Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol 1928-1987

Andy Warhol was born Andrew Warhola in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1928.

In 1945 he entered the Carnegie Institute of Technology where he majored in pictorial design.

Upon graduation, Warhol moved to New York where he found steady work as a commercial artist.

He worked as an illustrator for several magazines including Vogue and The New Yorker and did advertising and window displays for retail stores on 5th Ave.

His first assignment was for Glamour magazine doing the drawings for an article titled "Success is a Job in New York."

Throughout the 1950s, Warhol enjoyed a successful career as a commercial artist. It was at this time he shortened his name to "Warhol."

With his large sunglasses and straw blonde hair “Andy Warhol” was born…

Andy Warhol first experimented with a special type of line drawing known as the blotted line technique while still a college student in Pittsburgh.

As a commercial artist, Andy used this technique to create illustrations of everything from luxury cars to fanciful animals.

He also designed magazine ads of shoes at this time.

However, Glamour told Warhol his designs were today “old fashioned”. So he went back the next day with 50 of the most beautiful drawings they had ever seen.

Although Andy Warhol was a successful commercial artist he wanted to be seen as a “true artist.”

The 1960s was an extremely important decade for Warhol. Using images from popular culture, Warhol created many paintings that remain icons of 20th-century art, such as the Campbell's Soup Cans.

Artwork based on popular culture is called Pop Art. Along with the Campbell’s Soup Cans Warhol used pop icons such as….

Elvis Presley

Elizabeth Taylor

Marilyn Monroe

Jackie Kennedy

Mick Jagger

….and Barbie

Warhol's signature style used commercial silkscreening techniques to create identical, mass produced images on canvas, then variations in color to give each print of an edition a different look.

While Warhol is best known for his pop icons, he completed a series of silk screen prints of Endangered species based on his life long interest in animals.

At this time Warhol also made several controversial 16mm films which have become underground classics such as Chelsea Girls and Empire

He also created two cable television shows, "Andy Warhol's TV" in 1982 and "Andy Warhol's Fifteen Minutes" for MTV in 1986. Warhol believed that everyone will have their 15 minutes of fame.

Perhaps he was too controversial…In 1968, Valerie Solanis, walked into Warhol's studio and shot the artist. The attack was almost fatal.

Later there was a movie made about it.

After the attack Warhol's generally sunny and upbeat artwork turned to more serious subjects in his images Such as these……

Electric Chair

Ambulance Crash

..and a series of mug shots titles “13 Most Wanted Men”

He did several pieces based on the death of JFK.

Warhol died in New York on February 27, 1987 after a gallbladder operation. He had set, and then stretched the boundaries of POP ART. Warhol's depictions of everything from Campbell's Soup Cans to the faces of celebrities has made him the most influential American artist of the 20th century.