Image vs. Substance: Perceptions of Beauty: "Elizabeth Taylor" by Andy Warhol (1963)

Revolutionary thought began to surface in the United States during the 1960s, when the country was reeling from the controversy surrounding the Vietnam war and focusing its energy more on technology and modernization. This revolutionary thought made way for national development and discovery, including the first US voyage to the moon in 1969 (LSC-Kingswood Library). Art was progressive, and pop art became popular for its modern theme and simplicity. Pop art was not as detailed as the arts like realism that had preceded it, but rather was meant to be simple to aid the audience in creating their own interpretations of the pieces. Elizabeth Taylor was created by Andy Warhol in 1963. Warhol is known for his pop art renditions of popular/celebrity objects and people like Elizabeth Taylor (Greenberg).

Elizabeth Taylor was a world-renowned actress, often admired for her glamour and beauty (Notable Biographies). She was especially well-known for her good looks, specifically her violet eye color. Warhol emphasized the areas around her eye with a bold teal color, and her lips with a bright red to focus the audience toward her facial features. Her skin is flawless; her face revealing a sly smile, Taylor looks mysterious. Her features are so perfect to the point that they are unrealistic. Taylor's cartoon-like appearance explores new areas of thought and calls reality into question. Do we strive to look so perfect to the point that we seem cartoon-like? Warhol’s rendition of Taylor puts the idea of beauty into question; is our idea of beauty unattainable?

Why focus on Elizabeth Taylor with so many others to choose from? The very fact that Warhol decided to create a portrait of Taylor proves her world-renowned celebrity. Warhol was aware that the rest of the country was captivated by Taylor’s appeal. To focus on someone like Elizabeth Taylor would attract the attention of her entire fan-base. And accordingly, Warhol would have the opportunity for all her fans to serve as an audience of his piece and the message it was portraying; that beauty was reduced to sex appeal. Warhol was commenting on how superficial and commercial our notions of beauty were becoming with his use of cartoon colors and flat, two dimensional figures. Elizabeth Taylor had the best of both worlds--talent and beauty; but her appearance played a major role in the attainment of her celebrity. So what does that say about our nation at its present? We worship, stalk, admire, and strive to look like celebrities. Does that mean that, because of the constant necessity to look and be a certain way, we often only admire people for their beauty, and we neglect true talent and substance?

"American Cultural History - 1960 - 1969." LSC-Kingwood Library. Web. <"http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade60.html"

"Elizabeth Taylor Biography - Life, Family, Children, Parents, Name, Story, Wife, Mother, Young."Encyclopedia of World Biography. Web. <http://www.notablebiographies.com/St-Tr/Taylor-Elizabeth.html>.

Greenberg, Jan, and Sandra Jordan. Andy Warhol: Prince of Pop. New York: Delacorte, 2004. Print.

Introduction

Our perceptions of an ideal and beautiful person have changed dramatically throughout the centuries. This blog will specifically observe the developments made within 16th-20th century societies. How have our ideas of attractiveness changed over time, and what inspires these changes? Keep this question in mind as you observe these works of art and discover what these images show about the period's notions of beauty, success, and power. How would a person become successful in the period, and what would hinder their becoming successful? Pay attention to the different ways in which a person could excel due to their looks versus the substance of their character and the knowledge they possess.

Link: Sacrifice/Miya W.

Miya's blog discusses sacrifices and how they are honored. The relationship between sacrifice and beauty is especially evident in The Wall by Maya Lin. The Wall is a memorial for the roughly 60,000 dead and missing casualties of the Americans who served in the Vietnam War. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Inc. invested almost $9,000,000 in the project to make sure that the experience one had when visiting the memorial was an emotional one. The Wall was made as thanks to the soldiers for the sacrifices they made for the country. Through this memorial, the viewer automatically characterizes the soldiers with the utmost of respect, importance, and honor. Relating back to the theme of our perception of beauty, this shows a complete opposite kind of human experience. Although the subjects of The Wall were the horrors of the Vietnam War and the deaths and sacrifices of so many young lives, the memorial beautifies the event. Rather then a bloody, realistic, representation of war at its worst, The Wall honors and praises the idea of sacrifices made for one's country, serving as a sort of disguise and cover-up for the unappealing, violent truth of the fatalities of war. In this case, however, sacrifice as a whole is made to be honored, worthy, and respected; beautiful in a sense.

http://miyamania.blogspot.com/

Link: Perception of Female Beauty/Carly O.

In her blog, Carly focuses on our perceptions of female beauty. Through her analysis of a sculpture of a Chinese Tang Dynasty woman, she explains the desire for women to have "plump" ,"voluptuous" figures, touching on the value of physical attractiveness in that society. Only wealthy women could actually afford to be "plump", so their large physiques served as a demonstration of their wealth and aristocratic power. When analyzing The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli, Carly mentioned that "the scene appears to be that of a fantasy." This relates to my analysis of Elizabeth Taylor and how I concluded she was made to look "cartoon-like"; on a broader note, how our modern idea of beauty is unattainable because of the unrealistic aspect of it. Later, she discusses how women are pressured to look "flawless" and "sexy" in modern society, and how personality is to often neglected in the face of appearance.

http://perceptionoffemalebeauty.blogspot.com/

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