Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American artist, filmmaker, and impresario. Drawing on imagery from advertising, mass media, and celebrity culture, he transformed everyday consumer goods and familiar icons—such as Campbell's soup cans, Marilyn Monroe, and Brillo Pad boxes—into renowned artworks, establishing himself as a leading figure in the pop art movement. Warhol is widely regarded as the most important American artist of the second half of the 20th century.
Born to working-class Rusyn immigrant parents in Pittsburgh, Warhol began his career as a successful commercial illustrator in New York before turning to fine art, where his embrace of mechanical reproduction, silkscreen printing, and serial repetition challenged traditional boundaries between high and low culture. His studio, the Factory, became a hub for avant-garde experimentation, bringing together drag queens, poets, bohemians, musicians, and wealthy patrons. He directed numerous underground films—such as Chelsea Girls (1966), Lonesome Cowboys (1968), and Blue Movie (1969)—featuring a shifting group of personalities known as Warhol superstars, and he is often credited with popularizing the expression "15 minutes of fame." Warhol also managed the influential rock band the Velvet Underground, who performed at his multimedia happenings, the Exploding Plastic Inevitable (1966–67). He expressed his queer identity through many of his artworks and films at a time when homosexuality in the United States was heavily stigmatized and legally constrained.
