Skip to content

Time Capsule 21:
Business

In addition to being a successful artist, Warhol was a successful businessman. After a rather humble childhood, Warhol became possibly the most entrepreneurial artist of his time. His careers in art and illustration were the springboard for a host of satellite businesses: promoting and producing music, hosting shows at nightclubs, writing books, publishing a magazine, endorsing products, producing and directing films, buying real estate, and collecting fine-art objects and antiques. Warhol paid attention to detail and was known for his concern about his financial affairs. The Time Capsules contain records that are invaluable for researchers interested in reconstructing how Warhol’s various enterprises were interconnected and how they impacted his art.

I like money on the wall. Say you were going to buy a $200,000 painting. I think you should take that money, tie it up, and hang it on the wall. Then when someone visited you, the first thing they would see is the money on the wall.

Andy Warhol, THE Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again), 1975
An advertisement for Charles of the Ritz deodorant with two winged cherubs drawn in black ink and filled in with gold. One cherub holds a frame with the ad’s copy and has a speech bubble that says “simply heavenly to use”; the other holds up a tube of the product.

Andy Warhol, Advertisement (Charles of the Ritz antiperspirant deodorant), 1950s-1960s
The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
TC21.25

TC21 Object: Andy Warhol, Advertisement (Charles of the Ritz antiperspirant deodorant), 1950s-1960s

Throughout the 1950s and into the early 1960s, Andy Warhol worked as a commercial illustrator, producing ads like this one for deodorant, as well as book jackets, greeting cards, and many other products. As an ambitious and creative young person fresh out of college, Warhol pounded the pavement of Manhattan, drumming up clients and making a name for himself. His whimsical style was admired by women’s magazine editors desperate to feature their products in new ways. Warhol soon realized he would never become rich drawing ads because there was a limit to what editors would pay for each illustration. His solution was to hire assistants, allowing him to accept more work, and increase his income.

An ad for I. Miller shoes with two stylized reindeer heads with long antlers and two high-heeled shoes, shown from the side.

Advertisement (I. Miller, Harper's Bazaar), 1928
The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
TC21.91

TC21 Object: Advertisement (I. Miller, Harper's Bazaar), 1928

Although the I. Miller ad in TC21 is not by Warhol, the fact that he saved it in a Time Capsule indicates its significance to him. In 1955, Andy Warhol received one of the biggest breaks of his commercial career when he landed the I. Miller Shoe account and became the regular illustrator for their ads in the New York Times. These large ads created a buzz in the advertising world for their wit, style, and immediate recognizability. In 1956, Warhol was awarded the most prestigious commercial design award, The Art Directors Club Medal, for one of these shoe illustrations.

A receipt from This Week Magazine to Andy Warhol, dated December 2, 1959, detailing payment for four drawings and a cover.

Statement (from This Week Magazine to Andy Warhol, December 2, 1959), 1959
The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
TC21.116

TC21 Object: Statement (from This Week Magazine to Andy Warhol, December 2, 1959)

This is a receipt from This Week Magazine to Andy Warhol for $360.50, dated December 2, 1959. Not only was Warhol an award-winning illustrator, he was also a financial success. In 1960, just over 10 years after moving to New York, he earned $70,000. While he had a substantial retainer from I. Miller, Warhol continued to pursue other work illustrating magazines, album covers, cookbooks, and more.

The back cover of the Rolling Stones' album Sticky Fingers featuring a close-cropped rear view of a man in jeans. On the right back pocket is the Rolling Stones' logo, which is a cartoon drawing of a mouth with the tongue sticking out.

The Rolling Stones, Sticky Fingers3, 1971
The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
TC21.108

TC21 Object: The Rolling Stones, Sticky Fingers, 1971

Andy Warhol was a fan of the Rolling Stones when they arrived in New York City in the early 1960s. He attended a Stones concert in November 1965 and played their music in his studio, the Silver Factory. Their hit song Satisfaction can be heard playing in the background of audiotaped conversations in the factory. In the 1970s, Warhol became friends with the group, allowing them to use his Montauk home as a retreat and practice space. Warhol collaborated with Craig Braun to design this famous Sticky Fingers album cover in 1971.

A portrait of Mick Jagger looking over his shoulder toward the viewer. His hair is brown, skin orange, and his jaw, eyes, and cheeks are highlighted with turquoise.

Andy Warhol, Mick Jagger, 1975
The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection, Contribution Dia Center for the Arts
© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
1997.1.8b

Related Artwork: Andy Warhol, Mick Jagger, 1975

Although Warhol admired many of his portrait subjects from afar, it was his personal relationship with Mick Jagger that culminated in his iconic 10-print portfolio of Jagger’s face in 1975. Warhol used a selection of ten of his own photographs that he had taken of Jagger as source material for the silkscreen prints.

Black-and-white photograph on white coated paper. It shows the members of the Velvet Underground and Nico: Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison, John Cale, Nico, and Moe Tucker, posing around a Vox brand speaker. It is signed in green felt-tip and black ink: The Velvet Underground.

Display Photograph ("The Velvet Underground and Nico"), 1967
The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
1998.3.4563

Related Object: Display Photograph ("The Velvet Underground and Nico"), 1967

Just like the famous Sticky Fingers album cover, Warhol created in 1971 for The Rolling Stones, he created an equally racy album cover for The Velvet Underground in 1967 depicting a half peeled banana with the directive “Peel Slowly And See”. The Velvet Underground can be seen in this MGM/Verve Records promotional material; left to right: Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison, John Cale, Nico, and Moe Tucker.

Factory Diary: [Yves St. Laurent, Pierre Bergé, Mick Jagger, November 13, 1972]

Andy Warhol
Factory Diary: [Yves St. Laurent, Pierre Bergé, Mick Jagger, November 13, 1972]
½” reel-to-reel videotape, black and white, sound, 32 minutes, camera by Vincent Fremont
With Yves St. Laurent, Marina Schiano, Pierre Bergé, Bianca Jagger, Mick Jagger, Rosemary Kent, Andy Warhol, Jed Johnson, Fred Hughes, Archie.
Gift of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., 1997
©2019 The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, a museum of Carnegie Institute. All rights reserved. Reproduction or downloading is prohibited.

A postcard with a picture of Andy Warhol wearing a sunhat and holding a copy of his book a: a novel.

Blank postcard (Andy Warhol holding his book a: a novel), ca. 1968
The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
TC21 5.1

TC21 Object: Blank postcard (Andy Warhol holding his book a: a novel), ca. 1968

Warhol’s book a: a novel was transcribed from audio recordings that he made beginning in the summer of 1965. Warhol wanted everyone in the book to be given a pseudonym, and he retained all of the mistakes and typos made by the teenaged transcribers. His intent was to publish a record of twenty-four continuous hours in the life of Ondine, a flamboyant actor, who was one of his Superstars, but the tapes were actually made over a period of many months.

Cover of the book: THE Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again) by Andy Warhol. Accompanying book jacket bears image of Andy Warhol in a tuxedo holding his hands while leaning against a wall.

Andy Warhol, THE Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again), 1975
The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
T797a-b

Related Object: Andy Warhol, THE Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again), 1975

Warhol almost always worked in collaboration with others to produce written works. THE Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again) is based on tape recordings of Warhol, Brigid Berlin, Fred Hughes, Pat Hackett and Bob Colacello. Other published works of Warhol include: POPism: The Warhol ’60s, Andy Warhol’s Exposures, Andy Warhol’s Party Book, America, and The Andy Warhol Diaries.

A page inside Interview magazine, volume 1, number 1, 1969, featuring a photo of a woman in lingerie leaning against film equipment.

Interview - Vol. 1, no. 1 (1969), 1969
The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
TC21-30-2

TC21 Object: Interview - Vol. 1, no. 1 (1969)

Interview magazine was a business venture started by Warhol in 1969. The original issues were devoted mainly to film, featuring Warhol’s film works, those of other 1960s avant-garde filmmakers, and Hollywood movies of the 1930s and ‘40s. This monthly eventually became a chronicle of the worlds of art, fashion, high society, and film.

The cover of Interview magazine depicting artist and musician Yoko Ono wearing dark sunglasses. The background has red, blue, purple, and green scribbles and the word Interview is written in white at the top.

Interview - Vol. 15, no. 1 (January 1985) cover photograph of Yoko Ono by Albert Watson; cover design by Richard Bernstein, 1985
The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
1998.3.11151

Related Object: Interview - Vol. 15, no. 1 (January 1985) cover photograph of Yoko Ono by Albert Watson; cover design by Richard Bernstein

The covers of Interview were a hip equivalent of those found on Life or Vogue. Warhol enlisted Richard Bernstein in 1972 to design the covers. He infused the magazine’s covers with go-go glamour and created an energetic, handwritten Interview logo. Warhol pioneered the concept of the recorded celebrity-on-celebrity interview, creating an intimate conversational style that had rarely been used in journalism.

A color photo of an Interview magazine installation at The Andy Warhol Museum. There are multiple magazine covers displayed on seven rows of shelving.

Installation of Andy Warhol's Interview magazine.
The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

Related Object: Installation of Andy Warhol's Interview magazine. The Andy Warhol Museum

Interview magazine, nicknamed “The Crystal Ball of Pop”, is still in production today. While the magazine briefly folded in May, 2018, it relaunched in September, 2018 with its 521st issue. The latest issue can be found on the Interview Magazine website.

Invoice indicating a $183 balance due, from Gerald Kornblau Antiques to Andy Warhol, dated May 17, 1960 for the purchase of an apothecary chest, a tin painted spittoon, and a tin tissue dispenser.

Invoice (from Gerald Kornblau Antiques to Andy Warhol, May 17, 1960), 1960
The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
TC21.23

TC21 Object: Invoice (from Gerald Kornblau Antiques to Andy Warhol, May 17, 1960)

This receipt from an antique store reveals another of Andy Warhol’s enterprises: collecting. It is not difficult to understand how an apothecary chest, a spittoon, and a tin tissue dispenser fit within Warhol’s collection, given that Warhol reportedly shopped every day.

A collection of dishware called Fiestaware is displayed on four shelves. Plates, bowls, creamers, cups, pitchers, and wine glasses make up the collection.

Installation shot from Possession Obsession: Objects from Andy Warhol’s Personal Collection. Select Fiestaware objects.
The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
Photo by Richard Stoner

Related Object: Installation shot from Possession Obsession: Objects from Andy Warhol’s Personal Collection. Select Fiestaware objects

Warhol’s daily purchases included all manner of objects – everything from Fiestaware to Art Deco silver, from kitsch cookie jars to American Empire furniture.

A collection of cookie jars. The cookie jar on the right is in the shape of a plump woman wearing a green dress with her hair in a bun. The jar in the middle is a clown wearing a hat with a bulbous red nose, red bowtie, and blue eyes. The jar on the left is in the shape of a lantern with a white bird on top.

Installation shot from Possession Obsession: Objects from Andy Warhol’s Personal Collection. Select cookie jars.
The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
Photo by Richard Stoner

Related Object: Installation shot from Possession Obsession: Objects from Andy Warhol’s Personal Collection. Select cookie jars

Warhol shopped at flea markets, antique stores, and auction houses. Although he was very skilled at finding bargains and items that would become very valuable, he never did cash in his collection.

Silver cups, creamers, coffee pots, and bowls sitting on a wooden table in a gallery. Behind the table is a black statue of a man standing as well as a large statue of a rooster. Two paintings hang on the wall beside a large wooden armoire.

Installation shot from Possession Obsession: Objects from Andy Warhol’s Personal Collection.
The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
Photo by Richard Stone

Related Object: Installation shot from Possession Obsession: Objects from Andy Warhol’s Personal Collection

Hoarded in obscurity in his New York City townhouse, Warhol’s vast collection was seen only on a few rare occasions when he allowed portions of it to be exhibited. Upon his death the estate was auctioned by Sotheby’s for a grand total of about 25 million dollars.

A white business envelope with the return address “Andy Warhol Films, Incorporated.”

Blank envelope (Andy Warhol Films, Inc.), 1970-1975
The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
TC21.118.1

TC21 Object: Blank envelope (Andy Warhol Films, Inc.), 1970-1975

Ten empty business envelopes with the return address “Andy Warhol Films, Incorporated.” were found in TC21. Andy Warhol was fascinated with filmmaking and spent a large amount of time and money working in this medium. He began creating silent minimalist films in 1963, graduating to more elaborate commercial film productions in the early 1970s.

A color Polaroid photograph of Andy Warhol, standing outside next to a large, wooden, movie camera on a tripod. He is wearing a black leather jacket over what appears to be a purple shirt, and brown pants.

Andy Warhol, Self-Portrait with Movie Camera, ca. 1971
The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
1998.3.8902

Related Object: Andy Warhol, Self-Portrait with Movie Camera, ca. 1971

In 1971, Warhol withdrew his 1960s films from public circulation and stored them in his studio. There are over 60 of these films in the collection of The Andy Warhol Museum. Warhol explored the process of making film, the structure of stories, the screen personality, and the tension between reality and illusion.

This color film poster depicts 3 men with the title: “Andy Warhol’s Lonesome Cowboys” in yellow and orange. The man on the left is wearing a red headband, the man in the middle is wearing a jean jacket and the man on the right is turned sideways facing the other two men.

Film Poster ("Lonesome Cowboys"), ca. 1968
The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
MISC 03.0019

Related Object: Film Poster ("Lonesome Cowboys"), ca. 1968

In his films, as in his other artwork, Warhol tested the boundary between high and low culture. Warhol borrowed freely from Hollywood, as well as from the avant-garde, to create works that question how film is viewed as art and entertainment.