Andy Warhol's Real Name: Andrew Warhola

Quick answer: Andy Warhol's real name was Andrew Warhola. He was born on August 6, 1928, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Andy Warhol was the professional form of that name. He became the leading Pop artist of the 1960s, known for silkscreen images of consumer goods and celebrities. He died in New York City on February 22, 1987, at 58 (Biography.com; Britannica Kids).

Real name and early life

Biography.com states that he was "born Andrew Warhola on August 6, 1928, in the neighborhood of Oakland in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania." Britannica Kids uses "original name Andrew Warhola" and the same date and city. The Library of Congress files him as "Warhol, Andy, 1928-1987," with the variant "Warhola, Andrew, 1928-1987."

His parents, Andrej and Julia Warhola, were immigrants from what is now eastern Slovakia and were devout Byzantine Catholics. Biography.com says that at age eight he contracted chorea, sometimes called St. Vitus's dance, and was bedridden for months; his mother, an embroiderer, gave him drawing lessons during that time. He later studied pictorial design at the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University), graduating in 1949, then moved to New York City and worked as a commercial illustrator.

Career highlights

He began painting in the late 1950s and drew sudden attention in 1962 with images of Campbell's soup cans, Coca-Cola bottles, and Brillo boxes. By 1963 he was mass-producing such images with photographic silkscreen, then making brightly colored, repeated portraits of celebrities. His New York studio, known as the Factory, became a gathering place for artists, musicians, and hangers-on. He also made experimental films, including Eat (1963), My Hustler (1965), Chelsea Girls (1966), and work featuring Edie Sedgwick such as Poor Little Rich Girl (1965). In 1968 he was shot and seriously wounded by Valerie Solanas, who had been part of that circle.

He continued to produce prints and remain a public figure through the 1970s and 1980s, mixing fine art with celebrity and commercial culture. Britannica Kids calls him an adroit self-publicist who projected the artist as an impersonal, even vacuous, celebrity.

Death

Biography.com reports that he was admitted to New York Hospital on February 20, 1987, for gallbladder surgery, appeared to be recovering, then died of sudden cardiac arrest on February 22, 1987, at 58. A memorial was held at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.

Name notes for searchers

Andrew Warhola was the name he was given at birth. Andy Warhol was the shortened professional form he used as an artist. Library catalogs cross-reference Warhol and Warhola.