Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art

About this Work

Among Pop artist Andy Warhol’s favorite celebrity subjects was the actress Elizabeth Taylor, who had reached the zenith of her popularity in the 1960s not only for her films, such as Butterfield 8 (1960) and Cleopatra (1963), but also for her many marriages, including her much publicized 1964 divorce from Eddie Fisher and subsequent wedding to co-star Richard Burton nine days later. The tabloid nature of her fame is reflected by Wahol’s garish colors and commercial printing process.

This image was taken from a publicity shot, ca. 1960, that Warhol acquired a large collection of 8 x 10-inch black-and-white press photographs from journalist friends like David Bourdon, who worked in the editorial library (the "morgue") at Time, Inc., and John Rublowsky, who wrote for the tabloids. A New York City policeman Jimmy O'Neill also provided him with photographs of suicides, car wrecks, and crime scenes. These images remained in Warhol's collection until his death and provided an important source for his early Pop imagery.