BRATTLEBORO, VERMONT.- Andy Warhol:The Jon Gould Collection is a major exhibition of Andy Warhol’s work, including paintings, prints and photographs never before on public view.  The exhibit opens on September 18, 2004 at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center , and remains on view through February 6, 2005. The show, comprised of artwork from the private collection of former Paramount Pictures executive Jon Gould, will showcase classic Warhol images, including the Campbell’s soup can, Mickey Mouse and Chairman Mao, as well as never-seen pieces, such as a painting Warhol created in collaboration with Jean-Michel Basquiat. 

 

Black and white photographs of Warhol’s life during the star-struck Studio 54 years also will be on view and shed insight into the personal side of one of the 20th century’s most controversial and influential artists.

 

As a leader of the Pop Art movement, Warhol ruptured the barriers separating graphic design from fine art. By extending the boundaries of what is considered fitting subject matter in the fine arts to include media imagery-such as celebrity photographs-and by appropriating commercial design techniques-such as screen printing- Warhol forever transformed the art world. His deceptively simple, media-generated images reflect the cultural ferment of the 1960s. 

 

Moreover, his unforgettable portraits of celebrities, ranging from Marilyn Monroe to Jackie Onassis, captured the pulse of an era and were eerily prescient of today’s global media culture.

 

Jon Gould was Warhol’s companion in the early 1980’s. Before he died of AIDS in 1986, Gould amassed a large collection of Warhol’s work. (Notably, Warhol died the next year of heart failure following gall bladder surgery.) Thanks to the generosity of Jon’s surviving twin brother, Jay, the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center has gained access to Jon’s collection. This exclusive exhibition will fill the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center’s approximately 5,000 square feet.