Andy Warhol was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1928. His parents were Russian immigrants from Slovakia. When Andy was in 3rd grade, he was diagnosed with “scarlet fever”, which causes colored skin blotches. Repeated trips to the doctor caused Andy to become a “hypochondriac” (someone afraid of doctors, medicine, and hospitals). Often stuck in bed for days at a time, Andy was entertained by the radio and television, which he later described as an important influence on his artwork. In 1945, he entered the Carnegie Institute of Technology where he majored in graphic design. Upon graduation, Warhol moved to New York where he worked as an illustrator for several magazines including “Vogue”, “Harper's Bazaar” and “The New Yorker” and did advertising and window displays for many department stores. Warhol became famous worldwide for his work as a painter, filmmaker, record producer, author, and public figure known for his social circles of friends which included Hollywood celebrities, politicians, and wealthy families. In the 1950’s, the record industry was quickly expanding with vinyl records and hi-fi stereo equipment. Around 1950, RCA hired Andy Warhol and his artist friend, Sid Maurer, to create vinyl album covers and poster advertisements for the newest recording artists. This led to many important meetings with influential businessmen. Throughout the 1950’s, Warhol enjoyed a successful career winning several awards from the Art Director's Club and the American Institute of Graphic Arts. In 1952, Warhol had his first solo art exhibit at the Hugo Gallery, which included his famous “Fifteen Drawings Based on the Writings of Truman Capote”. His work was exhibited in several other galleries during the 1950s, including The Museum of Modern Art in 1956. Warhol created both comical and serious works. His subjects ranged from a soup can, to an electric chair, to a car crash. Warhol used bright clashing colors in images of celebrities, everyday objects, and images of car crashes seen in newspapers (as seen in his 1962-63 “Death And Disaster” series). The “Death And Disaster” paintings (such as “Red Car Crash”, “Purple Jumping Man”, and “Orange Disaster”) transform personal tragedies into public spectacles, and began the use of images of disaster in art. Warhol's own actions, when asked about his art, made him appear dumb to the media, because he would often talk off-subject and refuse to explain his work when interviewed. He was famous for having said that all you need to know about him and his work is already there on the surface of the paintings. The 1960’s was an extremely busy decade for Warhol. It was during the 1960’s that Warhol began to make paintings of famous American products such as soup cans from the Campbell Soup Company and Coca-Cola bottles. To Warhol, part of defining Pop Art was defining his subject matter. Warhol's work from this period revolved around U.S. popular culture (“pop culture” for short). “Pop culture” is objects, pictures, and music from a particular time which is seen everywhere, such as in magazines, in newspapers, on TV, and advertised on the radio. Cartoons were already being used by Lichtenstein, and typography (lettering and numbers) were painted by Jasper Johns. Warhol wanted original subjects. His friends suggested he should paint the things he loved the most. So, for his first major exhibit, he created his famous paintings of cans of Campbell's Soup, which he claimed to have had for lunch for most of his life. The painting titled “100 Campbell’s Soup Cans” sold for $10,000 at an auction on November 17, 1971. (Now, his paintings sell for over $6 million each!) Using images from pop culture, Warhol created many paintings that remain icons of 20th-century art, such as the “Campbell's Soup Cans”, “Disasters”, and “Marilyns” series. Also, he painted portraits of celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, and Elizabeth Taylor. Also in the ‘60’s, Warhol opened his art studio, called "The Factory," where he created art, and met with writers, musicians, and film makers. He switched to “silkscreen prints” which he produced in large quantities. (Silk-screening is a stencil process in which paint or ink is forced through a mesh or silk material which has been prepared with a masked design.) By minimizing the role of his own hand in the production of his work, Warhol sparked a revolution in art. His work quickly became popular as well as controversial. In addition to painting, Warhol made several short films which have become underground classics such as “Chelsea Girls”. In 1968, Valerie Solanas, the founder of S.C.U.M. (Society for Cutting Up Men), walked into Warhol's studio and shot Warhol in the chest. Luckily, surgery saved his life. Afterwards, Andy Warhol dropped out of the filmmaking business, but now and then continued his financial contributions to film and art. He never emotionally recovered from his brush with death. Also in the 1960’s, Warhol met Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, and Maureen Tucker (as the band The Velvet Underground), as well as a German-born model/singer called “Nico”. He paired Nico with the Velvet Underground, and they developed a close bond with Warhol. This was an alliance that forever changed the face of world culture. Warhol produced the group's first album called “The Velvet Underground and Nico” which has been called "the most influential record ever" by many critics. Later, a multimedia concert/show developed, called “The Exploding Plastic Inevitable”, which was managed and produced by Warhol, featuring live performances by the Velvet Underground. [pic] [pic] “Campbell's Soup I” (1968) “Marilyn Monroe”

At the start of the 1970’s, Warhol began writing and publishing articles about pop culture in Interview magazine and continued his focus on painting. Famous artworks created in the ‘70’s include the “Skulls, Hammer and Sickles”, “Torsos” and “Shadows” series, as well as many commissioned portraits. Warhol also published an autobiography called “The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (from A to B and Back Again)”. Firmly [pic] [pic] “Skulls” “Hammer And Sickle”

established as a major 20th-century artist and international celebrity, Warhol exhibited his work in galleries around the world. Andy Warhol began the 1980’s with the publication of his book called “POPism: The Warhol '60s” and with exhibitions of his “Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century” and the “Retrospectives and Reversal” series. He also created two cable television shows: "Andy Warhol's TV" in 1982, and "Andy Warhol's Fifteen Minutes" for MTV in 1986. His famous paintings from the 1980’s include “The Last Suppers”, and a series called “Ads”. Warhol also engaged in a series of projects with younger artists, including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Francesco Clemente, and Keith Haring. Following routine gall bladder surgery, Andy Warhol died of a heart attack on February 22, 1987. After his burial in Pittsburgh, his friends and associates organized a memorial mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York that was attended by more than 2,000 people. Warhol's will dictated that his entire estate, with the exception of a few items to family members, would go to create a foundation dedicated to the "advancement of the visual arts." Warhol had so many possessions that it took Sotheby's Auction House nine days to auction his possessions after his death. The auction earned more than $20 million! In 1987, in accordance of Warhol's will, “The Andy Warhol Foundation For The Visual Arts” was founded. The Andy Warhol Foundation not only serves as the official copyright holders of Andy Warhol’s artwork, but it also “has a mission to foster innovative artistic expression and the creative process” and is “focused primarily on supporting work of a challenging and often experimental nature.” [pic] “100 Cans”