Possession Obsession: Andy Warhol And Collecting

by Patti Smith (Artist), Thomas Sokolowski, Alexandra Rhodes

"So many categories!" Andy Warhol would complain, in the course of his daily trawl of antique stores, galleries, auction houses and flea markets. Though best known as an artist, Warhol was also a passionate and informed collector of unlikely antiquities and offbeat Americana. Possession Obsession proposes that collecting was another form of artistic practice for Warhol, certainly one that provides as much insight into his interests, tastes and ideas as his art. Accompanying essays examine the how, why, and what of Warhol's collection, the all-consuming 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 relationships between collecting and mass culture. Also included are Robert Mapplethorpe's wonderful photographs of Warhol's home, for which Patti Smith provides an introduction.

152 pages, Hardcover

First published July 15, 2002

About the author

PATTI SMITH is a writer, performer, and visual artist. She gained recognition in the 1970s for her revolutionary merging of poetry and rock. She has released twelve albums, including Horses, which has been hailed as one of the top one hundred albums of all time by Rolling Stone.

Smith had her first exhibit of drawings at the Gotham Book Mart in 1973 and has been represented by the Robert Miller Gallery since 1978. Her books include Just Kids, winner of the National Book Award in 2010, Wītt, Babel, Woolgathering, The Coral Sea, and Auguries of Innocence.

In 2005, the French Ministry of Culture awarded Smith the title of Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres, the highest honor given to an artist by the French Republic. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.

Smith married the musician Fred Sonic Smith in Detroit in 1980. They had a son, Jackson, and a daughter, Jesse. Smith resides in New York City.