Andy Warhol

Born Andrew Warhola, on August 6, 1928, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Warhol's parents were Slovakian immigrants. His father, Andrej Warhola, was a construction worker, while his mother, Julia Warhola, was an embroiderer. They were devout Byzantine Catholics who regularly attended mass and maintained much of their Slovakian culture and heritage while living in Pittsburgh's Eastern European ethnic enclaves. At the age of eight, Warhol contracted Chorea, a rare and sometimes fatal disease of the nervous system that left him bedridden for several months. During these months, his mother, herself a skillful artist, gave him his first drawing lessons. Drawing soon became Warhol's favorite childhood pastime. In 1949, he graduated from college with his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and then moved to New York City to pursue a commercial artist career. During this time, he dropped the "a" at the end of his last name to become Andy Warhol. Soon after, he landed a job with Glamour magazine, and became one of the most successful commercial artists of the 1950s. Warhol won frequent awards for his uniquely whimsical style, using his own blotted line technique and rubber stamps to create his drawings. During this time, he began devoting more attention to painting, and in 1961, he debuted the concept of "pop art”. A year later, he exhibited the now-iconic paintings of Campbell's soup cans. Andy Warhol was one of the most influential artists of the second half of the 20th century, creating some of the most recognizable images ever produced. Andy Warhol remains not only a fascinating cultural icon, but an inspiration to new generations of artists, designers, and cultural innovators from all over the world.