More than the pop-art imprints of Marilyn Monroe and cans of tomato soup, more than the multimedia “happenings,” more than the experimental films—including Sleep, a movie of a man sleeping for five-plus hours—Andy Warhol’s greatest work of art was Andy Warhol.His careful presentation of himself and curatorial approach to his own identity and reception (he authored a book called The Philosophy Of Andy Warhol), Warhol’s personality defined the arch self-consciousness of pop art. Lou Reed and John Cale’s 1990 record Songs For Drella is an ode to Warhol. Even its title, a portmanteau of “Dracula” and “Cinderella” sometimes used in Warhol’s inner circle, posits Warhol as a construction, a work of art. Drawing from Cale and Reed’s deep admiration for Warhol, who was instrumental in helping to break The Velvet Underground, Songs For Drella also works as a pop eulogy offered by two longtime friends.
