Sturtevant the Shadow: The Issue of Originality in the 1960s

 

Sturtevant, Study for Warhol's Marilyn, 1965.

Do you recognize the photo to the right? At a quick glance, it may be easy to guess--it's a Warhol of course! But is it? No...and yes.

Andy Warhol is best known for his art (creations) that people wanted to share and the media wanted to highlight. Ironic to his fame, Warhol's art "reflected the idea that society had lost the uniqueness carried in individually made items." His artistic goals were not in quality or uniqueness--rather, they highlighted the banality of art.

Warhol's series of 50 artworks based on one photo of the late actress Marilyn Monroe reflected this societal obsession with recognizability and obsession with shallow glamour through art. Yet, that picture to the right is not a Warhol, it is a Sturtevant.

Elaine Sturtevant, known as Sturtevant, is said to be the mother of the appropriation art movement. Sturtevant replicated numerous famous artists' works from memory. Most notable were her "copies" of Warhol's works. Warhol even, obligingly, let her borrow his silkscreen press, his usual method of creating his art. When asked about the process, Warhol stated, "Ask Elaine."

Elaine Sturtevant

Why copy the original copier? Sturtevant's replica of Warhol's Marilyn was shared mere weeks after Warhol's original. However, this series itself is an appropriation of the existing photo of the actress. That's just it--Sturtevant wanted the viewer to assume that the creator of the work was indeed Warhol. 

Sturtevant smartly asked "When is a Warhol not a Warhol? When is it one--what makes it so?" If Warhol's series of Marilyns is based on someone else's picture, is his not a copy too?

Sturtevant's works are purposefully inexact--just as Warhol's screenprints are varying. They are all hers, yet they are not. This is the main goal of the replications...questioning the issues of authorship. Warhol did not design the Marilyn series from scratch. Still, when one views the photo (or one like it) they will think of him. Warhol was praised for his art's ironic nature, but Sturtevant was often shunned for hers. 

Warhol, Marilyn (f. & S. 11.27), 1967

Sturtevant's art asks society to question the authorship and uniqueness of contemporary art in the 1960s obsession with media and consumerism. She takes Warhol's ideologies to an extreme to push the viewer to see art for it is--replicas of replicas. 

In recent years, Sturtevant's are selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Is it due to their unique take on authorship or because her work is as close to Warhol's as they can get?

Sturtvant's work satirizes the 1960's nostalgic lens for its "one-of-a-kind" stance. Perhaps the '60s revolutionary definition is simply reflective of human repetition. Today, as I did at the beginning, if you stopped someone on the street, they would tell you that the image before them is a Warhol. They then might curse him for his shallow takes on art or praise his connection to society at large. 

This is the irony of Sturtevant and the 1960s as a whole. A time in which everything felt new and defining, Sturtevant asks who defined it? To call her a thief is to call Warhol one as well. She reveals the core of art--its creation, marketability, and repetition. Though the '60s attempted to stand out from the periods before it, Sturtevant merely labels it as another time of media power. 

One last time, whose art is the picture on the top right? - Liz Smith

                                                                          Works Cited   

“Andy Warhol Marilyn (F. & S. II.27) (Signed Print) 1967.” MyArtBroker, www.myartbroker.com/artist-andy-warhol/collection-marilyn-monroe/artwork-marilyn-f-s-ii-27-signed-print. Accessed 1 Mar. 2024. 

Auctions, Artnet. “Artnet Auctions Presents: Why This ‘Marilyn’ by the Conceptual Artist Sturtevant Challenges Notions of Authorship and Authenticity.” Artnet News, 12 Nov. 2020, news.artnet.com/partner-content/artnet-auctions-marilyn-by-sturtevant-1965. 

How the 1960s’ Most Iconic Artists Made Art Contemporary | Artsy, www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-iconic-artists-and-movements-of-the-1960s. Accessed 2 Mar. 2024. 

“On Sturtevant: ‘Anything Can Happen in Life, Especially Nothing.’” OvG, www.oscarvangelderen.nl/post/On-Sturtevant--Anything-can-happen-in-life-especially-nothing-N54.html. Accessed 1 Mar. 2024.