Andy Warhol (1928 - 1987) was one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, one of the founders and greatest representative of pop art. American painter and filmmaker, his real name is Andrej Varhola, Jr.
Construction
His work became popular in the 60s, when he founded “The Factory”, the name of his studio. His paintings have raised millions at auction.
Many of the artist's works are on display at the Andy Warhol Museum, which opened in 1994 in Pittsburgh.
Among the main works of this successful artist, “Campbell Soup Tins”, from 1962, is one of the best known.
The work was shown at his first pop art exhibition in New York, held in 1962.
Warhol has directed and produced dozens of films, which show scenes viewed from a window. We quote just a few:
- Sleep, 1963
- Eat, 1964
- Batman Dracula, 1964
- Empire, 1964
- Vinyl, 1965
- Poor Little Rich Girl, 1965
- More Milk, Yvette, 1966
- Chelsea Girls, 1966
- Salvador Dalí, 1966
- I, a Man, 1967
Biography
Andy Warhol was born on August 6, 1928 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Slovak immigrants.
As a child, he had a nervous system disorder that caused him to spend a lot of time in bed and away from school and classmates.
According to the artist, this time was important for his artistic development, as he was bedridden, occupied his time collecting photos of artists and drawing.
Already in his teens, he was awarded the Scholastic Writing and Art Prize.
A design graduate from the renowned Carnegie Institute of Technology, he has worked as an illustrator for magazines such as Harper's Bazaar, The New Yorker and Vogue.
The artist explored strong colors and, among other techniques, screen printing. Screen printing basically consists of a printing technique in which ink is leaked through pressure on a roller.
Depicting everyday themes, he gave new life to the movement of pop art.
In addition to reproducing objects such as banknotes, Coke bottles and the famous Campbell soup can work, he painted personalities.
Examples are Brigitte Bardot, Che Guevara, Elizabeth Taylor, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando, Michael Jackson, among others.
In 1968 he was shot and seriously injured. The attack left sequels on the artist. The shooter was feminist writer Valerie Solanas. She, who had paranoid schizophrenia, surrendered and was sentenced to 3 years in prison.
He died in New York on February 22, 1987. He was 58 years old.
Read too modern painting and Contemporary Painting.
