Andy Warhol

Andrew Warhola was born to Slovakian immigrant parents in Pittsburgh. His father Andrej was a construction worker, and his mother Julia was an embroiderer who encouraged his artistic talents from an early age.

Warhol contracted Sydenham's chorea, a nervous system disease that kept him bedridden for months. During this time, his mother taught him to draw and gave him his first camera, sparking his lifelong interest in imagery.

Warhol graduated from Schenley High School and enrolled at the Carnegie Institute of Technology to study pictorial design, showing exceptional talent in commercial art.

Warhol graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in pictorial design. His senior thesis focused on the relationship between art and commercial advertising, themes that would define his career.

Warhol moved to Manhattan to pursue a career as a commercial illustrator. He shortened his name to Warhol and began working for magazines including Glamour and Vogue.

Warhol held his first solo exhibition at Hugo Gallery, displaying drawings based on Truman Capote's writings. He began gaining recognition in the New York art world.

Warhol received the Art Directors Club Award for his distinctive shoe advertisements for I. Miller. His blotted-line technique became widely recognized in commercial illustration.

Warhol exhibited his iconic Campbell's Soup Cans series at Ferus Gallery, consisting of 32 canvases depicting each soup variety. This work launched the Pop Art movement and revolutionized contemporary art.

Following Marilyn Monroe's death, Warhol created his famous silk-screen portraits of the actress. The Marilyn series became one of the most recognizable artworks of the 20th century.

Warhol established The Factory, his famous silver-painted studio that became a gathering place for artists, musicians, celebrities, and counterculture figures. It revolutionized the concept of the artist's workspace.

Warhol produced The Velvet Underground's debut album and designed its iconic banana cover. The band became hugely influential in rock music despite modest initial sales.

Warhol was shot by radical feminist Valerie Solanas at The Factory. He was clinically dead before being revived by surgery. The trauma affected him deeply for the rest of his life.

Following Nixon's historic China visit, Warhol created his Mao Zedong portrait series. The works commented on celebrity, propaganda, and political power in the modern age.

Warhol published his philosophical memoir exploring fame, art, beauty, and American culture. The book contained his famous quotes about everyone having fifteen minutes of fame.

Warhol began an intensive artistic collaboration with young neo-expressionist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Their joint paintings bridged Pop Art and street art, influencing a new generation of artists.

Andy Warhol died of cardiac arrhythmia following gallbladder surgery. He left behind a vast body of work that transformed how we understand art, celebrity, and consumer culture in modern society.