The Scandalous Paintings Andy Warhol Gave Madonna

Madonna and Andy Warhol both revolutionized American culture, so it makes sense that Warhol gave the “Like a Virgin” singer some incredible artwork. Madonna explained why she met Warhol. She was also close to other iconic artists from the same era.

Andy Warhol told a celebrity to stop being jealous of Madonna

During a 2009 interview with Rolling Stone, the Material Girl explained how she came to know Warhol. “At that time, I was hanging around with a lot of graffiti artists, Futura 2000, Keith Haring, and Jean-Michel Basquiat,” she recalled. “Jean-Michel introduced me to Andy Warhol.”

“I remember we were all at a Japanese restaurant on Second Avenue and Seventh Street, where Keith had done a bunch of drawings on the walls, and Jean-Michel was telling me how jealous he was of me being on the radio,” Madonna added. “Because he thought that I had a more accessible form of art and more people would be exposed to it. Andy told him to stop complaining.” 

Madonna became a graffiti artist as well, using the tag “Boy Toy.” The album cover of Like a Virgin famously depicts Madonna wearing a belt buckle with the phrase “Boy Toy” on it. The “Like a Prayer” singer said she was unsure where she got the idea to use the name Boy Toy, but it may have been Futura 2000’s stroke of inspiration.

The artist’s pieces about Madonna made her look shameless

The “Justify My Love” singer was asked if she owned any paintings by Warhol, Haring, or Basquiat. “I have a few of each,” she revealed. “Keith and Andy did four pieces for me as a wedding present when I married Sean [Penn]. They’re pictures of me from the cover of The New York Post when all the nude photographs of me came out in Playboy and Penthouse. The headline says, ‘I’m Not Ashamed.’ So they took all these Post covers and painted over them.”

Madonna kept those pieces because they represented a “watershed moment” in her life. She also has a leather jacket that Haring painted that she would never give away. Haring died of complications from AIDS in 1990.

Another connection between the Queen of Pop and Andy Warhol

Madonna’s connection to Warhol extends beyond a handful of artworks. Madonna’s greatest hits album, Celebration, has a cover that evokes Warhol’s Marilyn Diptych, with Madonna’s face in place of Marilyn Monroe’s. That record reached No. 7 on the Billboard 200, staying on the chart for 17 weeks.

The Celebration album produced two new songs: the title track and “Revolver.” “Celebration” was a modest hit, peaking at No. 71 on the chart for a single week. “Revolver,” on the other hand, did not chart, even though it featured a guest verse from rap superstar Lil Wayne. When the song came out, Madonna had been overshadowed in the public consciousness by one of her best imitators: Lady Gaga. The feud between the two singers was legendary, but they both came out on top.

Madonna and Warhol are both icons of pop art, so it’s fitting that Warhol made some provocative pieces for Madonna.