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The original name of Andy Warhol was Andrew Warhola. On August 6, 1928, he was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in a two-room apartment. Andy was an artist, producer, and film director; he was also a significant figure in the visual art movement called "Pop Art."
His father was Ondrej Warhola, and his mother was Julia. Andy was their third child; he had two brothers named Paul and John. His father moved to the US in 1914, and then his mother also joined him in 1921.
His Life
Everything was going fine for Andy, just like every kid. But, when he was in third grade, he had the symptoms of Sydenham's chorea; it is a nervous system disease that causes involuntary movements of the extremities and skin pigmentation blotchiness.
He got so sick that the doctor asked him to take rest for a few days. He started listening to the radio and gathered pictures of his favorite movie stars and singers during this time. When he grew up, he said that it was an important phase of his life as he discovered his personality, preferences, and skill set.
Andy was just 13 when his father died because of a car accident. In 1945, he graduated from Schenley High School and also won a scholarship in art and writing award. He also aspired to become an art teacher, so he decided to study art education, but he changed his mind and studied commercial art.
In his college, he also joined the dance club and arts society. Andy also became art director of the student art magazine, where he published his first two artworks.
Andy’s Career
After completing his graduation, Andy shifted to New York City as he had a dream to become a commercial artist. He moved with some of his classmates and friends there. In 1949, his work was first published in Glamour magazine; he presented a story on "What is success?"
It was a huge success for him, and after this, he got a lot of work opportunities, and he started working for Tiffany & Co, then he joined I. Miller Shoes as a shoe designer; later, he also worked for Vogue, Columbia Records, Bonwit Teller, and Fleming-Joffe. In 1950, he dropped the 'a' from his last name.
In fact, he also did a solo show in 1952 at the Hugo Gallery, and in 1956 he was also included in the first group exhibition in the Museum of Modern Art.
Andy became famous for his blotted-line ink drawings, and later, he adopted the silk screen printing process. There was no stopping for him, as in the 1960s, he displayed paintings of Campbell's soup cans, Coca-Cola bottles, and wooden doppelgangers of Brillo soap pad boxes.
For his amazing work, he was placed at the front of the pop art movement in the US. In the late 1960s, his interest changed, and he started focusing more on filmmaking. He was initially involved in underground films like The Blue Movie, Chelsea Girls, Lupe, Poor Little Rich Girl, etc.
Andy’s Health
Throughout his life, Andy had health issues; when he was in school, he had Sydenham chorea; this problem mostly kept him on bed rest. This disease led to pigmentation problems which caused discoloration on his skin.
Because of such issues, he always tries to look better by wearing different kinds of clothes, using wigs, cosmetics, and even undergoing plastic surgery to get the shape of his nose changed.
He also had premature baldness; therefore, all his life, he was involved in skincare and even took vitamins to improve his hair.
FAQs
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How did Andy die?
He died at the age of 58 on February 22, 1987, in Manhattan at 6.32 a.m. Before his death, he had undergone gallbladder surgery, and he was recovering well from it. But, suddenly, he had an irregular heartbeat, and because of the complications of the surgery, he died in the hospital.
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Who attempted to kill Andy?
In 1968, he was almost killed by Valerie Solanas, who used to collect people for the underground movies and rock music stars. She shot him at his studio, the Factory. She said that she was asking for the script from Andy, which she gave him, and the script was misplaced.
She shot Andy, and he barely survived. Valerie was arrested the next day, and she was sentenced to three years under the control of the Department of Corrections.
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Did Andy publish any books?
He published Andy Warhol’s Index in 1967 and THE Philosophy of Andy Warhol in 1975.
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Which design created by him was nominated for the Grammy award?
There was a design that he and Craig Braun created for the album Sticky Fingers for The Rolling Stone’s I 1971. This design was nominated for the Grammy award.
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What was written in his will?
He stated that his entire estate should be used in creating the foundation for making the advancement of the visual arts. In 1897 "The Andy Warhol Foundation" was created as per his will.
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