Andy Warhol: Vanitas

For immediate release

Wednesday, May 21, 2025

The Andy Warhol Museum announces Andy Warhol: Vanitas, on view October 10, 2025 – March 9, 2026.

Andy Warhol: Vanitas explores the ephemeral nature of life as seen through the eyes of one of the most iconic artists of the 20th century. Andy Warhol, a pivotal figure in the Pop Art movement, was strongly influenced by his Byzantine Catholic upbringing and the religious iconography that pervaded his early life. This spiritual undercurrent appears throughout his oeuvre, where themes of mortality, vanity and the passage of time are recurrent motifs.

This exhibition examines Warhol’s contemplation of life’s transient nature through the lens of three themes: Mortality, Vanitas and Temporality. Each theme offers a lens through which his fascination with death, the fleeting nature of beauty and the passage of time can be understood. Warhol explored these themes in his work with seriousness, and he infused them with irony and humor, showcasing his unique, often philosophical and contemplative, perspective.

“Museum audiences have increasingly taken an interest in exploring other aspects of Warhol’s career beyond his well-known Pop Art masterpieces,” said Amber Morgan, director of collections and exhibitions. “Andy Warhol: Vanitas, while perhaps seeming a bit dark in theme, speaks to Warhol’s willingness to confront universal big questions and explore multiple paths in his search for answers.”

Vanitas, derived from the Latin word for “vanity”, refers to a genre of still-life painting that thrived in the 17th century, amongst others in The Netherlands and Flanders. It typically features collections of symbolic objects representing the transience of life, the emptiness of worldly pleasure and the inevitability of death. These works are designed to remind viewers of their mortality and the insignificance of worldly goods and pleasures. Rich in symbolic imagery, vanitas prints often depict skulls, extinguished candles, wilting flowers, soap bubbles and timepieces, all serving as memento mori (Latin for “remember that you must die”). The Vanitas theme was a constant subject for Warhol in works featuring skulls, disasters and tragic beauty. The exhibition will include a small selection of vanitas Dutch artworks on loan from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam

“The SCHUNCK Museum is grateful to collaborate with The Warhol on this exhibition, inspired by the 17th-century Dutch and Flemish Vanitas tradition in painting,” said Fabian de Kloe, artistic director at the SCHUNCK museum. “Vanitas invites reflection on themes such as faith, identity and mortality—echoing not only the Catholic heritage of the Southern Netherlands but also the personal and spiritual explorations in Andy Warhol’s work. Rooted in two post-industrial cities, Pittsburgh and Heerlen, this partnership creates space to reflect on our shared histories and how these timeless questions continue to shape our lives today.”

Andy Warhol: Vanitas is curated by Patrick Moore, former director of The Warhol, in collaboration with the SCHUNCK museum.

A press preview of the exhibition that includes a tour with Amber Morgan, director of collections and exhibitions at The Warhol, Fabian de Kloe, artistic director at the SCHUNCK, Kor Bonnema, general manager/director at the SCHUNCK, Cynthia Jordens, senior curator at the SCHUNCK, and Ralph Partouns, project manager at the SCHUNCK, will take place on Thursday, October 9, 2025 at 2 p.m. at The Warhol. Reservations are required. Email press@warhol.org. Patrick Moore will also be available for press interviews.