Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

One of the most controversial and influential figures on the American cultural scene, Warhol embodied the idiosyncracies of modern times in his art and life. This catalog, which accompanies his first major retrospective, shows the range of his career in over 600 illustrations (277 in color). Four essays assess his impact, his sources, his technical methods, and his roots in commercial art. The picture is rounded out by a chronology that documents his life and career, a section offering comments and images by his colleagues, and a compilation of statements by the artist himself. A handsome and definitive work, recommended for general, art, and modern culture collections.-- Robin Kaplan, The Information Group, Los Angeles (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

Warhol, who died in 1987, can be viewed as a relentless observer, who dwelled obsessively upon images representative of our century: the electric chair, a jet crash, the Soviet hammer and sickle, screen idols, politicians, symbolic volcanoes. A retrospective now at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, which this lengthy tome catalogues, reveals that some of Warhol's most suggestive works are among his least well-known, to wit, his space-age Moonwalk (1987), a Rorschach-like series of paintings, and the enormous, Asiatic-looking Oxidation Paintings done in metallic pigments. Packed with 325 color plates and 332 in black and white, this six-pounder includes four academic, hyperbolic essays, 33 pages of first-hand impressions of Warhol by cultural celebs, and 10 pages of his instant wit and wisdom. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

CHOICE Review

From the striking front cover to the handy index of plates at the end, this catalog of the Andy Warhol retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art is a very handsome and useful tribute to the artist. In addition to 460 high-quality plates, arranged chronologically and by image, there are numerous illustrations in the texts of the four introductory essays. These essays provide a comprehensive overview of Warhol's life and work and a thoughtful critical framework for viewing his art. Other features include an extensive chronology (illustrated), statements about Warhol by 40 friends and famous people (also illustrated), statements by Warhol, and a detailed bibliography. Although it is comparable in approach to Carter Radcliff's Warhol (CH, Apr '84), the grander scope of this new book is more appropriate to the superstar status that Warhol achieved. Highly recommended to college libraries. -G. Eager, Bucknell University