Ted Turner 1986

Here we see Andy Warhol’s portrait of Ted Turner, rendered in bright blues, fleshy pinks, and sharp yellows. The image looks like it's been built up in layers, a bit like a collage, with flat blocks of color creating a fractured but recognizable image. The face is bisected by a screen-printed panel, adding to that slightly off-kilter feeling. You can almost feel Warhol deciding where to lay down each color, each line, each block. It's like he’s thinking aloud in paint! I always wonder what it was like for Warhol to be in the studio. He made it look so easy, so effortless, but behind that cool facade, there must have been a real intensity. Warhol was always looking, seeing, and then finding ways to show us how to see too. This piece is a reminder that painting isn't just about representation, it's a way of thinking, a way of questioning, and a way of seeing the world anew.