Andy Warhol earned a lot more than 15 minutes of fame after painting a Campbell's Soup can.

Considering the Contemporary Jewish Museum's new exhibition, maybe it should have been a can of matzah ball soup. "Warhol's Jews: Ten Portraits Reconsidered" opens Oct. 12 and runs through Jan. 25, 2009.

Warhol's portraits of 10 prominent 20th-century Jews drew mixed reactions when the series premiered in 1980, with the New York Times calling it "vulgar ... its contribution to art is nil." Since the artist's death in 1987, his esteem in the art world --- and the regard for the series -- has grown.

The CJM exhibit features all 10 original portraits, as well as Warhol's preliminary sketches, diary entries and original source photographs. There's even vintage newsreel footage of the 1980 premiere at a Miami gallery. Collectively, these materials reveal the artist's meticulous creative process.

So who are Warhol's Jews? The final lineup: actress Sarah Bernhardt, Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis, philosopher Martin Buber, Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, George Gershwin, Franz Kafka, the Marx Brothers, Golda Meir and writer Gertrude Stein.

The artist -- a Catholic who had never shown much interest in Judaism or Jewish culture prior to this undertaking -- considered scores more, from Anne Frank to Woody Allen. No one knows for sure why he chose these 10, though he did once say of them, "I like the faces."

Better known for his portraits of Marilyn Monroe or for partying at Studio 54 with Bianca Jagger, Warhol impacted the Jewish community with his series, according to the exhibit's curator Richard Meyer.

"For many Jewish groups, the fact that this famous gentile artist would devote a series to great Jews of the 20th century was incredibly meaningful," Meyer says, "and could become a catalyst for discussion."

A professor of art history at the University of Southern California, Meyer has known CJM Executive Director Connie Wolf for many years, and he jumped at the chance to work with her on this exhibition.

Though Warhol's portraits of Jews have been seen all over the country -- including at Berkeley's Judah L. Magnes Museum in 1981 -- they have never toured with all the supporting materials. "I'm of the belief that source imagery is incredibly important and also really fascinating," Meyer adds.

Also included in the new exhibition (which premiered at New York's Jewish Museum earlier this year) are two Warhol portraits of Meir, the former Israeli prime minister, done much earlier.

"He had done this five-panel portrait in 1975 when Golda was still alive," Meyer adds. "Jewish collectors commissioned it. He had never met her, but in whatever way, Warhol was thinking about Israel years before."

In addition to serving as curator, Meyer also wrote a lengthy essay on the history and significance of "Warhol's Jews: Ten Portraits Reconsidered." It has been published in an illustrated companion volume to the exhibition.

Meyer says his own Jewish background helped him in his task.

"I don't think I could have done this show were I not Jewish," he says. "I felt I was touching on very sensitive issues -- stereotypes, the market, superficiality vs. genuine artistic meaning. I was glad I was Jewish — I could relate to the whole thing."

So what does it all mean? Given Warhol's infatuation with pop culture and all things superficial, could he have been trying to say something profound with this overtly Jewish series?

Um, no, probably not. Meyer points out that Warhol resisted the notion of deep meaning in his work.

"He understood that in modern culture, surfaces really matter," says Meyer. "These are not humanist, deeply revealing portraits. From the portrait itself you aren't going to learn much about Martin Buber's philosophy. If he had tried to make it more profound in a traditional sense, I don't think it would have worked as Warhol portraits."

That hasn't stopped Meyer from drawing inspiration and personal meaning from the series. He hopes the crowds sure to turn out for "Warhol's Jews" likewise make up their own minds.

"I believe these works have contributed important things," he says, "not because formally they reveal so much about Albert Einstein but because they provide an invitation to think again about Jewish modernity, individual achievement, cultural affirmation and identity."




"Warhol's Jews: Ten Portraits Reconsidered" opens Oct. 12 at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, 736 Mission St., S.F. The museum is open every

day except Wednesday. Tickets: $5-$10. Information: (415) 655-7800 or http://www.thecjm.org.