The Kiss (Bela Lugosi)

Andy Warhol (in 1963)

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karenb. asked

Hello, did Warhol get permission to use the still of Bela Lugosi when he made his artwork? Thanks, KB
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen answered

Dear Karen, thank you for your interesting question. Unfortunately we do not have information about the eventual copyright issues that Warhol had to deal with. If rights were an issue at the time, he probably cleared them. I could also imagine, however, that Warhol's work was embraced by the film company as it promoted an almost forgotten hero of the white screen. Kind regards, Els
frank arling asked

What is the signifigance of this work comparing it to other works of Warhol?
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen answered

Dear Frank, we could write a whole book on this question! But here's a 'short' answer: In the 1960s Warhol began to make these kinds of silk-screen paintings, mimicking the commercial methods of mass production. Warhol’s adaptation of the silk-screen technique established his revolutionary contribution to both art history and contemporary art. Warhol favored a mass-produced, machine-like look over visibility of the artist’s hand. Warhol was also very interested in the cult of celebrity; the subjects he chose are often iconic images from the world of film (here we see the actor Bela Lugosi), music and art. Warhol’s silkscreen paintings reflect America’s obsession with celebrity and tragedy, in a world more and more defined by popular mass media. The museum's director Wim Beeren purchased 'The Kiss' in 1979 because he believed Warhol, 'represented par excellence the relationship between the media and art'. Best, Tanja van Oostrum

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The museum's director Wim Beeren purchased 'The Kiss' in 1979 because he believed Warhol, 'represented par excellence the relationship between the media and art'. In the 1960s Warhol began to make silk screen paintings in which a single image was repeated several times. This scene from a vampire film is printed against a silver background, referring to the silver emulsion used in film and photographic negatives and the so called 'silver screen' of cinema.

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Specifications

Title	The Kiss (Bela Lugosi)
Material and technique	Silkscreen on canvas
Object type	Print > Two-dimensional object > Art object
Location	This object is in storage

Dimensions	Width Error: 536,5 is not a valid BCD value cm Height Error: 207,5 is not a valid BCD value cm Depth Error: 3,5 is not a valid BCD value cm
Artists	Artist: Andy Warhol
Accession number	2984 (MK)
Credits	Purchased 1979
Department	Modern Art
Acquisition date	1979
Creation date	in 1963
Entitled parties	© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. c/o Pictoright Amsterdam 2018
Internal exhibitions	De collectie als tijdmachine (2017) Lievelingen XL (2024)
Material	Canvas > Worked fibres > Fibre > Vegetable material > Organic material > Material > Material and technique
Object	Print > Two-dimensional object > Art object
Technique	Silkscreen print > Stencil screen printing technique > Printing technique > Technique > Material and technique
Geographical origin	The United States of America > North America > America

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All about the artist

Andy Warhol

Pittsburgh 1928 - New York 1987

Warhol was trained as a graphic designer at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh. In 1949 he settled in New York where he worked as an advertising...

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