Artists assistants work with, and often under direct instruction from, artists in the production or preparation of art works. Many famous and influential artists have worked with assistants, including

Barbara Hepworth Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a leadin ...

David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English Painting, painter, Drawing, draughtsman, Printmaking, printmaker, Scenic design, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considere ...

, and

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

Famous assistants

While the names of many artists' assistants are never known, some artists assistants have become famous in their own right either as artists or for their role as assistants. Italian artist

Salaì Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Oreno, better known as Salaì (1480 – 19 January 1524) was an Italian artist and pupil of Leonardo da Vinci from 1490 to 1518. Salaì entered Leonardo's household at the age of ten. Salai created paintings under the na ...

was an assistant and pupil of the

Italian Renaissance painter Italian Renaissance painting is the painting of the period beginning in the late 13th century and flourishing from the early 15th to late 16th centuries, occurring in the Italian Peninsula, which was at that time divided into many political sta ...

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

. American filmmaker and poet

Gerard Malanga Gerard Joseph Malanga (born March 20, 1943) is an American poet, photographer, filmmaker, actor, curator and archivist. Malanga worked with pop artist Andy Warhol from 1963 to 1970. The New York Times referred to him as "Andy Warhol's most import ...

, and artists Ronnie Cutrone and Rupert Jasen Smith were assistants of American pop artist

Controversy

The use of artists' assistants has been a controversial issue. The controversy primarily focuses on the assistants not being acknowledged for their work and questions of what constitutes art. Pop artist

described Damian Hirst's use of assistants as, "It's a little insulting to craftsmen, skilful craftsmen." This was in response to Hirst's use of assistants to paint his spot paintings. Warhol often used assistants to help with his silkscreen paintings at his studio, called the Factory. Warhol was asked why he used a mechanical device to reproduce designs. "I tried doing them by hand," he admitted, "but I find it easier to use a screen. This way, I don't have to work on my objects at all. One of my assistants or anyone else, for that matter, can reproduce the design as well as I could." The contemporary artist

Jeff Koons Jeffrey Lynn Koons (; born January 21, 1955) is an American artist recognized for his work dealing with popular culture and his sculptures depicting everyday objects, including balloon animals produced in stainless steel with mirror- finish s ...

uses assistants in a similar way, "I'm basically the idea person," he told an interviewer, "I'm not physically involved in the production. I don't have the necessary abilities, so I go to the top people.” There have also been exhibitions about the relationship between artist and assistant such as that at the New York gallery Luxembourg & Dayan which hosted ‘In the Making: Artists, Assistants, and Influence’ – a show tracing the link between artists and their (eventually famous) assistants in 2016

References

{{reflist Arts occupations History of art