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The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

Magritte + Warhol by Duane Michals

Duane Michals, Andy Warhol (In Front of Campbell’s Soup Art), c. 1962.

Nov 16 – Dec 21, 2023
535 W 22nd St 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10011

Duane Michals has always had an uncanny ability to photograph artists in a way that reflects their own signature style. Marcel Duchamp, David Hockney, Alice Neel, Louise Nevelson, and Robert Rauschenberg all had portraits made by Michals, and these are now on view at DC Moore Gallery. But there were two artists he found especially captivating: Andy Warhol and René Magritte. Michals met Warhol, an unknown commercial artist, in 1958. The pair bonded over their shared hometown of Pittsburgh, and Michals snapped his portrait, capturing a young man nearing a major turning point. Michals would continue to photograph his friend over the years, documenting the birth of the Andy Warhol we remember. In Michal’s words , “he’s transcended being a mere artist, he’s a phenomenon.” Michals first photographed Magritte in 1965, at his home in Brussels. “In his world, I could not be sure of anything,” Michals reflected. He incorporated that same surrealist uncertainty into his final portraits of the artist. —Clara Molot