Authors: Joseph Tirella
Andy Warhol's mural
Thirteen Wanted Men
(silkscreen ink on masonite; 1964)
, commissioned by Philip Johnson for the World's Fair, briefly hung on the architect's New York State Pavilion along with several other Pop Art murals. But the controversial work was quickly painted over before being removed at Governor Rockefeller's request.
Photograph: Eric Pollitzer
© 2013 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New Yor
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Although Moses preferred the easy listening sounds of Guy Lombardo and disdained the amateur rock bands that played at the World's Fair, Beatlemania was an unstoppable cultural phenomenon. The immensely popular Johnson & Johnson Wax Museum exhibit featured a replica Fab Four before the real band played Shea Stadium in August 1965, solidifying their dominance over the worlds of pop and rock.
Photograph courtesy of Bill Cotter
While the World's Fair was a financial failure, it wasâand remainsâa seminal event in the lives of millions, occurring at a crucial moment in the history of New York and the nation, when the tectonic plates of American society were shifting rapidly.
Photograph courtesy of Bill Cotter