Andy Warhol - Liz

Frequently hailed as the greatest movie star of all time, Taylor was a friend of Warhol's in the 1970s and 1980s. The personification of charisma whose highly public life charged with drama, tragedy, and romance, this iconic muse was a perfect vehicle for Warhol's vivid silkscreen portraiture derived from press clippings, publicity shots, and film stills. From her early years as a child star with MGM, Taylor became one of the world's most famous actresses, recognized first for her acting ability, her glamorous lifestyle, her beauty, her husbands, her jewels, and her violet eyes -- and later as a courageous and tireless social activist. Warhol made over fifty portraits of her in all her incarnations-- from the ethereally beautiful child-actress (National Velvet, 1963) to the commanding, voluptuous screen goddess (Blue Liz as Cleopatra, 1962). In single portraits such as Silver Liz [Ferus Type], (1963) and Liz #6 [Early Colored Liz] (1963) Taylor appears isolated on a monochrome field, a Russian icon reinterpreted for the altar of celebrity. Flawlessly coiffed jet hair frames her startling face; her full red lips "bleed" beyond their outline onto the canvas; her skin glows in flagrant shades of pink while her legendary eyes gain a new level of theatricality from the vivid turquoise that highlights her brow. In other works, Warhol's palette moves from the lurid apple green of Liz [Early Colored Liz] (1963) to the gleaming sterling of Silver Liz [Studio Type] (1963). Brought together for the first time, each portrait captures and amplifies the intensity, the extravagance, the carnality, and the resilience that were the unique hallmarks of Elizabeth Taylor's notorious and beloved character. Warhol's choice of source material and his daring palette produced images that have lost none of their explosive power in the decades that separate the present from the moment of their making.