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Andy Warhol – Master of Pop Art

Submitted by: Nancy L. Young-Houser





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The American pop artist, Andy Warhol – master of pop art - brought a new meaning to the beautiful people of the 1970s. With an art style that symbolized the debauchery of a rich and famous society, he became a leading figure in the visual art movement in painting, printmaking, and filmmaking. This would bring the elite world of the rich people to the  forefront, changing the art world from Monet to pop art. Beginning as a young commercial artist, the 1962 show of his "32 Campbell's Soup Cans" was meant as a stand against the commercialism in society with the sameness of everything, mimicking mass advertising at its best.

 

Andy Warhol was born in 1928 as Andrew Warhola in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Considered an icon in itself, he gained art notoriety for his pop-art of soup cans and Marilyn Monroe silk screen designs, in addition to film experimentation. His filmed a man sleeping for several hours – an act which was considered a waste of time by the public. However, Andy Warhol's work was considered groundbreaking by other film makers of the time, which continues to this day.

 

Also called "pop art Warhol," the famous Andy Warhol prints and Andy Warhol prints took off immediately as they were different from anything seen before. His early art days were involved with rich individuals like Fred Astaire, Richard Pryor, Jack Palance, Truman Capote, Elizabeth Taylor, and Normal Mailer.  His pop art pictures of these individuals were simplified and modern on his huge pop art canvas, yet pinnacles of success that brought him $100 million dollars for his work "Eight Elvises."

 

Warhol was the individual who coined the popular phrase, "15 minutes of fame," an individual who has been the subject of many documentary films by others, books, and exhibitions in retrospection of his exciting yet complex life which brought to being shot. A hypochondriac as a young child with a huge bond with his mother, he was bed-ridden as a child who caused him to draw and collect pictures of movie stars. This was a period which Andy Warhol felt developed his skill-set, personality and preferences in his adult life.

 

The work of Andy Warhol was bright, limited in color, loose and heavily-blotchy looking, with many of his first showings in the Bodley Gallery in New York. He was hired by RCA Records to design album covers in addition to promoting their materials as the record industry grew because of the new vinyl record. He had his first art show on the west coast at Los Angeles' Ferus Gallery. The artworks shown were his "100 Soup Cans" but "100 Coke Bottles" and "100 Dollar Bills." As time went on, his work became more popular and extremely controversial as he tackled high brand names, celebrities, Coca Cola, soup cans and dollar bills. His work scandalized critics as it embraced market culture, with Warhol at the center of the newly developing art culture.

 

 

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Nancy L. Young-Houser is a professional writer and illustrator, in addition to providing a home for dogs on all levels of need with her best friend, Sandra Marquiss. Her writings include controversial subjects as part of the soapbox she has carried around since childhood, never leaving home without it. Part of this soapbox is her website WayCoolDogs.com filled with lots of four-legged information!

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