Andy Warhol: The Man Behind The Artist

Andy Warhol is a household name. His art and philosophy have permeated the culture to such an extent that even those who do not know his name are familiar with his work. His “painting” consisted of mass-produced silkscreen prints of Campbell’s soup cans, Coca-Cola bottles and the like. But this was only the most public aspect of his work.

A true artist, he pushed the boundaries of painting into areas where many would not follow him; yet his ability to capture the essence of popular culture was never in doubt. And, as we shall see, his ideas about art and its relationship to society were both prescient and controversial.

¶How did Andy Warhol come to prominence? The simple answer is: through commercial art. In an article published in Time magazine in 1964, while Warhol was still a virtual unknown outside the art world, writer Jack Kroll made this observation: “Warhol’s present preeminence as an artist derives almost entirely from his power as a commercial illustrator.”¶Kroll points out that Warhol began by drawing comic strips for $25 a week. Then he progressed to designing “advertisements for shoes, dresses, handbags and other merchandise.”

Andy Warhol was born on August 6, 1928, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was the fourth child of Ondrej Warhola (Andrew Warhola), a Czech immigrant, and Julia (Julia Koerner), whose parents were from Germany.

I have long been fascinated by Warhol’s work. I think it is amazing how he has impacted art. Before Warhol, art was a very formalized medium and artists had to conform to several rules. Warhol completely turned that concept upside down by creating his own type of art-making. He saw something that needed to be changed and he didn’t sit back and let it happen; he created.

Warhol’s first love was commercial art; however, he gave up his commercial career after being rejected by the Art Institute of Pittsburgh because of his poor academic background. He also disliked what he called “overly formal artistic training.”

After leaving school, Andy worked in a department store designing window displays. This is where he gained a lot of experience with different media such as silk screening and painting directly on glass. The following year he started working for the WPA making murals for the Franklin Roosevelt Library in New York City One of the most famous murals was titled “Aspirin

Andy Warhol was one of the most significant and influential artists of the 20th century. His contributions to art and culture continued to be felt long after his death in 1987, and are still being felt today.

He was well known for his work as a painter, filmmaker, author, and commercial artist. He is also well known for coining the phrase, “In the future everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes,” which he had adapted from a famous line written by playwright Bertolt Brecht: “There are people who are known to everybody, but whom nobody knows.”

Some of Warhol’s most iconic works include his Campbell’s Soup Cans, Coca-Cola Bottles and Marilyn Monroe paintings. The pop art legend created these images out of a desire to be famous.

The very first time I had ever seen the name Andy Warhol was on a giant billboard in Times Square… It was a commercial for, I think, Butterfinger candy bars. The name Andy Warhol was huge, it took up the whole billboard. And I thought, who is this Andy Warhol? And why is he so famous that he gets his name on this billboard? And then I found out about him, and about pop art and about all of the things that he did.

You don’t see many people who are willing to do anything to get famous. But it seemed like Andy Warhol was willing to do whatever it took to become famous.

Andy Warhol was an American artist who is known for being one of the main founders of Pop Art. Pop art is a form of art that uses commercial imagery, such as advertisements. Andy Warhol was born in 1928 and died in 1987. He lived a very interesting life and his art was even more interesting.

Andy Warhol was born Andrew Warhola on August 6, 1928 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Andrej and Julia Warhola. His father was an immigrant from Mikova, Czechoslovakia and his mother was from Kisilova Croatia. Andy had two older brothers, John and Paul. Andy grew up with a love for books as he read them all through his childhood years. At an early age Andy would draw pictures of things he saw around him. When he turned 13 Andy started to take classes at the Carnegie Institute of Technology where he learned methods to improve his artwork and skills. During this time Andy also worked as a commercial artist at a department store called Whelan’s which helped him learn different techniques to use in art. In 1948 Andy graduated from the Carnegie Institute with a degree in pictorial design which made him interested in creating more realistic images rather than abstract ones. In 1949 Warhol started working as an illustrator for women’s fashion magazines

As a child, Warhol was called “Wally” but at some point in his teenage years he changed it to “Andy”, though his legal name remained Walter until he was 66 years old.

Warhol’s parents were working-class Slovak immigrants living in Pittsburgh and, like other immigrants, found it difficult to establish themselves in a new country. Warhol’s mother worked as a seamstress and his father worked in a coal mine as a safety inspector.

Warhol’s parents had moved from the Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Slovakia) to Pittsburgh in 1913. Warhol’s father always devised ways to make more money, including dealing in cars and real estate or opening a restaurant. Despite his father’s entrepreneurial spirit, Andy Warhol had to drop out of school in eighth grade at age fourteen due to poor academic performance. His teachers considered him too passive and he often hid behind comic magazines such as The Katzenjammer Kids when he should have been attending class.

Warhol began working at the American Can Company after leaving school; however his employer soon discovered that Warhol was dyslexic and therefore not very good with numbers. In 1943, Warhol graduated from Schenley High School and then returned to American Can Company where he became an

Andy Warhol was born on August 6, 1928 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He had 3 siblings. His parents were Ondrej Warhola and Julia Zavacky. Andy’s mother Julia died when he was only 5 years old. Andy attended Schenley High School. He wanted to be an artist. After high school, he studied commercial art at Carnegie Tech. He was working as a commercial artist when he began painting Campbell’s soup cans and other items from his everyday life.

Warhol started his first commercial art business, called “Warhol Illustration Company,” in 1949. He became interested in the Campbell soup can because of its advertising value. The company sold more than 1,000 of the prints at $100 each over a 10-year period (1955-1965).

Soon after that, he opened his second business, “Factory”, where he began directing films as well as setting up a studio for silk-screen printing on canvas. This became known as the first U.S. “art factory”.

He had many bright ideas including having a “Brillo Box” exhibit and making movies with music from the Rolling Stones to pay for the rent of his studio space on 47th Street in New York City. His most famous movie is