At the age of 8, Warhol contracted Chorea – also known as SST. Vita’s Dance . A rare and sometimes fatal disease of the nervous system that left him bedridden for several months. It was during these months, while Warhol was sick in bed, that his mother, herself a skillful artist, gave him his first drawing lessons. Drawing soon became Whorl’s favorite childhood pastime. He was also an avid tan tooth movies, and when his mother bought him a camera at the age of 9 he took up photography as well, developing film in a makeshift darkroom he set up in their basement.
Warhol attended Holmes Elementary school and took the free art classes offered at the Carnegie Institute (now the Carnegie Museum of Art) in Pittsburgh. In 1942, at the age of 14, Warhol again suffered a tragedy when his father passed away from a jaundiced liver. Warhol was so upset that he could not attend his father’s funeral, and he hid under his bed throughout the wake. Whorl’s father had recognized his son’s artistic talents, and in his will he dictated that his life savings go toward Whorl’s college education.
That same year, Warhol began High School, and upon graduating, in 1945, he enrolled at he Carnegie Institute for Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) where he studied and graduated With a degree in pictorial design. Pictorial design is the art of creating images and drawings which are often used in the production of advertisements and magazines. In 1949 Warhol moved to New York City to work as a commercial artist. He drew pictures for magazines and advertisements. He became very successful. During the asses Warhol drew images for many important magazines such as Enough” and “Harpers Bazaar. He also became very well known for a series of ads he made for shoes. Warhol used his experience in commercial art as an entry into fine art, He began his painting career as part of the Pop Art movement. This moment was at its strongest during the nineteen sixties, Pop Art was defined by images of material goods and popular culture, These artists painted or printed everyday images of things that usually are not considered art. These images included photographs from magazines, drink advertisements and drawings trot popular comic strips.
Pop artists approved to using mass media and mass production as an influence in their art, pop Art also fleeted the rise in wealth and the importance of owning things that America experienced in the ASS(Yes_ One of Andy Whorl’s first exhibits was in 1962_ He created thirty-two paintings of red and white soup cans. These paintings shook the art world. The soup cans looked like the soup produced by one of America’s most popular food companies, Campbell. Every painting looked the same except for the words Mitten on the can that described the different kinds of soup.
Warhol used a Wry smooth painting method so the artwork almost did not look hand-made. The paintings looked like they came out the same factory that made the soup cans. No one had ever seen art like this. Warhol also made paintings using images such as Coca Cola bottles, dollar symbols, and popular cleaning products. He took the most everyday objects and turned them into fine art. Warhol soon started making silkscreen prints. This method of reproduction permitted the artist to make many images very quickly. He would often repeat the same picture many times in one artwork. He liked the idea of mass produced art.
He once said that he thought everyone should think alike and be like a machine. In fact, the place where he created his art was called The Factory. He had many assistants who helped him produce his art. Andy Warhol explored many other subjects. For example, he made a series of paintings on death and disaster. These works showed images of car accidents and executions, He also made pictures of famous people such as the actress Marilyn Monroe and the singer Elvis Presley, Warhol was very interested in fame, He celebrated famous people. Andy Warhol once said something about fame that became very popular and is still repeated today.
He said that in the future, everybody will be famous or fifteen minutes. Warhol certainly enjoyed being well known. He created a very unusual public personality. He would wear strange wigs on his head made of petite hair. He would go out every night to parties and other social gatherings where there were beautiful and important people. He would talk to reporters in a very shy manner. He would provide unclear answers to their questions. Here is an example Of Andy Warhol being asked about his art. It is from a 1991 documentary film about Whorl’s life.
QUESTION: “Andy, do you think that pop art has sort Of reached the point where it’s becoming repetitious? WARHOL: “Shih, QUESTION: “Do you think it should break away from being pop art? ‘ WARHOL: “Uh, no. ” QUESTION: “Are you just going to carry on? ” WARHOL: uh, yes. ” Andy Warhol was much more than just a painter. He was also a film maker, publisher, and manager off rock band. For example, he produced several low budget art films in the early nineteen sixties. One was called “Empire”. It showed a filmed image of the Empire State Building in New York City, The film was eight hours long.
In the movie “Sleep” Warhol recorded a friend sleeping. The film lasts six hours. When asked about the uneventful nature of these films, Warhol answered that he liked boring or uninteresting things. In the middle nineteen sixties Warhol also managed a rock band called The Velvet Underground, He helped produce one of their records and designed the cover of the album. Another of Whorl’s projects Vass the creation of”IntervieW’ magazine This magazine covered many kinds of American popular culture. Andy Warhol was able to interview the kinds of people he liked best, famous people.
A colorful drawing of a famous person was on the cover of every issue of the magazine. The image was drawn in the style of Whorl’s paintings. On June 3, 1968 Warhol suffered a nearly fatal gun-shot wound from aspiring playwright and radical feminist author, Valerie Salinas Who was angry with him for not making a movie based on a play she wrote. The shooting, which occurred in the entrance of the Factory, forever changed him and the media’s reaction to this event made him even more famous. Even though he worked on many other projects, Andy Warhol always kept producing artwork.
In the sass’s he made millions Of dollars painting people’s portraits. Wealthy people all over the world paid a great deal of money to have him paint their picture. In the asses Warhol worked with several younger artists. They included Jean Michel Basque and Keith Haring. Warhol also wrote several books and created tuft cable television programs. While in Milan, attending the opening of the exhibition of The Last Supper paintings, Warhol complained of severe pain in his right side. After delaying a hospital visit, his doctors managed to convince him to check into New York Hospital for gall bladder surgery.
On February 22, 1987, while in recovery trot this routine operation, Andy Warhol died. Following burial in Pittsburgh, thousands of mourners paid their respects ATA memorial service held at Manhattans SST. Patriot’s Cathedral. The service was attended by numerous associates and admirers including artists Roy Liechtenstein, Keith Haring and entertainer Liz Millennial. Readings were contributed by Yoke Non and Factory collaborator and close friend, Frigid Berlin. In nineteen ninety-four the Andy Warhol Museum opened in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This museum is in a large industrial building.
As you walk up the seven floors of the museum, you can see more than five endured works of art by WarhoL The museum has pieces from every period Of his career. On the fourth floor there is a permanent exhibit called Silver Clouds. This room is based on an art gallery show that Warhol designed in nineteen sixty- six. The room is filled with many silver colored balloons that are square shaped. The balloons contain helium and oxygen so that they float around With the air currents. Whorl’s idea was to create a joyful and magical room in which the artwork moved around the visitors.
