Andy Warhol (August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American artist who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationship between artistic expression, celebrity culture and advertisement that flourished by the 1960s. After a successful career as a commercial illustrator, Warhol became a renowned and sometimes controversial artist. The Andy Warhol Museum in his native city, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, holds an extensive permanent collection of art and archives. It is the largest museum in the United States of America dedicated to a single artist.
Warhol's art encompassed many forms of media, including hand drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, silk screening, sculpture, film, and music. He was also a pioneer in computer-generated art using Amiga computers that were introduced in 1984, two years before his death. He founded Interview Magazine and was the author of numerous books, including The Philosophy of Andy Warhol and Popism: The Warhol Sixties. He is also notable as a gay man who lived openly as such before the gay liberation movement. His studio, The Factory, was a famous gathering place that brought together distinguished intellectuals, drag queens, playwrights, Bohemian street people, Hollywood celebrities, and wealthy patrons.
Warhol has been the subject of numerous retrospective exhibitions, books, and feature and documentary films. He coined the widely used expression "15 minutes of fame". Many of his creations are very collectible and highly valuable. The highest price ever paid for a Warhol painting is US$100 million for a 1963 canvas titled Eight Elvises. The private transaction was reported in a 2009 article in The Economist, which described Warhol as the "bellwether of the art market". Warhol's works include some of the most expensive paintings ever sold.
Read more about Andy Warhol: Early Life (1928–1949), Death, Movies About Warhol
Famous quotes by andy warhol:
“Dying is the most embarrassing thing that can ever happen to you, because someones got to take care of all your details.”
—Andy Warhol (19281987)
“I thought it was a wonderfully conceptual act actually, to fire a replica pistol at a figureheadthe guy could have been working for Andy Warhol!”
—J.G. (James Graham)
“I suppose I have a really loose interpretation of work, because I think that just being alive is so much work at something you dont always want to do.... The machinery is always going. Even when you sleep.”
—Andy Warhol (19281987)
“I used to think that everything was just being funny but now I dont know. I mean, how can you tell?”
—Andy Warhol (19281987)
“Its the movies that have really been running things in America ever since they were invented. They show you what to do, how to do it, when to do it, how to feel about it, and how to look how you feel about it. Everybody has their own America, and then they have the pieces of a fantasy America that they think is out there but they cant see.”
—Andy Warhol (19281987)