The children’s book illustrated by Andy Warhol
Before he was the king of pop art, Andy Warhol was just a lowly illustrator. In the years before his art world breakthrough, Warhol made his living as a commercial artist doing illustrations for brands like Chanel, Tiffany and Co, Volkswagen and more, as well as diving into the world of album artwork for RCA.
Making a name for himself through his doodle-like line illustrations and love of bold colours, Warhol’s early illustrations already have touches of the vibrant pop artist he’d become. Full of childlike cats, angels and flowers, his commercial illustrations lean towards the lighthearted.
It’s hard to imagine this illustrator going on to make Warhol’s dark later work, like his death and disaster series. A later series full of haunting images of violence, horrifying news stories and stark looks at America’s dark side, Warhol certainly evolved from these early images.
But every artist needs to make ends meet before their big break. Warhol didn’t land in New York and shoot straight to the big time. It took him years of commercial work before he was able to have his Factory full of artists, actors and superstars.
One job he took between 1957 and 1960 saw Andy Warhol illustrating a series of children’s books. In a series titled ‘Best In Children’s Books’, Nelson Doubleday published collections of famous children’s stories featuring occasional illustrations by Andy Warhol.
It was pretty popular. In total, 33 volumes were published, with each containing ten stories. Each story was illustrated by someone different, but Andy Warhol was repeatedly commissioned, going on to illustrate six stories for the publishers.
Illustrating stories like ‘Magic Porridge Pot’ and ‘Funny Words and Riddles’, it’s worlds away from his Marilyn Diptych or the Car Crash series, but Warhol’s childlike illustrations were a perfect match.
Warhol clearly enjoyed the job as in 1985, he actually released his own children’s book titled simply, ‘Andy Warhol’s Children’s Book’, filling it with illustrations more in keeping with his style at the time.
