(Long Island, NY) Andy Warhol is a New York legend. His offices alone created a decent-sized stir among journalists who couldn’t get over his “silver era” Factory art studio/office/filmmaker’s paradise. Later on, when he was hobnobbing with the likes of Lee Radziwill and Truman Capote, Warhol was the owner of a summer house at Montauk. This was the location where director Ulli Lommel shot the film Cocaine Cowboys. Warhol had a few minutes onscreen as himself. Jack Palance was also featured in the movie, which featured Warhol’s Montauk house as one of the main locations.
Warhol’s Long Island connection may not have made art history, but the Montauk scenery figures prominently in photos of Warhol during this period, along such luminaries as Dick Cavett, Mick Jagger, John Lennon, and Jackie Onassis.
Long Island luminaries aside, Andy Warhol seems to be undergoing a renaissance these days. Recently in print; a whole slew of books including the massive Andy Warhol’s Giant Size. Andy Warhol Screen Tests and Andy Warhol’s World are all new and crammed full of amazing photos, quotes and commentary by those who best knew the artist and his work.
Photographs of Warhol are filled with mystery; one gets the impression the man is not from this planet. One of the most revealing photos of Warhol is featured in Giant Size, a self-portrait that is completely out of focus except for his face. Warhol’s eyes are closed as if he doesn’t really want to be in the picture at all, and he looks all at once at peace, yet totally uncomfortable. In short, a portrait of the inner Andy Warhol, except caught on film and not canvas.
The new line of book releases about Warhol are not merely the latest attempt to cash in on the Warhol legacy, though it may be viewed by some as such. Instead, these new titles have unleashed a treasure trove of information about the man. The books don’t reveal new information-most of the story is already public. Bob Colacello’s Holy Terror, and Victor Bockris’s Warhol together probably paint a complete picture, along with Warhol’s own Popism-The Warhol Sixties. What the new titles do offer is a fresh visual record of what went on behind closed doors at the Factory, out in the New York nightlife, even at home or in places Warhol could be found—including his Montauk summer home. Many of the titles now in print show the famous visits by the Jaggers, by Truman Capote and other names.
In this still-new century, Warhol the artist could be in danger of being eclipsed by Warhol, the legend. His photography-some of which has never been shown at an art gallery or other venue-is just as fascinating as the paintings. After his death his estate auction brought six-figure bids for Warhol’s collection of cookie jars—not antiques, not gold plated or made by some rare process—just ordinary cookie jars that happened to be owned by one of the most famous people in the world.
When Andy Warhol died in 1987, the seemingly endless stream of famous names stopped coming to his compound in Montauk. Many acres were donated to a non-profit conservancy, and today the Long Island branch of Andy Warhol the legend is up for sale. It is not cheap, and has a long history some potential buyers might not fully appreciate. Warhol is, after all, a New York legend first, and a world famous celebrity second. There are many who believe that without New York, there would be no Andy Warhol. The two definitely did influence one another.
