Today's Los Angeles Times features an op-ed by A.S. Hamrah about the 40th anniversary of Valerie Solanas' assassination attempt on Andy Warhol. (We stumbled upon this via The New York Times' Opinionator blog.)

Ms. Solanas, a playwright who formed a group called S.C.U.M. ("Society for Cutting Up Men") and wrote its manifesto (she is also widely credited as being the group's only member), shot Mr. Warhol in his office. After summarizing the details of the shooting, Mr. Hamrah describes Ms. Solanas' manifesto as "a mixture of social philosophy and fine shtick, her work has the rare virtue of seeming at the same time totally insane and totally right."  read more »

The most interesting thing about Takashi Murakami, whose paintings, sculptures and merchandise are the subject of “© Murakami” at the Brooklyn Museum, is that he’s above shame. To know shame is to realize there are standards of behavior that, when bent or broken, cause remorse or, at least, self-awareness of having done wrong. Shame is unknown in Mr. Murakami’s rarefied orbit: Art is an adjunct of capital. There’s no second thought given to this fact.

Andy Warhol is the starting point for Mr. Murakami’s cold embrace of heedless commercialism.  read more »

There's nothing like some colorful pop art to get you amped for spring. The Jewish Museum seems to know this. On March 16, the museum will unveil Warhol's Jews: Ten Portraits Reconsidered, a follow up of sorts to Mr. Warhol's somewhat controversial 1980 series, Ten Portraits of the Twentieth Century, which includes images of Franz Kafka, Gertrude Stein, Albert Einstein, Golda Meir and Sigmund Freud, among others. Ten Portraits Reconsidered features the primary source material that the original exhibit was based on, like photographs, sketches, and one of only 200 published editions of the final silk-screen portfolio. More after the jump.  read more »

Dorothy Podber shot a bullet through a few of Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe silk screen paintings, re-enacted the shower scene from Psycho with artist Ray Johnson on the streets of Manhattan, and ran an illegal abortion referral service from her apartment. Even Mr. Warhol called her "too scary." She was a "wild child," indeed, of the 1950's and 60's as The New York Times writes this morning. She died of "natural causes" in her apartment at 75. More on the Warhol shootings after the jump.  read more »

A photographer may have discovered an experimental self-portrait drawn by Andy Warhol. While rummaging through some framed paintings and drawings at an estate sale this fall, New York photographer Addison Thompson saw a drawing that looked like a Warhol from the 1950s. He sent an image of the sketch to a famous artist and friend of Mr. Warhol, who said it looked like the real deal. But Mr. Thompson won't be able to confirm its authenticity until March, when he can present it to the Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board.  read more »

The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts has built a $240 million endowment, with its net gain from sales at $16.25 million last year, according to its 20th anniversary report on its finances and philanthropy. Mr. Warhol, who died at 58 in 1987, left all his possessions to the New York-based foundation “for the advancement of the visual arts.” President Joel Wachs declined to disclose the number of paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings that remain with the foundation to The Art Newspaper, stating that the holdings are “proprietary information because we are in the business of selling them.”  read more »

Last night, at the Neue Galerie's 6th annual Winter Gala, Zac Posen talked to us about art. While a number of art-world folks are abuzz over the current, exploding art market, the 27-year old fashion phenom said he's not impressed with the way things are going.

"Nothing new has happened really since Andy Warhol," he told The Daily Transom, adding that Damien Hirst, the British creator of the infamous $100 million dollar diamond-encrusted skull, "is really a modern-day replica of Andy Warhol, you know, the whole idea of repetition."

"I'm not into chic safety or chic banality, just in creating art," added the designer, clad in his signature scarf, black boots and a stand-out plaid suit that was, of course, extremely well-tailored. "I feel on my artistic side I've been able to take more risks than anybody in the U.S."  read more »

What is it with Andy Warhol and jeans already? A Madrid-based fashion label called Pepe Jeans London has just announced plans to create a collection of clothes and accessories inspired by the posthumous Prince of Pop. But this isn’t the first time a jean brand has been created with Mr. Warhol in mind.

Last winter, during what seemed like the final gasp of a Warhol-mania resurgence, Levi Strauss & Co. teamed up with the Andy Warhol Foundation to launch a clutch of cotton wares called Warhol Factory X Levi’s. Pepe, too, has joined forces with the painter’s foundation. Except their 250-piece men’s and women’s collection, which will debut in Florence next month, is to be called The Andy Warhol Collection by Pepe Jeans London—an umbrella title that will comprise two sub-lines, called, of course, Pop and Factory. Pop will draw from his iconic works, like the whole soup can situation. Factory, on the other hand, will be more ethereal, looking to the man and his milieu for inspiration.

According to WWD, the managing director of the Spanish label, Nish Soneji, thinks Mr. Warhol is an ideal fashion mascot. “Andy Warhol, being a contemporary icon, immersed in the same ethos, made it a natural pairing of a preeminent jeans brand with an iconic timeless artist.”

So here’s something we don’t understand: There’s not a whole lot going on in TV-land (though we still support you, writers!), and yet people still aren’t going to the movies in the money-spending holiday-season droves that studios would like. The budget-busting Golden Compass was No. 1 this weekend, but its $26 million is not considered a good haul for what New Line spent on those fightin’ Polar Bears. (It’s doing much better overseas.  read more »

Sarah Jessica Parker, Marc Jacobs and Elizabeth Hurley all showed up to the Christie's auction last night, witnessing Andy Warhol's "Liz" painting sell for $23.5 million, according to The New York Times. The 40-inch-square painting, one from a series of 13, originally belonged to Hugh Grant, and will now be passed on to an anonymous bidder.  read more »