Andy+Warhol+Biography

"In the sixties Warhol started painting daily objects of mass production like Campbell Soup cans and Coke bottles. Soon he became a famous figure in the New York art scene. From 1962 on he started making silkscreen prints of famous personalities like Marilyn Monroe or Elizabeth Taylor. The quintessence of **Andy Warhol art** was to remove the difference between //fine arts// and the //commercial arts// used for magazine illustrations, comic books, record albums or advertising campaigns. Warhol once expressed his philosophy in one poignant sentence:

"When you think about it, department stores are kind of like museums".

After this assassination attempt the pop artist made a radical turn in his process of producing art. The philosopher of art mass production now spent most of his time making individual portraits of the rich and affluent of his time like Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson or Brigitte Bardot. Warhol's activities became more and more entrepreneurial. He started the magazine //Interview// and even a night-club. In 1974 the //Factory// was moved to 860 Broadway. In 1975 Warhol published //THE philosophy of Andy Warhol//. In this book he describes what art is: "Making money is art, and working is art and good business is the best art."

Warhol was a homosexual with a slightly bizarre personality. In the fifties he dyed his hair straw-blond. Later he replaced his real hair by blond and silver-grey wigs. The pop artist loved cats, and images of them can be found on quite a few of his art works. One of Andy's friends described him as a true workaholic. Warhol was obsessed by the ambition to become famous and wealthy. And he knew he could achieve the //American dream// only by hard work. In his last years Warhol promoted other artists like Keith Haring or Robert Mapplethorpe. Andy Warhol died February 22, 1987 from complications after a gall bladder operation. More than 2000 people attended the memorial mass at St.Patrick's Cathedral. The pop art icon Warhol was also a religious man - a little known fact. Two years later, in May 1994 the Andy Warhol Museum opened in his home town Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania".

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