Archivist Matt Wrbican talks about Warhol’s Time Capsules with Peter Nesbett in Art on Paper
I’ve copied a few questions from this interesting, but short article on the Art on Paper website – please do read the whole thing here
Quick Overview:
At the time of his death in 1987, Andy Warhol left behind a warehouse full of cardboard boxes that contained the ephemera of his daily life, cleared from his desk on a regular basis from 1974 onward. Most of the material, which includes invoices, publicity stills, newspaper clippings, photographs, etc., is not sorted, and remains in storage at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh. Peter Nesbett spoke briefly with Matt Wrbican, archivist at the museum, about the Time Capsules and what is being done with them.
How many Time Capsules have you opened?
About 160. I opened number 25 yesterday and I found half a dozen Warhol artworks: a portrait drawing from the fifties, a Polaroid of Bridgit Polk, a self-portrait cube from “Portraits of the Artists,” and three photobooths, including one of the most salacious I’ve ever seen—an unidentified clothed man, whose face is unseen, exposing his penis. Most of the documents were from 1963 to 1970: notes about his early films, some rare exhibition catalogs and underground publications, juicy correspondence, bills for art supplies and medicines, a Chubby Checker LP, and a Velvet Underground single.
How long would it take to finish cataloging all the contents of the boxes?
Four people working full-time for fifty years.
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This is fascinating to me, I love pack rat stories. Like it or not, Warhol just continues to fascinate.
Please read the whole thing here