Warhol Art

Andrew Warhola (August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987), known as Andy Warhol, was born in Pittsburgh as the son of Slovak immigrants. Raised by working-class parents, Andy spent much of his childhood as an outcast at school who bonded best with his mother. Often bed-ridden from bouts of chorea (the nervous system disease that causes involuntary movements of the extremities), he spent much of his time drawing, collecting pictures of movie stars and listening to the radio. He later identified this trying time of his childhood as a very important part of his development as an artist.

Andy showed early talent in both drawing and painting. After high school, he studied commercial art at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh. Following graduation in 1949, he moved to New York where he worked as an illustrator for Harpar’s Bazaar and Vogue. It was not long after that he became one of New York’s most sought after commercial illustrators.

During the 1960s, he founded “The Factory,” his studio during these years, and began mass-producing his own works of pop art. He employed workers to produce prints, posters and other items. The quintessence of Andy Warhol’s art was dollar bills, celebrities and brand name products, such as Coca-Cola and Campbell’s soup labels. He preferred the printmaking technique of silkscreen, a low-cost method of printing accomplished with a squeegee that squeezes the ink through the fine meshes of the silkscreen onto the paper.

Though he passed in 1987, his legacy lives on through many avenues, including his art that is displayed at The Andy Warhol Museum located near downtown Pittsburgh. Here, visitors can view not only his works of art but also other famous artists as well. Today, many of Warhol's original prints are worth millions of dollars. As an example, the portrait he painted of the late Elizabeth Taylor, entitled "Liz #5," is expected to fetch as much as $30 million.