Andy Warhol in Cartersville

The traveling exhibit called Warhol and the West debuted in August at The Booth Museum and runs through December 31, 2019.

Andy Warhol paired with the Old West is fitting, since the soul of the American pop artist was partially rooted in the American West.

Image courtesy Jeanette Montgomery Baron and

“Even [passionate] fans of American artist, director, and producer Andy Warhol aren’t likely aware that the pop icon loved the West,” says Seth Hopkins, executive director of the Booth Western Art Museum, “however, the West was a nearly constant influence throughout his life.” Warhol wore cowboy boots more often than not and loved to travel to New Mexico, Texas, and Colorado. Throughout his life he accumulated an overwhelming collection of Native American art and artifacts.

Photo Credit: The Booth Museum

Warhol’s last major project before his death in 1987 was titled Cowboys and Indians. The collection included fourteen iconic Western subjects, including Geronimo and Annie Oakley. In Warhol’s American pop fashion, however, he focused on the Hollywood adaptation of these characters rather than the actual humans. Cowboys and Indians forms the backbone of the traveling exhibit.

The Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville played an intricate role in assembling the Warhol and the West exhibit. Together with the Tacoma Art Museum and the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, the team identified and organized more than one hundred objects and works of art from Warhol’s most understudied career aspects.

The Democratic National Committee commissioned Andy Warhol to design a portrait for Jimmy Carter’s presidential campaign (1977).

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Andy Warhol is credited with inspiring the widely used expression, “Fifteen minutes of fame.” His actual quote was, “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for fifteen minutes.”