Collection: Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol, born Andrew Warhola on August 6, 1928, was the youngest of three sons born to Andrej Warhola and Julia Zavacky Warhola. His parents immigrated to the United States from the European region that is now Slovakia, settling into the working-class neighborhood of Uptown in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Warhol graduated from Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) in Pittsburgh with a Bachelor of Fine Art in Pictorial Design in 1949 and soon after moved to New York City to pursue a career as a commercial artist.

Throughout the 1950s, he became one of the most successful illustrators of his time and won numerous awards for his work. His clients included Tiffany & Co., The New York Times, I. Miller Shoes, Bonwit Teller, Columbia Records, Fleming-Joffe, NBC, and others. Much of his commercial work was based on photographs and other source images, a process he would use for the rest of his life. While he continued to work as a commercial artist throughout his career, in the early 60s Warhol transitioned into the fine art world, gaining notoriety in the nascent Pop Art movement.