Smithsonian and Andy Warhol Museum Honour Dolly Parton
The Smithsonian Institution and the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh have honoured Dolly Parton, recognising a connection between the country music legend and one of the 20th century's most famous artists that stretches back four decades Artnews.
Warhol's interest in Parton ran deeper than a single encounter. According to the Andy Warhol Museum, Parton appeared alongside Mick Jagger and Grace Jones in Warhol's "People" portfolio — a collection of photographs of well-known celebrities that he assembled during the 1970s Andy Warhol Museum. The museum also notes that Warhol painted conventional portraits of Parton, Grace Jones, and Debbie Harry that were separate from the album-cover work he was known for Andy Warhol Museum.
The relationship extended into print. Warhol interviewed Parton for the July 1984 issue of Interview magazine, the publication he founded in 1969 and used as a platform for unscripted conversations between cultural figures Interview magazine. The two reportedly hit it off during the exchange.
Five years later, Parton returned to Interview's pages. Photographer Herb Ritts shot her for the magazine's July 1989 cover Interview magazine.
The details of the Smithsonian and Warhol Museum's tribute — whether it involves an exhibition, a dedicated publication, or another format — are drawn from a single report published by Artnews on 26 August 2026. Interview magazine republished its 1984 Warhol-Parton conversation the day before, on 25 August, describing the piece as appearing "in memoriam." Interview magazine.
For Parton's fans, the honour places her squarely inside the art-historical record that Warhol built. He documented the people he thought defined American culture — and Parton was one of them, photographed, painted, and interviewed across a decade of collaboration.
