David Whitney 1972

Andy Warhol made this Polaroid of David Whitney sometime in the 1970s or 80s. Warhol, a master of capturing celebrity and turning it into art, uses the quick immediacy of the Polaroid to capture Whitney’s affable charm. But who was David Whitney? Understanding his role helps us understand the social world Warhol inhabited and depicted. Whitney was a prominent art collector and curator, deeply embedded in the New York art scene. Here, Whitney is captured smiling, dressed in a tuxedo. The image suggests the glamorous social events that defined the art world, a world of exclusive parties and openings. Warhol’s choice of Polaroid, a medium associated with snapshots and ephemerality, is interesting. It elevates a casual photograph to art, blurring the lines between private and public, and between the elite art world and popular culture. To understand this image fully, we need to delve into the archives, to uncover the networks and relationships that made up this world. The meaning of art always depends on its social and institutional context.