by John Waters
First published 2012
John Waters explores the creative partnership between pop art king Andy Warhol and Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor. Waters documents how their friendship in the 1970s and 1980s sparked over fifty portraits that captured Taylor's transformation from child star to screen goddess. The book reveals how Warhol transformed press photos, publicity stills, and film clips into vibrant silk-screen portraits that matched Taylor's dramatic public persona. Waters shows how Taylor's charisma, marked by romance, tragedy, and constant media attention, made her the perfect subject for Warhol's artistic vision. The portraits span Taylor's career from her ethereal performance in National Velvet to her commanding presence in Cleopatra. Waters illuminates the connection between artist and muse, showing how their relationship produced some of Warhol's most powerful work. The book demonstrates how Taylor's explosive screen presence translated into equally dynamic visual art that retains its impact decades later.
Genres: biography, art, 20th-century, biography-memoir, 21st-century, art-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: artist-muse, celebrity-friendship
Period: 1970s, 1980s
120 pages · Hardcover · Gagosian / Rizzoli