Biography
Born in Pennsylvania in 1928 to working-class parents, Andy Warhol has become known as one of the most influential and important artists of the 20th century. Though he was diagnosed with Sydenham’s chorea- a disease of the nervous system- which left him occasionally bedridden, he spent this time drawing, listening to the radio, and educating himself on pop culture. Warhol would later describe this period of his life as extremely influential on his later body of work.
In 1945 Warhol graduated from Schenley High School and won a Scholastic Art and Writing Award, before going on to study commercial art at the Carnegie Institute of Technology. During this time he also served as the art director of the student art magazine, illustrating two covers which are believed to be his first two published works. After graduating he moved to New York City and began a career in magazine illustrating and advertising.
Throughout the 1950s, Warhol began developing his signature ‘blotted line’ technique whilst he was working as a shoe designer alongside his commercial work- applying ink to paper and then blotting it while it was still wet. In 1956 he was included in his first exhibition as part of a group exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art.
Warhol truly stepped into the public eye in the 1960s as his work became more and more recognized; the famous Big Campbell’s Soup Can was featured in an article in Time magazine, which led to it becoming one of Warhol’s most prominent motifs. He continued to have more appearances at exhibitions and museums throughout the decade, becoming arguably the most famous emerging artist of the second half of the century. His fascination with Hollywood and figures of pop culture influenced his art heavily, with paintings of celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe becoming pop culture staples.
Partially due to an infamous assassination attempt in 1968, and due to a dive into filmmaking and theatre production, the final two decades of Warhol’s career were less intense. However, collaborations with such artists as David Hockney and Cy Twombly, and tie-ins with celebrities such as a portrait of Prince for Purple Rain kept his name mainstream throughout those years.
Warhol died of heart issues in 1987, aged 58.