Throughout the spring and summer of 1956 New York’s Museum of Modern Art featured an exhibition, Recent Drawings USA. Andy Warhol was one of the artists in the group show.
According to the informative http://www.warholstars.org Warhol and his companion Charles Lisanby traveled around the world visiting San Francisco, Honolulu, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Manila, Djakarta, Bali, Singapore, Bangkok, Angor Wat, Colombo, Calcutta, Katmandu, Benares, New Delhi, Agra, Aurangabad, Cairo, Luxor and Rome before returning to New York.
That autumn he showed new drawings at the ice cream parlor Serendipity 3.
Fame was not yet in his grasp and at the close of the Recent Drawings Show, Alfred H. Barr, the MOMA’s advisory director wrote a letter to Warhol asking him to pick up his drawings
And I can’t blame Mssr. Barr, there were Warhols before Warhol revealed Warhol to the world.
No one could see what was coming, but a few had a feeling.
Nothing like rejection and nothing better than rejecting it.
ps my first round the world trip was Los Angeles-Biak-Bali-Java-Sumatra-Penang-Koh Samui-Bangkok-Chiang Mai-Kathmandu-Paris.
I wrote a book NORTH NORTH HOLIDAY.
It went nowhere.
Click on the letter to enlarge.
