Andy Warhol, Artistic Icon Of The 20th Century

Modern Master

Andy Warhol is for sure one of the most intriguing multimedia artists of modern times. His uniqueness and revolutionary ideas have left a strong mark behind, above all in the world of art but also in many other spheres of life and culture. He was a leading figure in the visual art movement, widely known as pop art.

Born on August 6, 1928 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Andy was the third child of Ondrej Warhola, immigrant from eastern Slovakia. Ondrej and Julia Warhola were Carpatho-Rusyns who immigrated in the early 1920’s. In 1945, he enrolled at the Carnegie Institute of Technology (today known as Carnegie-Mellon University). Upon graduation in 1949, Andy and his friend from University, artist Philip Pearlstein, went on an overnight train to New York City to pursue the world of art.

Andy quickly got the opportunity to do illustrations for all of the major fashion magazines including Glamour, Vogue, and Harpers Bazaar. A blotted line drawing technique, his early drawing technique, and his specific graphics creativity rapidly caught the eyes of numerous art directors. In the 1950s he was very creative in illustrating fashion ads, books, record albums and many other promotional items.

In the 1960s Andy had several major exhibitions in Los Angeles and New York that made the magazines such as Time, Life and Newsweek which ran articles about him and his unique art. His iconic images of Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, Soup Cans, and Coke bottles defined Pop art and changed the way people appreciate art altogether.

In 1963 Andy started The Factory, his New York City studio with his friends and great artists of that time like Henry Geldzahler, David Hockney and Jeff Goodman. The studio soon became a magnet for artists, hipsters and socialites, and also a hub for experimentation of all kinds. It was located in midtown Manhattan.

Writers, painters, singers and other artists led by Warhol came to The Factory and laid the foundation of the revolution of the American arts and thus begins the pop culture as we know it that still dominates in the modern times.

Andy Warhol was an artist, filmmaker, photographer, author, editor, and cultural icon. In the years since his untimely death, his importance has grown to stratospheric proportions. He is now regarded as one of the most major artists of the 20th century.