Photos By Gail

This vibrant pink version of The Last Supper (1986) was one of 20 similar works exhibited at a gallery across the street from the convent that houses Leonardo da Vinci’s famous The Last Supper mural in Milan. Andy Warhol attended the exhibition opening, which would be his last, on January 22, 1987.

Warhol‘s startling choice of black on pink rejuvenates the doubled subject with fruity vitality, updating the Renaissance masterpiece to fit the hip color combinations of the 1980s. It might also refer to the pink triangle use during the holocaust to identify and persecute the LGBTQ community, and later reclaimed by that community.

Photographer David LaChapelle, who shot Warhol‘s last formal portrait in November 1986 commented on his memory regarding the painting.:

“Andy went to church pretty much every Sunday. He was in New York since he had been shot. This was also around the time he was painting the Last Supper series. I remember this so clearly because those paintings were huge and magnificent. They had great impact on me: it was one of the few times I ever got to see Andy actually painting with brush in hand. Of course, no one knew it would be Andy’s last portrait.”

Photographed in the Brooklyn Museum as Part of the Exhibit, Andy Warhol: Revelation.