Andy Warhol is a cult artist of the 20th century who has changed the world of contemporary art. Many people do not understand his work, but the famous and little-known canvases are sold for millions of dollars, and critics praise his artistic heritage. His name has become a symbol of pop art, and Andy Warhol's quotes amaze with depth and wisdom. What allowed this amazing person to gain such a high recognition? The biography of the artist gives answers to all questions.
Childhood
Andy Warhol was born on August 6, 1928 in a family of immigrants from Eastern Europe. He was born in Pittsburgh, which is located in the US state of Pennsylvania. The father of the future celebrity was a miner, and his mother a housekeeper. At first the family lived rather poorly, but in 1934 they finally managed to change the slums to a comfortable area. Andy was in 3rd grade when misfortune struck him: the boy first became ill with scarlet fever, after which a serious complication arose - Sydenham's chorea. This disease is characterized by erratic uncontrolled movements, gestures, facial expressions. As a result, the child was bedridden for a long time, he developed a fear of health workers, there was an alarming suspiciousness, which was fixed in his character for life.
However, the disease has led to positive consequences. A child, deprived of communication, began to paint, collect photographs from newspapers and make collages from them. Warhol himself considered this period one of the most important in life, determining his personality and destiny. Warhol’s famous phrases, which he said later, demonstrate his unsociable character and a deep look at various aspects of life.
Children's hobby allowed the great master to develop a subtle artistic taste and even develop certain skills that later formed the basis of his ingenious work. During his illness, Andy learned to draw everyday seemingly unremarkable objects: lamps, cigarette packs, keys, key chains and the like. Forced loneliness was also reflected in the character: the artist became withdrawn and silent. One of Andy Warhol's famous quotes confirms this:
"People become so boring when they get together. We must remain alone to develop individual characteristics that make a person interesting."
Youth and career start
After leaving school, the young man entered the Carnegie Institute of Technology, where he studied the art of graphic design and commercial illustration. Warhol was a talented and successful student, but classmates and teachers noted his complex, non-living character. In 1949, training came to an end, and a young man who by that time was already 21 years old, decided to move to New York.
Here, the future artist worked as a window dresser, painted custom-made advertising posters and greeting cards. Later, when his skill level rose quite high, Andy began to hire an illustrator for the magazines Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and other similar publications. Several famous quotes from Warhol belong to this period of his life:
"The beauties in the photographs are different from the beauties in the flesh. It must be hard to be a model, because you want to look like in your own photograph, but it's impossible."
“It’s better to always wear the same thing and know that people love you for the way you really are, and not for the way your clothes make you.”
First success
Andy Warhol held his first major exhibition of his own work in 1962. The event made him famous and popular, they began to talk about him with respect, and his work was considered a fresh trend in art. By this time, the master’s income reached 100 thousand dollars a year, which for that period was considered a very significant amount, it allowed to purchase a separate house in Manhattan. Wealth made it possible to spend less time working in advertising and more energy to devote to his favorite business - drawing. Andy Warhol's statements about the work give an idea of ​​his true attitude to commercial projects:
"I think I have a special understanding of the concept of" work "because, I think, life as such is very hard work on something that you don’t always want to do."
"I do not think that everyone should have money. They should not be for everyone - otherwise it will not be known who matters. How boring. Who will you gossip about then?"
Famous paintings
Andy Warhol was among the first to learn how to use screen printing to create works of art. This approach allowed us to switch to mass production of paintings, and this fact caused a flurry of criticism: many believed that the mass reproduction of objects of art leads to the loss of a special aura and reduces value. However, Warhol chose to go his own way, not paying attention to ill-wishers. Andy Warhol's famous quote about 15 minutes of fame sounds like this:
“In the future, everyone will receive their 15 minutes of fame”? I'm tired of this phrase. I don’t use it anymore. The new one is: “In 15 minutes everyone will be famous.”
In 1960, the artist created one of his most famous advertising images: it was he who designed the can for Coca-Cola. This work made him famous and brought a reputation as an artist with an extraordinary outlook on art.
Warhol then created a series of images with dollar bills.
In the same period, Andy drew a cycle of works with canned Campbell soup, which later became one of the most famous. First, the master created the picture “A can with Campbell soup (rice and tomato)”, and then “Thirty-two cans of Campbell soup”, “One hundred cans of Campbell soup”, “Two hundred cans of Campbell soup” using the silk-screen printing technique.
In 1962, canvases appeared called "Green Coca-Cola Bottles."
Images in vivid, unrealistic colors have become a corporate identity. Andy Warhol's famous phrases explain the essence of his work:
"I wanted to paint nothing. I was looking for something that could express its very essence, and it turned out to be a can of soup."
"What makes America a great country is a tradition in which the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can watch TV and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the president drinks Coca And Liz Taylor drinks Coca, and just think, you can drink Coca too. "
“You would be surprised to know how many people want to hang a picture with an electric chair on the wall of their bedroom. Especially if the background color fits the wallpaper.”
Critics were delighted with his work. Experts believed that the paintings clearly reflect the facelessness, vulgarity of the culture of consumption, symbolizing the nature of Western civilization. After showing these works, Andy was ranked among the masters of conceptual art in a new direction - pop art.
Personal life
The artist never talked about this in an interview, but also did not hide his homosexuality. He preferred the society of men, and at different times his partners were famous people: photographer Billy Name, poet John Jorno, designer Jed Johnson and others. Not a single relationship lasted long. Andy Warhol's quotes about love were sarcastic and sad:
"I'm really afraid to feel happy because it never lasts long."
"The biggest price you pay for love is that the other person is nearby. You can no longer be left alone with yourself, and that is always much better."
"Sex is much more interesting on the screen or between book pages than between sheets."
Interesting facts from the life of the artist
In 1968, an actress and a radical feminist named Valerie Solans attempted to assassinate Warhol. She shot him three times in the stomach, after which the artist survived a clinical death and many hours of complex surgery. He refused to testify against Solans, so the woman received the easiest punishment: three years in prison and compulsory treatment in a psychiatric hospital. Andy Warhol's quote about this event is:
“Before I got shot, I was here more than half than the whole - I always suspected that I was watching TV instead of living my life. People often say that things in a movie look unreal, but in fact things look unreal that’s happening in life. In cinema, emotions seem so strong and real, and when some things really happen to you, it’s like you are watching TV - you don’t feel anything. When I was shot and all the time after that, I knew that I’m watching TV. Channels are switched, but uh it's just television. "
In 1987, the artist's heart stopped. During a simple operation to remove the gallbladder, something went wrong and Warhol passed away without regaining consciousness.