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Mick Jagger turns 79. The rock-star is a British singer and the founder and front man of The Rolling Stones, the band that with songs such as "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", "Paint It, Black" and "Angie" marked music history as few others have done.
Born on 26 July 1943, Mick Jagger had an enormous influence on mass culture and was not only a major player in the world of music, but also a prominent figure in other spheres. We cannot therefore fail to mention his appearance in the art world, specifically in the American Pop Art.
It was the 1960s, dominated by rock music, hippie culture and, in art, Andy Warhol’s Pop Art. Mick Jagger met Warhol for the first time in 1964: it was one of the first trips outside Europe by the Rolling Stones, still not really famous in the United States at the time.
In the following years Mick Jagger continued to frequent the New York art scene and made friends with other famous artists, among them Keith Haring.
A friendship was born between Mick Jagger and Andy Warhol. A long friendship that led to many artistic collaborations: from the covers Warhol designed for the albums “Sticky Fingers” (1971) and “Love You Live” (1977), to the 1975 portfolio of ten screenprints portraying Mick Jagger himself.
“10 Portraits” of Mick Jagger by Andy Warhol
The “10 Portraits” of Mick Jagger represent the artistic culmination of the collaboration between Andy Warhol and Mick Jagger.
It is one of Warhol's most iconic series and it shows the Rolling Stones' front man in "playful" poses, portrayed with the stylistic features typical of Pop Art. As with Marilyn Monroe, the series follows Warhol's interest in celebrity portraits, images that are close and understandable to the general public.
The inspiration for the creation of these works stems from a series of Polaroid shots taken in 1975 by Warhol himself, while Mick Jagger and his wife were renting the artist's house on Long Island. The shots were then reworked with the bright, vivid colours typical of Pop Art.
“Sticky Fingers” and “Love You Live”: cover album signed by Andy Warhol
If the portraits of Mick Jagger are among Warhol's most important series, the album cover of “Sticky Fingers” is the most recognised by the general public, although many people do not know that it was designed by Andy Warhol himself in 1969.
Five years after Warhol and Mick Jagger first met, the latter sent a letter asking the Pop Art master to create the cover of their next album. Following little prompting, Warhol created something provocative and irreverent by showing a pair of worn jeans on the cover with the zip exposed and working.
Thus, in 1971, one of the most beloved albums in music history was born, signed by one of the most important artists of all time: Andy Warhol.
And, less well known, the album “Love You Live” will also involve Warhol's hand in the cover design. It is a double live album that shows us, on the cover, the pop and colourful face of Mick Jagger biting a hand.
