Segmented chronologically, Ratcliff explains the influence and significance of select paintings, as well as sections devoted to Warhol’s sketches, photographs, movies and notes on the techniques used by the artist. This format, combined with the inclusion of nearly 100 prints of paintings, is effective because a natural theme flows through the chronological ordering of the monograph. Some of the influences are obvious in Warhol’s work. However, the cumulative effect of the artist’s attempts is more easily understood through the chronological ordering of the pieces. The chronological ordering helps the reader understand what social or personal beliefs or conflicts the artist was dealing with pertaining to the given time period. For example, Warhol produced many pieces with singular subject matter displayed multiple times as in his Cam

Warhol’s work is very unique; Andy broke all the rules and made new ones as he went along. Warhol is known as the father of Pop art. Ratcliff captures the essence of Warhol and his paintings, sketches, photography, and movies. Andy Warhol accomplishes the task of revealing some of the mystique behind the artist Andy Warhol as well as his work. Andy Warhol by Carter Ratcliff is a powerful source for anybody interested in the source of American Pop art.

Drawing comparisons from the periods of Pre-Pop art, Pop art, and Post-Pop art, Ratcliff attempts to classify Warhol’s work in Andy Warhol. Commercial art including the title page for In The Bottom of My Garden, album jackets commissioned by RCA, book jackets for New Directions and Warhol’s famous I. Miller shoe advertisements became the focus of the Pre-Pop art period, also called the period of Consumerism by Warhol. Shifting to the Pop art period Warhol labels his art as “all surface with nothing beneath”.[7] The transition to Pop culture from Consumerism may have been influenced by the emptiness in Warhol’s work. The artist seems to have completed his projects as if he was commissioned to do the work, painting without a sense of feeling. The idea that Warhol only looked at his paintings for their face value is evident in such works as the do-it-yourself images (Figure 4) and Campbell’s soup cans, which appear to be commercial works of art, however they were part of Andy’s private collection. Warhol’s Death and Disaster series brought about muddled reviews from the public. The artist may have been equating the empty electric chair (Figure 5) combined with car-crash images to highway death as a form of execution, or he may have been merely trying to portray these symbols of death as strong controversial statements, to raise interest in his work. Death is the common bond that moves us from the Pop era to the Post Pop era. On the third of June in 1968, Warhol was shot several times by Valerie Solinas, founder and sole member of S.C.U.M. (Society for Cutting Up Men)

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Approximate Word count = 1413
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)