Andrew Unangst

The archival photographic pop-art print, Small ‘Andy Warhol with Red Campbell’s Soup’ was created in 1985 by photographer Andrew Unangst. Taken in New York City, Unangst had the opportunity to meet and photograph Andy Warhol for a campaign with Vidal Sassoon. After sharing a few laughs to break the ice; Unangst was able to capture Warhol in his true essence, wearing his signature black turtleneck, white wig, and posing regally to showcase a Campbell’s soup can. The commercial setting evolved into a spontaneous portraiture session, with the result of that surreal shooting is one of the most iconic and last portrait images of Warhol. Together with the portraits by Mapplethorpe and Avedon, it occupies a primary place in the triad of pictures that have contributed to the perception of the pop-art master artist. After the photoshoot, Unangst and Warhol kept in contact and remained friends until the pop-artists’ untimely passing. Unangst released this exclusive edition of prints after working on the photograph for more than a decade, in order to achieve the highest quality processing with meticulous attention to detail. In the last two years, the traditional silver gelatin of the first editions was substituted with an innovative technique that utilizes incredibly durable archival ink and allows a better tonal rendering of the image. The blue chip portrait is included in the permanent collection of the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh and in the International Center of Photography (ICP). Arriving ready-to-install, the archival photographic print comes custom framed in bold poppy red with a matte finish, paying homage to the traditional color scheme of Campbell’s Soup and museum caliber non-glare glass.

Andrew Unangst, born in 1950, is an American commercial and fashion photographer. He moved to New York in the 1970s and found success working for geographic and travel magazines. Throughout his career, Unangst has photographed portraits of notable figures including Andy Warhol (1928-1987), American author Stephen King, Gold medal Olympian Oksana Baiul, and Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones. His work has appeared on the cover of TIME Magazine, Interview Magazine, among other publications concerning the life and work of Andy Warhol. His well-known portraits of Warhol were taken during a photo-shoot at Unangst’s Park Avenue studio in 1985. Unangst reworked these photographs over a long period to achieve a satisfactory quality. The portraits are now held by collections including the Andy Warhol Museum, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and the International Center of Photography, New York. During his career, Unangst explored a wide range of different mediums and themes; alongside his advertising activity, he collaborated with great artists and photographers, such as Richard Avedon and Peter Beard, for whom he photographed diaries and realized portraits. He opened a gallery in New York City, focusing on modern painting and ancient tribal objects and exhibited in a solo show at Pace Gallery, in 1986. The year after, Life Magazine dedicated a groundbreaking article to his work and he was then nominated Photographer of the Year by Adweek Magazine. He is responsible for the development of an innovative technique that transfers the use of light of 16th and 17th century Dutch paintings into photography, exploiting its ability to confer tridimensional qualities to the surface. His early works have been collected by Carl Sandburg and are today part of the permanent archives of the Museum of Modern Art. To learn more about our exclusive collaboration with Andrew Unangst, please visit our website: www.artoncontemporary.com