The Use Of Appropriation In Andy Warhol'S Artwork The Last Supper
Postmodernism is a broad movement that developed in the mid-to late-20th century across philosophy, the arts, architecture, and criticism that marked a departure from modernism. Appropriation is a Postmodern characteristic, and is fundamentally the act of taking something from somewhere else and placing it into a new context. In art, appropriation is seen as using (or taking) someone else's artwork, manipulating it and ultimately changing the whole meaning behind the work. Artists can borrow concepts and approaches from other artists and yet their artworks are still regarded as original.
Commissioned by his friend the art dealer Alexandre Iolas, Andy Warhol prepared more than 40 versions, both silk-screened and hand-painted of Leonardo Da Vinci's masterpiece ‘The Last Supper’ (1495-97). The one that I've chosen to analyse is The Last Supper (Dove) by Andy Warhol (1986). In the early eighties, Andy Warhol began making works derived from other major artists including Raphael, Botticelli, De Chirico, and Munch. With the Last Supper, Warhol found his last grand inspiration, a sustained reimagining of Leonardo’s masterpiece. Warhols The Last Supper (Dove) is simplistic yet profound in meaning. Plain white fills the background while the 12 apostles and Jesus dining at the table are painted with synthetic polymer paint on canvas creating bold linework. Different to the original, they are stripped of colour and tone, simple linework husks of what they once were.
Logos are made salient by their bursts of vibrant colour and are layered atop the monochrome background. Just by looking at Andy Warhol's work, it's easy to assume its meaning can be chalked down as an atheistic mockery of Christianity, because of the logos and cheap price tag over a universally recognised holy image. However, you could not be further from the truth as Warhol was raised and secretly remained a devout Christian his entire life. Raised in a Byzantine Rite Catholic community in Pittsburgh, Warhol continued to attend mass almost daily, regularly helped to feed the homeless at an Episcopal Church on the Upper East Side and even had a private audience with Pope John Paul II in 1980. At home, most rooms had religious icons. His first experience of art was of religious art. Warhol respected and admired the meaning behind Leonardo's piece and decided to make a reproduction of the original with a more modernised meaning.
In Warhol's The Last Supper (Dove), the positioning and scale of Jesus and his apostles at the table has been kept the same as the original, however, all colour and value have been drained from the artwork, leaving simple black bold linework atop a white background leaving a modern pop art feel. Three bright and colourful commercial logos are placed over the sacred drawing: the corner price tag of 59 cents; the Dove soap logo and the General Electric logo. It is ironic to see these commercial icons juxtaposed with the sacred icon. Leonardo's painting depicts Jesus' last meal with his apostles before he was captured and crucified, however, in Warhol’s appropriation there are several meanings all pointing to the mixing of Christ and consumerism making this work inherently different to the original. The price-tag could easily be interpreted as Christ dying for the sins of mankind, essentially paying "the ultimate price". Or, alternatively, the piece could be saying that the image of The Last Supper has been cheapened because of its overuse and is now on the same level as the logos.
Another more gloomy meaning conveyed through the piece is the suggestion that money is God today. These alternate meanings and distinct techniques therefore mean that the artwork can still be regarded as original. The concept of borrowing ideas and images and incorporating them into new work is an essential part of how art is made. People of the time considered Andy Warhol's art as revolutionary and brilliant because he was the first to challenge our idea of what art is. He used appropriation to make people question what exactly art was, and if we all are artists ourselves. Were those shoe ads art? Is the person who designed soup labels an artist? Warhol was different because of the shock value of this artworks, and The Last Supper (Dove) was no different. T
he simplistic and devalued appropriation of Leonardo Da Vinci's masterpiece ‘the Last Supper’ was enough to raise eyebrows, but the addition of the logos ruffled a few feathers. Nonetheless, Warhol's work was otherwise well received, with the new and modern meaning applauded by the world. Andy Warhol's Last Supper works were displayed in 1986 in a space opposite the Santa Maria delle Grazie church, home of Leonardo’s original. Viewed by an estimated 30,000 people, the works took Milan by storm.
Andy Warhol's artwork The Last Supper (Dove) is an incredible example of Appropriation. The intense impact of his artwork shines through its modernised and overall profound meaning. Several different conclusions can be drawn, but all can be chalked up to Christ and consumerism. This is a bewildering connection that Warhol manages to create through his blatantly original Pop Art approach to one of if not the most traditional and sacred artwork in all of human history. This work inherently different to the original, challenging our idea of what art is and in conclusion, confirms the idea that artists can borrow concepts and approaches from other artists and yet their artworks are still regarded as original.
