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This past weekend I went to the Brooklyn Museum to see “Andy Warhol – The Last Decade”. WAY too many things have been written about this man who was, is and will always be one of the most famous artists in history. Art critics and journalists have already offered a lot of reviews about this show too. Thus, I thought it would be more interesting to share a few fun facts and some of the images from the show. This is the last stop for the exhibit which was originally organized by the Milwaukee Art Museum (where it appeared first), then it travelled to the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, and has finally landed at the Brooklyn Museum until January 9, 2011.

I believe (and so many people agree) that Warhol changed the art world forever and opened the door for a lot of interdisciplinary endeavors by artists who, prior to Warhol, would have considered appearing on TV, an interest in fashion or being part of the celebrity world career suicide. It was also Warhol who said “Making money is art and working is art and good business in the best art” thus making sure, that being an artist can be as profitable as any other profession. So, that is what Andy Warhol did, and in the last decade of his life, between 1976 and 1986 (Andy died in February of 1987), he not only appeared in TV shows and interviewed celebrities, but also wrote books and published his diaries, took pictures at Studio 54, painted rock stars, models, actors, socialites and rich friends on commission and oversaw the publication of the magazine Interview (that he founded in 1969).

During the last years of his life, Warhol also found the time to create around 3,500 great artworks. A tiny number of these great pieces (only 45) are displayed in “The Last Decade”. The most outstanding ones are those on the 5th floor of the museum, including some of the variations he did of “The Last Supper”, which feature some canvases as long as 421 inches (that’s 10 meters and 69 centimeters!). I found the pieces to be very revealing about Andy’s spirituality and convictions (as a curious note, he was a Catholic who used to go almost daily to Saint Vincent’s on Lexington and 66th). This was also the same decade when Warhol got involved in many “collaborations” with other great artists including Basquiat and Francesco Clemente—some of these works are also included in the show. Enjoy the images!