1. Andy Warhol’s birth name was Andrew Warhola. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1928, his parents, Ondrej and Julia were immigrants from Miková in northeastern Slovakia.
2. His very first movie was called ‘Sleep’ and it was 6 hour long never ending masterpiece of his friend sleeping. Nine people attended premiere. Seven of them stayed and watched the movie. Two of them left within the first hour. He created at least 60 movies including Kiss, Blowjob, Eat, Shoulder, Couch, Face, Kitchen, Horse, Suicide, Drink, Closet, Sunset, and Bitch.
3. Andy almost died when he was shot three times in the chest by Valerie Solanis. Valerie was an ardent feminist and one of many who thought Warhol was abusive and controlling. She thought that he deserved to die. Warhol was at one point pronounced dead, but was revived and slowly recovered. Valerie was a founder of club called SCUM (Society for Cutting Up Men) and she was the only member of the group.
4. He died in hospital on February 22nd, 1987 from a heart attack because hospital stuff overloaded him with fluids after his routine gallbladder surgery. Warhol is buried at St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After his death the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts was founded.
5. Andy was the producer of the first record album by The Velvet Underground . He also painted the cover of their first album, entitled ‘The Velvet Underground and Nico’. Many of the songs were considered daring, shocking, and kinky.
6. In 1957 Warhol won the prestigious Art Director’s Club Medal for a shoe advertisement. Warhol went to New York City after earning a BFA degree from the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, in 1949. He began designing in advertisements and went on to specialize in illustrating shoes.
7. Although he worked in a number of media his most famous works were created using silkscreen and lithography. When he had achieved some fame, Andy began to use silkscreen to create his art and to mass-produce images. His 1973 portrait of Mao is one of the best known examples of his use of this process.
8. After Warhol’s death a music album was made titled, “Songs for Drella”. This was a nickname coined by his music friends which was a combination of Dracula and Cinderella. After Andy’s death, Lou Reed’s band dedicated the “Songs for Drella” album to Andy, that he would never be forgotten. Bob Dylan’s song, “Like a Rolling Stone” is reputed to have been about Andy. Dylan blamed Warhol for drug use by Edie Sedgewicks, a love interest of Dylan’s at the time.
9. Andy would claim, “If you want to know all about me, just look at the surface of my paintings and me, and there I am. There’s nothing behind it.”
10. In addition to creating art, Warhol started Interview magazine, opened a night club and created two cable TV shows-Andy Warhol’s TV and Andy Warhol’s Fifteen Minutes- for MTV.
11. Warhol had an interesting sense of style; he wore silver wigs and eventually dyed his hair silver. After having been told he had lazy eyes, he wore opaque glasses that had a tiny pinhole for him to see through.
12. In high school, the art club excluded Warhol because he was better than the other members.

Editor’s Note:

This article was researched from a number of online resources. If you would like to learn more about the chronology and details of Andy Warhol’s life there is a fantastic resource at warholstars.org. Flipping through this gave me a great background on some of the 60′s and 70′s art and music legends and how their lives intersected.

Vincent Van Gogh ~ Portrait of the Art Dealer Alexander Reid ~ 1887

Artists put their work out to the public at the risk of rejection. Galleries are continually being approached by waves of hopeful souls who want to reach out through their art. I found my self at the creative side of saying ‘no’ when I coordinated gallery shows. Juried show will turn out differently even with the same jurors, just on another day. These decisions are continually being made.

I believe Vincent Van Gogh sold only one painting while alive! While not understood at the time, his work is now loved. Thirty-nine years ago, MoMA had turned Yoko Ono away but has now re-assessed their decision. Read her story…

In an unbelievable letter they decline a gift from Andy Warhol in 1956. View letter.

It is nothing new, but it still doesn’t feel good. As sensitive as artists are to be in order to bring their work to the world, they must have a disapproval-resistant skin. They need to develop their passion along with an attitude that will not look to others for their value.

I believe the gift we have is the fruit of the spirit. A favorite quote from Leonardo da Vinci expresses it…

Where the spirit does not work with the hand there is no art.

Success can have an altering effect as well. It can elevate us to unrealistic self-worth and pride. Therefore, in spite of success or failure, the artist must be faithful to the statement they are given, the message to their generation. It really doesn’t matter that it’s understood.

While we do not presume to put ourselves in the same league as the above mentioned artists, we can realize everyone faces this situation. We all will be rejected by someone, someday….let’s not have it discourage the creative force in us.

About the Guest Author

KC Moore is an award winning artist, collected nation-wide and has shown in galleries in Sacramento, Fair Oaks, Carmichael, Old Sacramento, Placerville, Lincoln, Roseville, New York, Ojai and many juried shows.  Her artwork is on display in many professional offices and public venues. You can learn more about KC on her website.

Interested in being a Guest Author for Art Marketing Secrets? Learn more about how to contribute on our Article Submission Page.

From answeringgenesis.org

• Leonardo drew the plans for the first armored car in 1485.
• He also designed the cannon, a machine gun, gliders, turnspit for roasting meat, canal system to irrigate fields, and invented the parachute.

From EBSQ Self Supporting Artists

• Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti were not the best of buddies.
• One of the quirks of Leonardo was that he wrote many of his notes using mirror writing. Some believe this was to keep his thoughts secret.

From buzzle.com

• It took Leonardo Da Vinci about ten years to paint Mona Lisa’s lips.
• He never married or had children and had a reputation of being a man of high character.

From about.com

• Paper was far more expensive and harder to get hold of in Leonardo’s day than it is today. Which is why he made more intensive use of it, “filling” most of every page.
• Unusually for the era in which he lived, Leonardo Da Vinci was a vegetarian, for humanitarian reasons.

From answers.com

• Leonardo dug into graveyards at night to steal corpses and study human anatomy
• He was a left-handed dyslexic and procrastinating perfectionist who left many paintings unfinished and destroyed most of his work.

From ArtPromote

• Leonardo enjoyed purchasing caged birds so that he could set them free
• Da Vinci is best known for his masterpieces; Mona Lisa, Madonna of the Rocks, and The Last Supper.

Leonardo Da Vinci Quote: When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.

Pablo Picasso, "The First Communion" 1895

Born on October 25 1881 in Málaga Spain, Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, Pablo Picasso was without question one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century. Together with Georges Braque, he also created Cubism.  But what of the real person behind the man? Some interesting facts for you!

From 10 Fun Facts About Pablo Picasso

• Picasso’s full name has 23 words. Picasso was baptized Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruíz y Picasso. He was named after various saints and relatives. The “Picasso” is actually from his mother, Maria Picasso y Lopez. His father is named Jose Ruiz Blasco.
• When he was born, the midwife thought he was stillborn. Picasso had such a difficult birth and was such a weak baby that when he was born, the midwife thought that he was stillborn so she left him on a table to attend his mother. It was his uncle, a doctor named Don Salvador, that saved him: ‘Doctors at that time,’ he told Antonina Vallentin, ‘used to smoke big cigars, and my uncle was no exception. When he saw me lying there he blew smoke into my face. To this I immediately reacted with a grimace and a bellow of fury’”

From Picasso’s Life

• Pablo had his first exhibit at age 13, when he showed his paintings in the back room of an umbrella store.
• At 16, Picasso was sent to the Royal Academy of Madrid, where students drew from plaster casts and copied works of the old masters. Picasso’s father soon became angry with his son’s rebellious behavior, long hair, and strange clothes. He believed that Pablo was wasting his talent and scolded him: “why don’t you cut your hair and paint sensibly?” In 1900, Picasso left for Paris—then the center of the art world. He lived in a cold, rundown building painting constantly, sometimes surviving for days on only a piece of bread.

From Interesting Facts

• While living in Paris (1900) Pablo had lots of financial problems and he burned many of his paintings to stay warm.

From Buzzle.com

• While in Paris, Pablo Picasso had a propensity for entertaining and had among his friends people such as Andre Breton and Gertrude Stein.
• Picasso also had an active love life and usually had several mistresses along with a wife or a primary partner.
• His real work and career as a painter is said to have begun around 1894 with a painting called ‘The First Communion’ which showed his sister Lola, and the more famous painting by Pablo Picasso called ‘Portrait of Aunt Pepa’.

From ArtPromote

• No artist has ever been as famous in his own lifetime
• Picasso painted his own variations of other artists work
• He had no appreciation for women artists.

From Brainy Quote

• Quote: “Art is the lie that enables us to realize the truth”

An interesting man behind the great artist. I always have had the feeling that I would not have especially liked him, but I do appreciate that he lived his life to the full measure – something rarely seen in any time.

Where the spirit does not work with the hand there is no art

Leonardo da Vinci

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