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Born Andrew Warhola in 1928 near Pittsburgh, Pa. to Slovak immigrants. His
father died in a construction accident when Andy was 13 years old.
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He is known as an American painter, film-maker, publisher and major figure in the
pop art movement.
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Warhol was a sickly child and his mom would give him a Hershey bar for every
coloring book page he finished. He excelled in art and won a scholarship to
college.
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After college, he moved to New York City and became a magazine illustrator –
known for his drawings of shoes. His mother lived with him – they had no hot
water, the bathtub was in the kitchen and had up to 20 cats living with them.
Warhol ate tomato soup every day for lunch.
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In the 1960’s, he started to make paintings of famous American products such as
soup cans, coke bottles, dollar signs & celebrity portraits. He became known as
the Prince of Pop – he brought art to the masses by making art out of daily life.
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Warhol began to use a photographic silk-screen process to produce paintings and
prints. The technique appealed to him because of the potential for repeating
clean, hard-edged shapes with bright colors.
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Andy wanted to remove the difference between fine art and the commercial arts
used for magazine illustrations, comic books, record albums or ad campaigns. His
philosophy was well captured in his quote: “When you think about it, department
stores are kind of like museums”.
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Warhol also made over 60 films and wrote several books. He created the fashion
magazine, “Interview” which is still published today.
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Described by friends as a “work-aholic” he knew he could achieve the American
dream only by hard work.
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Throughout his life, Warhol held a notorious celebrity status, enhanced by his
self-promotion. After an assassination attempt in 1968 the pop artist made a
radical turn in his process of making art. The philosopher of art mass production
now spent most of his time making individual portraits of rich and affluent people
like Mick Jaggar, Michael Jackson or Brigitte Bardot.
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Warhol died suddenly in 1987 leaving no family of his own. His estate, worth
millions of dollars was directed toward the establishment of an endowment fund
for the arts.
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The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pa. Is the largest American Art Museum
dedicated to a single artist – there are more than 4,000 works by Warhol himself
there.
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POP ART: a major art movement of the 20th century in the United States that
uses elements of popular culture, magazines, movies, music, bottles, cans
(everyday objects seen in a NEW WAY)