Profile of the Day: Andy Warhol

On this day in 1928, American artist Andy Warhol was born. A leading figure of the Pop art movement, Warhol’s work explored the relationship between celebrity culture, advertising, and artistic expression.

Image: Andy Warhol / Library of Congress

Warhol was born Andrew Warhola on August 6, 1928 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Andrej Warhola and Julia Zavacká. His parents were Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants from what is now eastern Slovakia. As a child, Warhol suffered from Sydenham’s chorea, a disease of the nervous system that causes involuntary movements of the extremities. While confined to bed, Warhol spent his time drawing, listening to the radio, reading comics and Hollywood magazines, and collecting pictures of movie stars. At the age of nine, his parents purchased Warhol his very first camera.

After earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in pictorial design, Warhol moved to New York City to pursue a career in in magazine illustration and advertising and became one of the most successful commercial artists of the 1950s. During the 1960s, Warhol began painting iconic commercial products, such as Campbell’s soup cans and Coca-Cola bottles, and celebrity portraits from Marilyn Monroe to Muhammad Ali. He founded his studio “The Factory,” which attracted a wide range of artists, writers, musicians, and celebrities. Warhol’s work spanned a variety of media including painting, silkscreening, photography, and film. His unique perspective and avant-garde style made him a popular figure and leader of the pop art movement.

Warhol died on February 22, 1987 at the age of 58.