Andy Warhol: A brief history
Andy Warhol was one of the most influential plastic artists of pop art. He produced with intensity between 1940 and 1960, but, in 1950 he had his most famous works connected to the publicity. Warhol was one of the creators and the biggest representative of pop art. He portrayed the massive culture, in a way that art transformed into a commercial product, distributed in mass production, and essentially used to sell, generate profits, and please the largest audience possible.
Life:
He was born in Pittsburgh, on August 6, 1928, son of slovaks immigrants. Warhol's father came to EUA in 1921 to avoid being drafted by the Austro-Hungarian army. In his childhood, Andy was diagnosed with a disease that affected his central nervous system. The long time he spent treating contributed to making him a shy and quiet kid.
In school, he was interested in art classes. With his interest getting bigger, Warhol started to frequent the Carnegie Museum. Later, he studied design at Carnegie Technology Institute. During the design course, the artist already showed his polemic and eccentric style, moving away and contesting the rules and standards of the institute. Andy was a student till the end of the WW2.
After he finished his studies, he moved to New York and started his artistic career, being an illustrator for Vogue and The New Yorker. Because of his works, he won many best art director awards, granted by the American Institute of Graphic Arts. Warhol did his first exhibitions in The Museum of Modern Art, located in New York. In this period the artist, effectively, started to sign as Andy Warhol.
At the end of 1950, and in 1960, Warhol transferred the publicity to his artworks, using colors with a strong tonality, and brilliant. During this period his style transitioned, creating the movement called pop art, his art was produced by the theme of daily life, and with a focus on the products consumed daily by the public, like Coca-Cola and Campbell soup. Warhol directed a series of movies during the 60s.
In the development of pop art, Warhol produced multiple copies of his works, with a technique called screen printing, stimulating the fast consumption of art on a big scale. The artist used a series of recycled materials and recycled feedstock, which used to not be the first choice of other artists.
In 1968 Warhol was a victim of an outrage, that the author was Valerie Solanis, the creator and the only participant of the group Society for Cutting up Men, she shot Warhol in the stomach and chest. Although he almost died, the shots weren’t fatal. Instead, Warhol suffered severe health complications for the rest of his life.
He died on February 22, 1987, in New York, after undergoing gallbladder removal surgery. Sadly, he died unexpectedly of cardiac arrest. Throughout his life, Warhol had an intense fear of hospitals. He had been putting off his gallbladder surgery for years because of this anxiety. Jose Diaz, curator of the Andy Warhol Museum says Warhol was his own worst enemy.
Features from his works:
His works became popular at the end of 1950, the period in which he founded his studio, The Factory, about production on a large scale. Warhol's art style was inspired by the American way of life, portraying the icons of the mass culture, artists like Marilyn Monroe, and products like Coca-Cola and Campbell Soups.
He used bright colors, heavy linework, references to people and products in popular culture, and repetitious compositions. Making he move away from the classic standard. All the unique things served as an inspiration to several artists around the world, who in the same way, portrayed leaders, fashion icons, and famous actors, with the characteristics of pop art.
Main artworks:
Campbell's soup cans- series produced in 1962
Coca Cola- series produced in 1962
Marilyn Monroe, 1967
Che Guevara, 1968