Life and Career Defining Moments

     Warhol had numerous artistic passions; he was a painter, photographer, sculpture, print maker, and film maker. Later he became the leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. After a successful career as a commercial illustrator (graphic artist), Warhol became a renowned and sometimes controversial artist. It was in 1952 when Warhol debuted his first solo exhibition at the Hugo Gallery, which featured 15 drawings he created based on writing the writing of Truman Capote.

During the 1960’s is when Warhol began making painting of iconic American objects like Marilyn Monroe. The 1960’s were also very defining for Warhol in the sense that he opened his studio called ‘The Factory’ where he gathered artists, musicians, writers, and underground celebrities. In this decade he also painted his first works based on comics and advertisement, he did this by enlarging and projecting the images onto a canvas where he could then paint them. He created icons out of icons.

Another pivotal moment was the 1964 exhibit ‘The American Supermarket’, this exhibit was one of the first mass events that directly confronted the general public with both pop art and the question of ‘what is art?’. Though this decade held much success for Warhol is also came with its dangers; in 1968 Valerie Solanas shot him. Warhol’s work was not always appreciated in all galleries; his art was too commercial in some people’s opinion. Some of his work for the times (1960’s) would have been considered shocking, rude, and disgusting.

The 70’s and 80’s were less exciting than his booming 60’s. Warhol commissioned celebrities for portraits, founded ‘Interview’ magazine, and published a book ‘Philosophy of Andy Warhol (from A to B and back again)’. In 1982 Warhol died from sudden post-operative cardiac arrhythmia after having a routine gallbladder surgery. The Andy Warhol Museum in the city of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania holds an extensive permanent collection of art archives. It is the largest museum in the United States dedicated to one single artist.