Andy Warhol Posters 'n' Pop

Andy Warhol Coca Cola Prints:
The Artist with Fizz

One of the most culturally influential individuals in the art world was Andy Warhol. He was as controversial in his art as he was in his personal life. Warhol’s forte was not only to paint popular personalities, but also to choose simple, common items, such as a Coca-Cola bottle, and reproduce it in numerous, different compositions.

Warhol’s Fascination with Mass Appeal
Andy Warhol was a prolific artist who created in many different genres. His work included painting, photography and film. He is renowned for bringing to life everyday items such as dollar bills, brand name products, and images from newspapers. His objective was to select a popular object that would immediately capture the public’s attention and emphatically appeal to everyone.

The following quote well describes Warhol’s thinking behind his famous Coca-Cola illustrations: “What's great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coca Cola, Liz Taylor drinks Coca Cola, and just think, you can drink Coca Cola, too. A coke is a coke and no amount of money can get you a better coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the cokes are the same and all the cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it.”

Coca Cola as Art
Andy Warhol spent part of his career as a commercial illustrator, and it follows that he would apply marketing influences to other areas of his artwork. Together with other prominant artists, he participated in a gallery showing called ‘The American Supermarket’ where products and advertisements were exhibited as artistic pieces.

Some reports state that Warhol created a series of 30 paintings of Coca-Cola; each one different in size, style, color and composition. Certain pieces from the Andy Warhol museum in Pittsburgh will be on loan for a year. The exhibit of those pieces will take place at the Coca Cola museum, just down the street from the Coca Cola headquarters.

"Warhol took art and he made art available to the everyday man and everybody understood it," said Ted Ryan, the exhibit's curator for The Coca-Cola Co. He added, "Everybody owns a piece of Coke, or a piece of Marilyn, at least in the imagination."

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