Andy Warhol, Mad Man

A still from one of Andy Warhol's ads for Cadence laxatives. The videos were offered in Sotheby's Contemporary Art Online auction, which closed on July 18. The lot's value was estimated at $25,000–35,000, but the final selling price was not disclosed.

"In 1965 the advertising agency Foote, Cone and Belding commissioned Andy Warhol to film an advertisement for a laxative called Cadence, created and manufactured by Menley & James Laboratories. Shot in August of that year, this rare film pre-dates the commercial Warhol would make for Schraft’s Diner a few years later, previously thought to have been his first commercial.

"The commercial was produced during the same period as Warhol’s renowned Screen Tests (1964-1966), and carries many of the same characteristics as these counterparts – subjects appear in black and white films against plain backdrops, and look directly into the camera while maintaining minimal movement. Warhol’s signature fixation with the celebrity is already felt in these films as many well-known persons of the time participated as subjects.

"The Screen Tests were inspired by a booklet of mugshots released by the New York City Police Department titled 'The Thirteen Most Wanted,' which would also inspire a mural by the same name at the 1964 World Fair. The repetition of images intrinsic to the mugshots coupled with Warhol’s enthusiasm for photo booths, echoing by way of both form and subject Warhol’s treatment of recurrence, a central theme in the Pop Art movement." - Sotheby's Website

Auction Lot Detail: Andy Warhol | Cadence Commercial (Standing Woman)

Meg Crane, the inventor of the home pregnancy test, was married to Ira Sturtevant who commissioned Warhol’s first commercial. In this interview she tells the story of how her late husband, who knew many young New York artists like Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg before they were well known, wanted Andy to work with Cadence. 

The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh has the purchase order between the agency and Andy. For three experimental commercials Andy was paid $600. Adjusted for inflation this would be about $5,900 today.

Article:The Mad Man Who Commissioned Andy Warhol to Make a Laxative Commercial