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Andy Warhol Essays

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The first superstar of American art, Andy Warhol was obsessed with fame, glamour, and money. He is best known for his images of stars and celebrities and for his reproductions of symbols of the American society.
Andrew Warhola’s (he later dropped the “a”) birth date is uncertain, Andy said himself that his birth certificate had been forged and June 6, 1928 became the date taken as his birthday. Others say he was born December 6, 1930 and then others say it was August 6, 1928. Andy was very mysterious about his private life and was said to be in another world most of the time. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His parents, Ondrej and Julia Warhola were working-class immigrants from Eastern Europe, his …show more content…

One of his jobs was to design the weather map for NBC’s morning news. In 1952 Warhol held his first exhibit, it was not a financial success, but it enhanced Warhol’s reputation as a commercial artist. But his spare time was now taken up with pop art, inspired by Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, two young pop artist, Warhol had come across in 1958. He began to paint, draw and print everyday objects such as, dollar bills, soup cans, postage stamps, comic strips, and soda bottles. According to Warhol, these were some of the consumer products “on which America is built.”
When Warhol showed his work to New York art dealers, they said it was too similar to the work of other artists. Then in 1962, Warhol was still searching for a style that would be his and his alone, when his assistant Nathan Gluck, suggested that Warhol try silk screen-printing. This process allowed Warhol to choose an image, reproduce it mechanically, and repeat it as many times as he wanted. It was the breakthrough Warhol had been waiting for, at last he had found his own unique artistic style.
Marilyn Monroe’s death (August 4, 1962) inspired Warhol to create a series of paintings and he also produced similar pictures of other famous people such as, Elvis Presley, Mick Jagger, Warren Beatty, Elizabeth Taylor, and himself.
Warhol exhibited his new work first at the Ferus Gallery, Los Angeles, then at The Stable

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