Pittsburgh, PA - The exhibition, Canis Major: Warhol’s Dogs and Cats (and other party animals), is on view at The Andy Warhol Museum from January 12 – May 4, 2008. Inspired by Warhol’s own love of animals, the exhibition will feature photographs, paintings, screen prints, and drawings of the beloved pets (and other animals) in Warhol’s life.  Warhol once wrote, “I never met a pet I didn’t like.” Indeed, the artist had many pets throughout his life, including his childhood dog Lucy, over a dozen Siamese cats, and his dachshunds Amos and Archie. His studio, the Silver Factory, had two resident cats, Black Lace and White Pussy, and he was fond of his friend Brigid Berlin’s pugs, Fame and Fortune.
 
Animals were also influential in Warhol’s artwork, from his famous Cow Wallpaper , to his various paintings of horses, monkeys, parrots, dogs, and fish.

In 1954, Warhol published 25 Cats Name Sam and One Blue Pussy , a limited edition, hand-colored book which featured a series of 23 cat portraits. The title was supposed to read “…Named Sam…” but his mother, who did the lettering, left off the “d” and the title stuck.
 
The artist was also a collector of taxidermies, and owned a lion, a peacock, a penguin, and a moose head. The most famous animal in his collection, however, was the Great Dane, Cecil, who stood guard at the Factory’s door from about 1969 to 1987. Many superstar visitors posed with Cecil during visits to the factory, and he also appears in Warhol’s video Factory Diaries.
 
Recent scholarship by canine photographer and genealogist Kerrin Winter-Churchill has discovered the true identity of “Cecil,” his pedigree as a Westminster Champion, and the strange tale of how he arrived at Warhol’s door. The dog, whose real name was "Ador Tipp Topp" was born in Germany in 1921. As a puppy, he was purchased by an American, who entered him in many competitions, including Westminster where he won a blue ribbon. After his death in 1929, Ador was sent to a taxidermist who was building a collection of champion dog breeds at Yale’s Peabody Museum. By the 1960s the collection had been relocated to storage, and Ador’s remains were sold to a Yale drama student for ten dollars. The dog was eventually passed on to an antiques collector, who claimed he had belonged to filmmaker Cecil B. deMille. Warhol believed the story and purchased the dog in the late 1960s.
 
Canis Major Activities

In conjunction with its Canis Major: Warhol’s Dogs and Cats (and other party animals) exhibition, The Andy Warhol Museum will be partnering with Animal Friends to give some shelter animals their “15 Minutes of Fame.” A dog, cat and bunny that are in need of adoption will have their portraits painted in Warhol’s signature portraiture style. These paintings will be on view during the exhibition and then donated to Animal Friends. The public can print their own portraits of these lovable pets during the Warhol’s Weekend Factory Program on Saturday and Sundays from 12- 4 p.m. through May 4.
 
The Warhol’s Education Department will also team up with Animal Friends’ education staff to offer interdisciplinary workshops for elementary and middle school students and teachers that teach art and responsible pet care through Andy Warhol’s love of animals. Lessons and other online resources associated with the project will be available for download on the Museum’s website : www.warhol.org/

the warhol: More Than A Museum

The Andy Warhol Museum is a vital forum in which diverse audiences of artists, scholars and the general public are galvanized through creative interaction with the art and life of Andy Warhol. The Warhol is ever-changing and constantly re-defining itself in relation to contemporary life, using its unique collections and dynamic, interactive programming as tools.

Located on the North Shore of Pittsburgh, The Warhol is one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh and is a collaborative project of the Carnegie Institute, Dia Center for the Arts, and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. Opened in 1994, the Museum features extensive permanent collections of art and archives on one of the most influential American artists of the twentieth century. It is also a primary resource for anyone seeking insights into contemporary art and popular culture