The digitization of Andy Warhol films at MoMA

Andy Warhol. Nico/Antoine. 1966. ©2014 The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, a museum of Carnegie Institute. All rights reserved. Film still courtesy of The Andy Warhol Museum

The digitization of the Andy Warhol film collection

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has recently announced a new partnership with the Andy Warhol Museum and the leading visual effects company MPC aimed to digitize the complete series of films realized by Andy Warhol from 1963 to 1972.

The project aims to give access to approximately 500 films that were withdrawn from circulation more than 40 years ago.
Almost 1,000 16mm reels will be digitally acquired, frame after frame, and converted to high-res 2K images. The scanning process started in August 2014, and will go on for many years up to completion. Once completely digitized, the collection will be made available to the public and will provide further opportunities for both museums: the films will be lent to other institutions, made available for public screenings and research projects as well as used for special events and live performances.

Andy Warhol. Screen Test: Marcel Duchamp and Benedetta Barzini [ST 81]1966.
©2014 The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, a museum of Carnegie Institute.
All rights reserved. Film still courtesy of The Andy Warhol Museum.

Warhol used a film camera, a Bolex 16mm, for the first time in 1963.
The same year, with Sleep, he started challenging the mainstream film conventions by keeping his camera pointed at the same subject for hours. During the following years, Warhol shot hundreds of short screen tests portraying friends, colleagues, and visitors to the Factory, his celebrated studio in New York.
From documentary to drama, Warhol produced almost 600 films; among them, his most relevant commercial success was The Chelsea Girls (1966), an over 3-hour-long, double-screen projection.

Top: Andy Warhol. Jack’s Cigarette (excerpt from Batman Dracula). 1964. ©2014 The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, a museum of Carnegie Institute. All rights reserved. Film still courtesy of The Andy Warhol Museum.
Bottom: Andy Warhol. Marisol – Stop Motion. 1963. ©2014 The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, a museum of Carnegie Institute. All rights reserved. Film still courtesy of The Andy Warhol Museum.

Images courtesy of The Museum of Modern Art, New York