主播大秀

From soup cans to rock bands, Andy Warhol redefined art for the modern age.

1. He straddled both high and low brow art

Taking inspiration from soup cans, rock bands and abstract films, Warhol has influenced high art and popular culture and his popularity has never waned. His work accounts for one-sixth of all contemporary art sales. The magazine he founded, Interview, is still in circulation. And if that wasn’t enough, he also helped to launch the career of The Velvet Underground, one of the most influential rock groups of all time.

2. He redefined the artist’s place

For Warhol, his art went beyond traditional ‘works’ created in a studio. How he lived, what he did and what society said about him was as important to him as his prints or films. With contemporary artists like Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst enthusiastically following Warhol’s lead, his revolutionary ideas have blurred the barriers between the ‘work’ and its creator when it comes to how we define and appreciate art.

3. He paid a price for his fame

While making his art about its author fascinated academics and collectors, Warhol paid a price for his self-exposure. He was nearly killed by radical feminist Valerie Solanas who shot him in 1968. Warhol also believed that a print he created criticising President Nixon led to excessive attention from the tax authorities. Yet documenting his own life became a compulsion. He would record everything and anything he did – anticipating today’s social media driven, selfie society decades before anyone had even heard of a status update.