This picture was inspired by
the academic 19th century
French artist Cabanel.
His 1852 version of “Birth of Venus” was one of my
favorite pictures when I visited Paris. It’s the one
where a beautiful nude woman is laying on top of
a wave, somewhere out in the ocean.
In my version I wanted to modernize
the subject, bring it up to date, by substituting
Warhol, pop artist, for the beautiful woman and
making it three Warhols as an improvement on
my earlier picture “Two deKooning Donald Ducks.”
Certainly, there’s more to look at if the figure
becomes three Warhols.
But the figure is still “Venus” so
it has to at least be becoming
a woman, hence the breasts.
When it was all done it looked like a winged
creature struggling to take off
and I called it “Birth of Pop.”
The intention was to use
my imagination, not to insult Cabanel,
Warhol or Venus.
Birth Of Pop
2005
Acrylic on canvas
168 x 188 cm
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