Possession Obsession: Andy Warhol and Collecting

"So many categories!" Andy Warhol would complain during his rigorous, nearly obsessive daily shopping regimen of antique stores, galleries, auction houses, and flea markets. Though best known as a proponent of the avant-garde, Warhol was also passionately engaged with the historical past, an interest which found a direct yet imaginative expression in the serious collecting he undertook from the mid-50s until his death. Possession Obsession proposes that collecting was another form of artistic practice for Warhol, one that provides as much insight into his interests, tastes, and ideas as do his other myriad art forms. Accompanying essays examine the how, why, and what of Warhol's collection, the crucial role it played in his life, the aesthetic quality and historical associations of the objects themselves, the psychological and sexual aspects of collecting, other artists' use of collecting, and the relationship between collecting and mass culture. Also included are never-before-published photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe of Warhol's home.