THE WARHOL
The Warhol
Celeste Apodaca
UTEP
English 1312
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ABSTRACT
“How did Andy Warhol come up with such bright ideas for his art?” “How did his
art changed people around that time?” and “How has his art influenced now that he is no
longer alive and still his art seems to be very well known?” Are the three main questions
that are going to be answered and searched through out the essay. These questions are the
key to understanding Andy Warhol’s art and Andy Warhol himself. They will be
answered in the most proper and eligible way possible so the readers can understand them
in the most detailed way possible.
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Andy Warhol was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1928. His birth name was
Andrew Warhola but changed it for himself so it could be shorter for the public. As a
child Andy Warhol was a strange kid suffering from several nervous breakdowns, but
despite his rough childhood he had an amazing gift with art. As soon as Andy Warhol
graduated high school he moved to New York to fulfill his dreams of becoming a wealthy
and famous artist. During his arrival in New York Andy Warhol he found many jobs
helping him fulfill his dreams, he worked as an illustrator for magazines such as Vogue
and Bazaar. As year went by “Andy Warhol enjoyed a successful career as a commercial
artist and filmmaker as well, winning several commendations from the Art Director’s
Club and the American Institute of Graphic Arts.” (fragrance.com) Making his hard work
pay of very well. As soon as he started winning several commendations and making his
art more commercial many people started to love his unique style of art “Pop Art” as it
was called in the 1960s. He became to be known to change and distort every day visions
of things by creating his stencils and painting his art with neon colors taking the inside of
things out and the outside of things in as he would tell people. Now the questions that
everyone asks themselves is “How did Andy Warhol come up with such bright ideas for
his art?” “How did his art changed people around that time?” and “How has his art
influenced now that he is no longer alive and still his art seems to be very well known?”
How did Andy Warhol come up with such bright ideas for his art?
"I never give my background, and anyway, I make it all up differently every time I'm
asked.” - Andy Warhol (farrels.people.cofc.edu)
New York has always been the center admiration of art and fashion, that’s why
Andy Warhol as soon as he graduated high school moved to New York because he
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believed that only there he would be able to reach his dreams of becoming a famous and
wealthy artist. By the 1960’s Warhol was already part of the art scene in New York and
at that time what was new in the art scene was the Pop Art movement, that Andy Warhol
right away was fascinated by it and started working in that scene. Pop Art consisted of
artist painting ordinary images but changing them with neon colors and making them
stand out to the public, they used ordinary images such as a coke bottle or a banana
painted them and make them “Pop” out so people could notice them on a regular basis.
But how did Andy Warhol come up with such great ideas for his art? No one really
knows how, but what specialist informed other about his idea was that “that he drew his
ideas from the world around him, internalized them, and then let his personality effect
and reflect in his art work” (farrels.people.cofc.edu). Andy Warhol let his imagination
flow and create his inner world that no one seemed to understand out to life through out
his pop art, he admired the world around him and he believed that he could change the
image of ordinary life and make it his own in a way that everyone at that time loved.
“How did his art changed people around that time?”
“ I reconstructed the decade, starting the 60’s when I began to paint my first pop canvas”
-Andy Warhol (popism)
Andy Warhol was no ordinary artist, he had great ideas and ambitions to show
people what his world was all about. He was different from other people he was suffering
from skin pigmentation and was a homosexual who affected him somewhat in his life but
never let that ruin him, it was what pushed him to strive and be the best of the best.
“Andy Warhol was an artist who destroyed panting and took us down the slippery slope
of postmodernism” (New York Times, 2010) People loved Andy Warhol’s art because it
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was different from many other artist famous at that time. Andy’s art was all about him;
his art consisted of things he loved and people he admired. He painted things such as
coke bottles and money a few of the things he loved, and painted people such as his
mother and Marlin Monroe because he admired them so much. “His work changed the
way people thought, and caused them to take a critical look at life from the 1960’s trough
the 1970’s.”(New York Times, 2010) Andy Warhol wasn’t only an artist but also a
filmmaker as well and many also loved his short films even though they were short,
showed rather odd scenes of peoples daily lives in his factory, and were very
underground films . People who were in Andy Warhol’s movies were knows to be
“Warhol’s Superstar” one of his most famous superstar was Eddie Sedgwick. Eddie
became famous trough Andy Warhol’s short film and was the reason many people loved
Andy’s films. Eddie Sedgwick was the main star in Andy Warhol short film called “Poor
Little Rich Girl” she was a young beautiful girl who also went to New York to fulfill her
dreams, but she didn’t only fulfill hers but also Andy’s by her amazing personality that
was shown in Andy’s short films.
“How has his art influenced now that he is no longer alive and still his art
seems to be very well known”
“I suppose I have a really loose interpretation of "work," because I think that just
being alive is so much work at something you don't always want to do. The machinery is
always going. Even when you sleep”
-Andy Warhol
“Two decades after his death, Warhol is still the art world’s leading man. Meet
those who call him Pop”(Departures). Andy Warhol’s art influences us till this day
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because his work is still seen everywhere. But the most important reason why his art is
still alive and well knows is because people don’t let his story and art die off. Some
people were and are so touched by his art and fascinated by it that they like the new
generation to know about him and how he influenced the 60’s. The people keep Andy
Warhol alive by still providing the public with his art; they show his art in museum and
even made a movie about him called “Factory Girl”. One of the biggest museum is the
one dedicated for Andy Warhol in Pittsburgh called “The Warhol Museum” providing for
the public “The collection includes 900 paintings; approximately 100 sculptures; nearly
2,000 works on paper; more than 1,000 published and unique prints; and 4,000
photographs. The film & video collection includes 60 feature films, 200 of Warhol’s
Screen Tests and more than 4,000 videos.” (Warhol) By providing people with places
like this with Andy Warhol’s works they keep him alive and well known through out the
world. His personal unique style and all his great canvases that he made became people’s
favorites.
In conclusion with all the information given in this research we see that Andy
Warhol was a great cultural modern influencer, he changed the world with the world in
his mind. He was able to open up peoples imagination and not only his own, he worked
for his best interest not caring what people thought and said of him “Don’t pay attention
about what people write about you, just measure it in inches” that’s what Andy would
always say. His Pop Art work is still seen today and purchased it, has become a market
based art know through out the world. Everyone loves Warhol!
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Dalton, David. "Andy Warhol." News. New York Times, 21 Oct. 2010. Web. 07
Apr. 2013.
Grey, Micheal. "Discount Perfume,Discount Cologne and Discount Fragrances at
FragranceX.com." Newsgroup. Discount Perfume,Discount Cologne and Discount
Fragrances at FragranceX.com. N.p., 16 Mar. 2009. Web. 07 Apr. 2013.
Maynyard, Jake. "Andy Home." Andy Home. Farrells, n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2013.
O'Brien, Glenn. "Andy Home." Andy Home. Departures, Nov.-Dec. 2006. Web.
07 Apr. 2013.
Shiner, Eric. "The Warhol:." Newsgroup. The Warhol:. Warhol Museum, n.d.
Web. 07 Apr. 2013.
Warhol, Andy. The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again.
New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1975. Print.
Warhol, Andy, and Pat Hackett. POPism: The Warhol Sixties. London: Penguin,
2007. Print.
American Masters: Andy Warhol. Dir. Matt Wrbican. Perf. Andy Warhol. PBS,
2006. Documentary.
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