Andy Warhol

• Art
• Special Education

Andy Warhol

LO:  I can identify Andy Warhol & his art.

Andy Warhol was born in America in 1928.

When he was only 8 years old, Andy had an illness which left him sick for months.

When he was stuck in bed, his mother, who was a skilful artist, gave him drawing lessons which he loved.  When he was 9, his mother bought him a camera and he took up photography.  He set  up his own darkroom in the basement of their house.

  He missed a lot of school because of his illness and was a bit lonely.

He passed the time by writing to his favourite film stars and collecting their signed photos.

Andy was very close to his mother, Julia, and lived with her for most of his life.

As well as showing him how to draw, his mother taught him to make art out of soup tins and kitchen packets.

Andy began his career drawing pictures for adverts in magazines, for things like shoes.  

Here are some of his famous shoe pictures.

Andy went on to become a leading artist in the 1960s POP ART movement.

POP ART was inspired by popular culture - the everyday things that people liked.  The artists felt that the art exhibited in museums did not show the real world of ordinary people.

Andy produced pictures of everyday things like coke bottles, bananas, cars and cows. 

He introduced the idea that these everyday things could be art.   Art did not have to be an important building like a cathedral, a beautiful picture of scenery or a portrait of a king.

Andy ate Campbell's soup every day for his lunch for over 20 years.

He produced many different pictures of the soup tins, in lots of bright colours.

Andy Warhol said, "The more you look at the same exact thing... the better and emptier you feel."

He became famous for his repeated images, where he produced the same pictures in different colours or amounts.

Andy was also famous for producing pictures of famous people and characters.

Marilyn Monroe was a famous film star of the time.

Who is this famous person?

1. Justin Bieber
2. Michael Jackson
3. Ronaldinho
4. Prince William

Who is this famous character?

1. Donald Duck
2. Bart Simpson
3. Pluto
4. Mickey Mouse

Andy Warhol loved animals and produced many pictures of cats and dogs, as well as a series on endangered animals.

He had his own dog, Archie, for many years.

Andy Warhol died in New York in 1987, after an illness following an operation.

His style of repeated images is still copied today and his work sells for millions of pounds.

In 1922, this one of Andy Warhol's pictures of Marilyn Monroe sold for $195 million, making it one of the most expensive artworks by an American artist ever.