Quote: In the future everyone will be famous (or anonymous) for 15 minutes

Garson O'Toole adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM
Fri Jan 27 19:04:58 UTC 2012


The Yale Book of Quotations, the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations and
some other references list the following version of Andy Warhol's
well-known comment about transitory fame:

In the future everybody will be world famous for fifteen minutes.

The cite given in YBQ is for a 1968 "exhibition catalogue, Moderna
Museet, Stockholm, Sweden". Oxford gives the same cite: "volume
released to mark his exhibition in Stockholm, February–March, 1968".

There is evidence that Warhol may have used a version in 1967 without
the modifier "world".

Cite: 1967 October 13, Time, Sculpture: Master of the Monumentalists,
Time, Inc, New York. (Online Time magazine archive) link
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,837402,00.html
[Begin excerpt]
In the year 1967, the styles and statements of America's brash,
brilliant and often infuriating contemporary artists have not only
become available to the man in the street, but are virtually
unavoidable. And with proliferation comes confusion. Whole new schools
of painting seem to charge through the art scene with the speed of an
express train, causing Pop Artist Andy Warhol to predict the day "when
everyone will be famous for 15 minutes."
[End excerpt]

The Time version of the Warhol saying was further disseminated in an
Art magazine in 1967.

Cite: 1967 November, Art Scene, "Jan van der Marck: The Young Man Who
. . ." by Dennis Stone, Page 11, Volume 1, Art Scene Co., Chicago,
Illinois. (Verified on paper; Thanks to the librarians at the Lucille
Caudill Little Fine Arts Library at the University of Kentucky)
[Begin excerpt]
But showmanship is the operative word. It is the essential ingredient
if the Contemporary is to compete for national attention, and you'd
better believe that the Museum and its Director will be competing. If
the time approaches, as Warhol was quoted in Time as having predicted,
when every artist will be famous for 15 minutes, this development
pre-supposes the establishment of a network of Instant Fame Shops.
[End excerpt]

On the Quote Investigator website I examined a variant statement that
was used in an artwork by Banksy. If a list member knows how I could
find out when the Banksy piece was created or when it was first
displayed I would appreciate your help. Apparently it was shown in Los
Angeles by September 15, 2006.

In the Future Everyone Will Be Anonymous for Fifteen Minutes
http://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/01/27/anonymous-fifteen/

Garson

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