Lynn Revson

Accession Number
2008/2.48

Title
Lynn Revson

Artist(s)
Andy Warhol

Artist Nationality
American (North American)

Object Creation Date
1981

Medium & Support
Polaroid

Dimensions
4 1/4 in x 3 3/8 in (10.8 cm x 8.57 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

Subject matter
This image is portrait of Lyn Revson, former wife of Revlon founder Charles Revson, and fashion icon. This image was from a series used to produce a silkscreen print. Though her name was spelled "Lyn," Warhol had noted in his diaries that "Lynn Revson called and said she loved the portrait, but that her cheekbones looked too fat. I knew she'd be trouble." Subsequently, the numerous Polaroid images of Revson in the Warhol Foundation collection have been titled "Lynn Revson," rather than "Lyn Revson." 

The Warhol Foundation, celebrating Andy Warhol’s lifelong engagement and experimentation with photography, donated this collection of Polaroid photographs. The majority of Warhol’s Polaroid images were taken using Polaroid Big Shot or SX-70 Polaroid cameras from 1970-1987, although his work in this medium began as early as 1958. Throughout his career, he photographed artists, celebrities, sports heroes, and friends using his Polaroid cameras. Over half his sitters were not well-known or remain unidentified. Warhol often photographed his subjects multiple times from a variety of angles. The resulting portraits often repeat poses and frequently portray subjects wearing similar thickly applied white makeup, eyeliner, and red lipstick, which were visual techniques used to flatten the subjects' features, as Warhol often used the Polaroid photographs as the basis for portraits made in the mediums of silkscreen and paint.

Physical Description
A bust-length portrait of a woman. She wears thick white makeup on her face and chest, and red lipstick, with her long hair swept back. Her body faces the left of the frame, she lifts her head, elongating her neck and turning her eyes toward the camera.

Primary Object Classification
Photograph

Collection Area
Photography

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form. Keywords
artificial lighting
cosmetics
hairstyles
lighting techniques
pose
single-sitter portraits
women (female humans)

& Author Notes

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