LEIPZIG.- Andy Warhol (1928–1987), one of the most popular representatives of Pop Art, had just completed his study of Applied Art when he came to New York in 1949 and designed his first Album Cover for Columbia Records.

This grew into a life-long working cooperation. In the designing of Album Covers, the young, yet unknown quantity Warhol saw an ideal opportunity of establishing his style of Art and name. He then began approaching Record Labels to offer his artistic services. The Cover “A Program of Mexican Music” was one of his earliest professional works. Until his death in 1987, Warhol designed about 50 more Album Covers often with rich complementary materials, from which the Covers for The Rolling Stones and The Velvet Underground attained cult status, doing this often in close cooperation with musicians. Known previously only on the margins of the art world, artist designs for the Record industry much like other “applied” works, increasingly found their way into museums and galleries.

The almost complete series of all Album Covers designed by Andy Warhol as presented in this program offers the unique opportunity to retrace in a compact manner, his complete artistic development from his early days until he became a star of Pop Art.
We are grateful to the Gallery owner Klaus Benden from Cologne, for his friendly assistance in facilitating the loaning of objects from the collection of the Fashion entrepreneur Jrgen Lebek. The headquarters of the company in Bad Meinberg is also home to a top-class as well as a comprehensive collection of American Pop Art.