JOUISSIF!

In May 1985, Andy Warhol was interviewed by the modernist art historian Benjamin H.D. Buchloh. Throughout the interview, Buchloh tries to situate Warhol’s work in relation to that of earlier avant-garde artists, to Duchamp, Man Ray, Matisse, Yves Klein, and Francis Picabia, among several others. Warhol eludes every such attempt on Buchloh’s part to create a modernist pedigree for his art. “No, well, I don’t know” Warhol would say or “No, well, I didn’t think that way.” When asked specifically about the artistic impact of meeting Duchamp in the 1960s, Warhol responds “No, I didn’t know him that well.” And, in a moment of terrifically unambiguous rejection, Warhol answers a question about the influence of Picabia on his drawings of the 1950s by telling Buchloh that “I didn’t even know who that person was” at the time. (1)

-Richard Meyer