Pop Art legend Andy Warhol in never-before-seen pics after surprise discovery

Rare and intimate photos of Pop Art pioneer Andy Warhol are to go on show in an incredible new exhibition, shedding new light on the artist and on the photographer who captured him

Pop Art pioneer Andy Warhol brought art to the masses with his iconic images of Marilyn Monroe, Elvis and cans of Campbell’s soup. His famous ‘Factory’ site was a place for production on an industrial scale – with more than 19,000 prints, 9,000 paintings, 12,000 drawings, 600 films and 130,000 never released photographic works produced there.

Now some rare and intimate photos of Warhol are to go on show, shedding new light on the artist and on the photographer who captured him. The five images at the heart of Warhol: Inside the Box, which opens in London next month, were all shot in the early 1960s by William John Kennedy and form a cache of rare pictures rediscovered in a dusty box more than four decades after being taken.

READ MORE: ‘Butcher surgeon Ian Paterson gave me needless mastectomy but worst was yet to come’READ MORE: Celebrity Gogglebox star Gyles Brandreth opens up about grandson’s ‘horror diagnosis’

That collection is now housed at the Warhol Kennedy Residence, a private gallery space, in central London, while the new exhibition will feature photographs of Warhol with some of his most famous work – including the screen print of his Marilyn image.

But exhibition organiser, Neil Bookatz, says it’s the lensman who deserves the attention. Neil says: “As time has gone on I have become more fascinated by William John Kennedy than I have by Andy Warhol.”

A private collector, Neil launched the Residence in 2018 to showcase the photographer’s archive and legacy. He adds: “I believe Kennedy is the real artist. He never got the recognition he deserved in his lifetime – he’s been overlooked for too long. But he had the foresight to see what Andy Warhol was going to be. This exhibition is a way of bringing him out of the shadows, so more people can discover his work.”

William John Kennedy was a freelance photographer in New York when he became friends with both Andy Warhol and Robert Indiana, another key igure in the Pop Art movement renowned for his famous ‘Love’ image with its tilted ‘O’.

But it was Warhol, who died in 1987, with whom Kennedy developed a deep rapport. The artist, a shy and eccentric figure given to wearing a silver wig, relaxed in his company and allowed himself to be photographed at work and at play. Kennedy’s wife, Marie, said in a 2022 interview: “Bill came up with these ideas for pictures and Andy went along with him.”

The photographer, who died in 2021, never made appointments for his photo sessions with Warhol, saying: “I would just come up with creative ideas to capture his enthusiasm.”

The results were a collection of images capturing the unique spirit of the man and his art which, six decades on, can be found adorning everything from t-shirts to bags, puzzles and mugs.

Neil, 67, continues: “These are historic images – Warhol wasn’t famous yet, so he had time to be photographed. Even if you don’t know Warhol, you’ll know his work. He blurred the line between high art and consumer culture. He’s so popular because he encapsulates a time of change. Everybody loves this era, everybody loves Warhol and hopefully everybody will love these photos.”

Neil’s own immersion into the art world came about almost by accident. The dad of four was born and bred in Hackney, east London, the grandson of a Petticoat Lane trader. He admits he ’failed desperately’ at art at school, adding: “We lived above our hardware shop. I was helping out from the age of five, pouring paraffin into containers.”

With an accountancy background, he went on to build a property portfolio and, a keen golfer, became an avid collector of sports memorabilia. Describing himself as ‘creative,’ he was not into art until 2010 when a good friend based in Miami, then renting a property to William John Kennedy, told him about the archive – a treasure trove of negatives and transparencies which the photographer had almost forgotten existed.

After spending an intense two year period with Warhol, Kennedy eventually ‘drifted away’ from that bohemian crowd to concentrate on commercial work. But despite almost throwing out that dusty box during a move from New York to Miami, he had kept the negatives, transparencies and contact sheets from those heady days at The Factory.

After discovering one of his photos had been credited to someone else, Kennedy rooted them out of a cupboard and agreed publishing rights. To help his friend finance the deal, Neil began buying some of the signed, limited edition images, storing them at his London house. He says: “I had no real idea what I was buying but I was intrigued.”

And, in 2015, having framed a selection, he hired a gallery space and finally put them on display. The exhibition raised £120,000, with money going to a variety of children’s charities. Neil adds: “That wasn’t me selling them – that was people simply paying to see them. That’s when we knew there was interest.”

With nowhere to show the collection, he established his ‘art flat’, the Warhol Kennedy Residence, based in central London. He says: “I had no idea what to do so I Googled ‘photographic art consultant’ and someone came round. I won’t say the word she spoke when she saw the images, but it was at that point I realised I had something special.”

He now organises charity ‘open evenings’ at the flat and has sold some of the photographs to Warhol fans. He adds: “There are those I just can’t part with though. My favourite photo is Andy Warhol looking through an acetate of Marilyn’s face. I love the way Kennedy caught the light and positioned Warhol’s face within Marilyn’s.”

In conjunction with The Warhol Museum in Pennsylvania, five images were selected – different from the ones which had previously been displayed – to create specialist and highly covetable signed and numbered ‘box sets’.

Each was initially priced at $40,000 and Neil bought 12 – “I didn’t tell my wife”. Having sold some, five now exist with four carrying a price tag of £100,000 each. The final box set will be auctioned for £250,000 with half the proceeds going to the museum. It too will be on display at the exhibition.

Neil says: “Some people might think that art isn’t for them but what is art anyway? I think about it as collectibles – you can collect anything as long as you find pleasure in it. I have photos for sale which start at £5,000. I know that’s a lot of money but an original Warhol costs millions – this way you can still have a piece of the artist and his art on your wall. And you’ll hopefully look at it every day and love it.”

Neil, who met Kennedy in 2020 in the US, continues: “I wanted to hear his stories. I got to know the personality and he knew I was trying to raise his profile in London. By that time we had had a book produced, so we were signing the royalties over to him.”

Neil admits it is his ‘mission’ to help more people discover William John Kennedy and he’s thrilled that the National Portrait Gallery is now interested in featuring his work.

He says: “There is another portfolio of his which is amazing too, taken when he was on his way to The Factory and to Warhol. These are just everyday street scenes of New York but they are brilliant – perhaps that’s the next project. You know, Warhol said ‘everyone will be world famous for 15 minutes’ but I want Kennedy to be famous for all time.”

*Warhol: Inside the Box will go on show at L’oscar London on March 18.

READ MORE: ‘We live in a van up a massive mountain – with bears, wolves and cougars everywhere’