>Agreed. Yes the early work did connect to Goya, and that was my very
>first impression when I saw them. And yes he definitely lost that
>edge and its potential as social critique.
The importance of art as social critique is another discussion, but even when Warhol was doing frivolous stuff (and making a ton of money with it) he never stopped doing more serious work.
He did a momento mori Skull Series, a bunch of religious paintings (the skulls should be included in that too I guess), and a Torsos and Sex Parts series that shows continuity with the Factory days (Warhol called this the Cocks, Cunts, and Assholes Series).
No matter what though, the images were always strong. He knew what he was doing and had an eye to die for.
If I were going to sum him up I'd say he was catholic, queer, and duchampian (art as philosophy if you will). If you're interested in the philosophy angle, Arthur Danto wrote a whole book on it
btw, it's an exaggeration to say other people did all the work. He got his hands just as dirty as the people who worked for him. See for yourself here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzrPmfaYcMM
Here's some skulls:
http://myartspace-blog.blogspot.com/2008/10/warhols-skulls-series-will-spearhead.html
some body parts:
http://www.warhol.org/webcalendar/event.aspx?id=2056
some religion:
http://www.sarcc.org/warhol2.htm
and the Danto book:
http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520216747