Water Heater
Andy Warhol
American, 1928–1987
1961
A 1961 casein-on-canvas painting by Andy Warhol that blows up a hardware-store advertisement for a 30-gallon gas water heater to make a mundane commercial sign the subject of fine art.
It hits you like a storefront placard—stark black lettering and a simplified, schematic cylinder set against a pale field and gray frame, emphasizing flatness and the printed look of advertising.
An early Pop Art work that helped legitimize commercial imagery as artistic subject matter, collapsing the line between mass-produced signs and museum painting and shaping later explorations of consumer culture.
Medium
Casein on canvas
Dimensions
44 3/4 x 40" (113.6 x 101.5 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Roy Lichtenstein
Accession
706.1971
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
