in a considerable number of series and on a vastly larger scale, than at any other point in his forty-year career." more ›

It makes sense that Andy Warhol had a show on MTV during the station's early years... but we've never heard of it until now! Fimoculous did some digging and found a few clips, circa 1987, from his program, which was called "15 Minutes." Guests included Frank Zappa, Kevin Killon, Debbie Harry, Pee-wee Herman, John Waters, William Burroughs, and even a young Courtney Love. It's not all star power, though — there's even a piece by Risa Dickstein about the world of Manhattan's mounted police. more ›

Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Damon Dash has fallen from grace and reinvented himself as the host of a Tribeca salon where artists and artsy people do artistic things and smoke weed. Does that mean he's the new Andy Warhol? more ›

In 1963 Andy Warhol gave Billy Name a 35-millimeter Honeywell Pentax camera, and he became the resident photographer and documentarian of The Factory days... at least for 7 years. He stopped in 1970 partly because of the businesslike attitude Warhol was adopting. But the NY Times reports that Name is now missing his archive of negatives! The photographer, who lives in Poughkeepsie, told them they're "in ghost land, man." more ›

Though it's not what he's known for, Andy Warhol created some really cute illustrations for a children's book series! And now a set of those illustrations is headed toward the auction block next month as part of Bloomsbury's Illustrated Books auction. Reportedly "they were drawn by Warhol early in his career, between 1957 and 1959, for the Doubleday Book Club's popular series Best in Children's Books." more ›

It was Andy "Warhol's night" at yesterday's contemporary art auction at Sotheby's. One of his first silk-screen paintings, "200 One Dollar Bills" yielded a surprising $43.7 million: While the bidding started at $6 million, the price jumped rapidly between five bidders, all of whom were eager to nab the Warhol classic. The estimated price was $12 million, so it was a shock that the painting brought in more than three times that. Sotheby's refused to reveal the identity of the buyer, but one unsuccessful bidder told the Times, "I think the painting was worth it. It was rare and great. And the appealing estimate helped encourage bidding." more ›

A Manhattan woman who has been keeping her Andy Warhol original in the closet for decades, has finally taken it out of the makeshift storage room so she can cash in. The painting (a self portrait) will go on the auction block at Sotheby's on November 11th. The woman was reportedly a receptionist in Warhol's factory at age 17, and in 1967 he gave her the painting, which is inscribed to her. Why sell such a personalized gift? It's estimated there are about one million reasons. more ›

Out of town transgender comes to the big city to make a name for herself—sound familiar? The NY Times looks at the girl who started it all, Candy Darling (previously known as James Lawrence Slattery), whose reinvented self came all the way from the suburbs on Long Island in the 60s to hang out with the likes of Andy Warhol and David Bowie. Though dead by 29, she has been preserved in songs like "Candy Says" by the Velvet Underground, and another old friend Jeremiah Newton of the Tisch School of the Arts has been archiving items associated with the muse. The paper reports that his collection includes everything from diaries to her cremated remains, and its now all being housed at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh (the last delivery was allegedly just made). more ›

In conjunction with The Andy Warhol Museum, Plexifilm is set to release the first ever authorized Andy Warhol films on DVD. 13 Most Beautiful...Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests features 13 of Warhol's classic silent film portraits (he filmed nearly 500 in two years). You'll see the familiar faces of: Nico, Lou Reed, Edie Sedgwick, Dennis Hopper, and more. more ›

Another day, another Andy Warhol lawsuit. The NY Sun has the latest on artist John Chamberlain, who has been claiming he owned a piece by the artist, titled 315 Johns. However, a former Warhol assistant, Gerard Malanga, says he created the piece. What's the connection? Malanga says he stored the work at Chamberlain's apartment, and sometime around the year 2000 the latter submitted it to the Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board, who dubbed it an original! "In 2004, Mr. Malanga claims, he ran into Mr. Chamberlain, who told him that he had sold the work as an authentic Warhol, for $5 million." The Supreme Court of the State of New York judge says the Warhol board's decision isn't binding on the court, however. Malanga is seeking to be compensated or to have the piece returned...or for his 15 minutes? His lawyer also noted that this case "once again raises questions about the competence and integrity of the Warhol authentication board." Burn! more ›

Lost City visits one of the odder buildings in the East Village today, located at 62 E. 4th Street. Currently two of the five floors house the Duo Theater, but the top three levels have gone unused for nearly 40 years. Built in 1889, the current crumbling facade isn't the biggest mystery -- the architecture is. LC notes:

There's all sort of Italianate grandeur in the shapes and lines. But it's all thrown off by the bizarre, frontal, cylindrical metal fire escape, enclosed by a tubular metal grill. The top floor included a boarded-up space of what looks like a door. But to where? There's no balcony. And what was the intention of the column-framed open forum on the fourth floor?