Andy Warhol
These small canvas works of everyday
Born on August 6, 1928, in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, Andy Warhol was a successful
magazine and ad illustrator who became a leading
artist of the 1960s Pop Art movement. He ventured
into a wide variety of art forms, including
performance art, filmmaking, video installations
and writing, and controversially blurred the lines
between fine art and mainstream aesthetics.
Born Andrew Warhola on August 6, 1928, in the
neighborhood of Oakland in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, Andy Warhol's parents were
Slovakian immigrants. His father, Ondrej Warhola,
was a construction worker, while his mother, Julia
Warhola, was an embroiderer. They were devout
Catholics who attended mass regularly, and
maintained much of their Slovakian culture and
heritage while living in one of Pittsburgh's Eastern
European ethnic enclaves.
Warhol attended Holmes Elementary school and
took the free art classes offered at the Carnegie
Institute (now the Carnegie Museum of Art) in
Pittsburgh.
In the late 1950s, Warhol began devoting more
attention to painting, and in 1961, he debuted the
concept of "pop art"—paintings that focused on
mass-produced commercial goods. In 1962, he
exhibited the now-iconic paintings of Campbell's
soup cans.
consumer products created a major stir in the art
world, bringing both Warhol and pop art into the
national spotlight for the first time.
British artist Richard Hamilton described pop art as
"popular, transient, expendable, low cost, mass-
produced, young, witty, sexy, gimmicky, glamorous,
big business."
Warhol's other famous pop paintings depicted
Coca-cola bottles, vacuum cleaners and
hamburgers. He also painted celebrity portraits in
vivid and garish colors; his most famous subjects
include Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Mick
Jagger and Mao Zedong. As these portraits gained
fame and notoriety, Warhol began to receive
hundreds of commissions for portraits from
socialities and celebrities. His portrait " Eight
Elvises" eventually resold for $100 million in 2008,
making it one of the most valuable paintings in
world history.
In 1964, Warhol opened his own art studio, a large
silver-painted warehouse known simply as "The
Factory." The Factory quickly became one of New
York City's premier cultural hotspots, a scene of
lavish parties that were attended by the city's
wealthiest socialites and celebrities. Warhol died
on February 22, 1987, in New York City at the age
of 58.
http://www.biography.com/
people/andy-warhol-9523875?page=1
A. Find where the base verb is used in the reading selection. After studying the definitions, use the
word bank below to write in a synonym for each verb. The first one is done for you
verb how is it used in definition Write in the synonym
the selection?
1. venture ventured to risk something possibly dangerous or to B. risk or try
begin something new in business
2. maintain maintained to keep something working in the same Continue
way
3. become became to change or develop into something else Turn into

4. blur blurred to make something fuzzy or not clear Smudge

5. attend attended go somewhere or to an event (often Be somewhere

regularly)
6. debut debuted to unveil something for the first time Present

7. depict depicted to show something in a picture form Illustrate

8. devote devoting to commit your whole self to something Dedicate

because you love it

dedicate B. risk or try C. continue

D. turn into E. smudge F. be somewhere

G. illustrate H. present

B. Use the word bank on the next page to match these definitions. The first one is done for you.

1. a person who draws pictures for a book or advertisement illustrator

2. bright, clashing and gaudy colors garish
3. to do something in a way that people don’t agree with and talk about controversially
4. luxurious and extravagant lavish
5. first or superior premier
6. being well-known, famous for something notoriety
7. very religious, committed to your religion devout
8. a distinct group within a larger community enclave
9. lots of different types of something variety
10. to manufacture large numbers of the same thing Mass-produced
11. to mix, or to cause a commotion or reaction stir
12. to be pleasing or beautiful to the eye aesthetics
13. to ask someone to make something specifically for you, custom, OR money that you commissions
make from sales
14. using and saying words in a clever funny way witty
15. slang term for a very popular nightclub or place to go hotspots
16. an image or idea that becomes a famous symbol of someone or something iconic
 illustrator variety controversially devout
iconic enclaves notoriety stir
mass-produced hotspots commissions garish

C. Answer the comprehension questions.

1. What are some varieties of art forms that Andy used?
Vivid and garish colors

2. What ethnicity were Andy’s parents? Where they born here in the US?
Andy’s parents came from Slovakia and he was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

3. Who are some famous celebrities that Andy Warhol painted?

Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Mick Jagger and Mao Zedong.

4. What are some adjective that would describe “pop art”?

Popular, low cost, mass-produced, young, witty, sexy, gimmicky, glamorous.

5. What was “The Factory”? Did they make anything in The Factory?
The Factory it’s his own art studio, in where were a premier cultural hotspots, a scene of lavish parties
and celebrities was on there.

6. In your opinion, what was different about Andy Warhol’s art than previous artists before his time?
Andy’s art was an iconic art because became to do a revolution in all the things that people saw in that
time, in fact people loved his art for all the color that he used and how used the popular things to make
art, then celebrities made a collaboration with he.

D. Find a related word in the reading selection

word definition Write in the related

word
1. eventual happening at a later time, a result Event eventually
2. success something that turns out well in terms of fame, power or money successful
3. social relating to the interaction of people socialities
4. gimmick something to grab your attention gimmicky
5. exhibit to show or display art Exhibited
6. embroider decorative sewing in patterns or initials embroidered
7. wealth prosperity, riches wealthiest
8. install to connect or position something to use installations