60 Fun Facts About Andy Warhol

In which US city was Andy Warhol born in 1928?

His parents were working-class Rusyn immigrants from Austria-Hungary; his father worked in a coal mine.

Warhol's parents came from Miková, a village in what is now which country?

They were Ruthenian Catholics; a funeral liturgy in English and Church Slavonic was said for him in 1987.

Which neurological condition, also called St. Vitus' Dance, did young Warhol develop?

Bedridden, he drew, made scrapbooks from Hollywood magazines and cut up comic books bought for him.

Warhol's father died in 1942 after years earlier drinking contaminated water where?

Andy was about to graduate from Holmes School at the time.

Warhol's prize-winning Carnegie Tech drawings satirised customers from which summer job?

He called the job a 'wonderful experience' and concluded that 'people are funny'.

Warhol earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1949 in which subject?

He was reportedly threatened with expulsion several times over his attendance record and worked as a window dresser at Horne's.

Warhol's first commercial commission, from Glamour magazine in 1949, was to illustrate what?

Art director Tina Fredericks had first bought a $10 drawing of an orchestra from him on his second day in New York.

Warhol's first solo exhibition in 1952 consisted of drawings based on the writings of which author?

Gallerist Alexander Iolas is often credited with discovering him and staging the show at the Hugo Gallery.

Warhol's 1950s drawing technique, combining printmaking and pencil work on paper, was known as what?

He inked a pencil drawing, pressed it onto another sheet while wet, and embraced the accidental breaks.

Which shoe manufacturer's advertisements made Warhol famous as a fashion illustrator from 1955?

'Nobody drew shoes the way Andy did,' said John Coplans; the work won an Art Directors Club award in 1956.

In 1956 MoMA politely declined Warhol's gift of a drawing called Shoe, citing what?

The same year one of his shoe drawings appeared in MoMA's Recent Drawings U.S.A., his first museum showing.

Whose calligraphy did Warhol often use alongside his drawings in his self-published 1950s books?

Julia Warhola lived in the basement of his Lexington Avenue townhouse from 1960; his last portrait at the old Factory was of her.

Warhol's first Pop paintings were shown in April 1961 as a backdrop in which store's window?

They included Saturday's Popeye, Superman and Before and After, hand-painted with drips in the Abstract Expressionist manner.

Why did Leo Castelli initially decline to represent Warhol in 1961?

The Bodley Gallery's director called the new paintings 'ridiculous'; Warhol was left without representation as Pop took off.

For a $50 tip, friend Muriel Flatow suggested Warhol paint what he liked most. What was it?

He started painting dollar bills, which led him to Tiber Press and the basics of silkscreen printing.

How many canvases did Warhol send to the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles for his July 1962 show?

Each showed a different variety of Campbell's Soup; he claimed to have eaten it for lunch for 20 years.

Which dealer gave Warhol his first solo New York Pop show in 1962, in exchange for a painting of a $2 bill?

The Stable Gallery show included Marilyn Monroe Twenty Times, Gold Marilyn, Red Elvis and 100 Soup Cans.

Warhol's Flavor Marilyns of 1962 were named for their colours and what?

Marilyn Diptych from the same year is now at Tate Modern.

Who fired a gun through four of Warhol's Marilyn canvases in 1964, creating the Shot Marilyns?

One of the four later sold for $195 million, the most ever paid at auction for an American artwork.

Who covered the Factory in aluminium foil and silver paint in 1964?

The studio at 231 East 47th Street became the hub for silkscreens, films and the 'superstars'.

Warhol's mural for the 1964 New York State Pavilion, Thirteen Most Wanted Men, met what fate?

Government officials objected to the mugshot images on the New York State Pavilion.

Warhol's 1964 Stable Gallery show featured sculptures of what, sold for $200 to $400 each?

Also Del Monte, Heinz, Kellogg's and Mott's; the original Brillo design was by commercial artist James Harvey.

Warhol's Cow wallpaper of 1966 came from a suggestion by which art dealer?

It later served as the backdrop for his 1971 Whitney retrospective.

Warhol's Empire (1965) is a static shot of the Empire State Building lasting how long?

Between 1963 and 1968 he made more than 600 underground films, including the silent Screen Tests.

Warhol's 1965 film Vinyl was a loose adaptation of which novel?

His 1964 Batman Dracula was an unauthorised homage screened only at his exhibitions.

Which band did Warhol manage, financing and providing the cover for their 1967 debut album?

They rehearsed at the Factory and played his multimedia shows at the Dom on St. Mark's Place.

Warhol's 1966 multimedia shows with his house band at the Dom were called what?

He and Paul Morrissey subleased the Dom, later the Electric Circus, and toured the show across the US and Canada.

Why was Chelsea Girls not screened at Cannes in 1967 as Warhol intended?

The Factory 'superstars' in his films included Edie Sedgwick, Viva, Ultra Violet and Candy Darling.

Warhol's remark that everyone would be famous for 15 minutes first appeared where?

He later hosted an MTV show called Andy Warhol's Fifteen Minutes.

Whom did Warhol send to impersonate him on a West Coast college lecture tour in October 1967?

He reimbursed the four colleges and went back in person in 1968.

Who shot Warhol at the Factory on June 3, 1968?

Author of the SCUM Manifesto, she said he 'had too much control over my life'; he spent nearly two months in hospital.

What lasting effect did the shooting's complications have on Warhol?

A second operation left his abdominal muscles improperly repaired; the Factory became a 'regular office' afterwards.

Which magazine did Warhol found in 1969 with British journalist John Wilcock?

It began as inter/VIEW: A Monthly Film Journal; copies were tossed into his grave in 1987.

Warhol's cover for the Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers (1971) featured what working element?

It earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Album Cover.

Warhol's political poster of 1972 supported which presidential candidate?

Vote McGovern raised campaign funds; the same year his Mao screenprints debuted at Castelli's.

What breed were Warhol's beloved dogs Archie and Amos?

He took Archie everywhere, from parties to Europe, and painted portraits of both.

Warhol travelled to which country in 1976 to paint a portrait of its empress?

He had attended President Ford's White House dinner for the Shah the year before.

Warhol's Oxidation paintings of 1977-78 were made by exposing metallic paint to what?

They are also known as the 'piss paintings'; the abstract Shadows series followed.

How long did Warhol reportedly take to paint his 1979 BMW M1 Art Car?

He was the first Art Car artist to paint directly onto the vehicle; it raced at Le Mans that year.

Warhol's 1980 series Ten Portraits depicted what group?

It drew a wide range of responses, some strongly critical; Myths and Endangered Species followed for the same dealer.

After his relationship with Jed Johnson ended, Warhol signed with the Zoli Agency in 1981 to do what?

He was later represented by Ford Models and endorsed Vidal Sassoon hairspray.

Warhol's poorly reviewed 1985 joint show Paintings at the Shafrazi Gallery was with whom?

The pair made more than 50 collaborative works; Warhol printed logos and headlines that Basquiat reworked.

At the 1985 launch of which computer did Warhol digitally paint a portrait of Debbie Harry?

His Amiga film You Are the One was found on his disks in 2001; the foundation sold five computer drawings as NFTs in 2021.

Warhol played himself in the 200th episode of which TV series in 1985?

He also hosted Andy Warhol's Fifteen Minutes on MTV from 1985 to 1987.

Warhol's Invisible Sculpture (1980) consisted of what?

Stepping into the middle set every alarm off at once; a version was later installed at the Area nightclub.

Warhol died in February 1987 the morning after surgery to remove what?

First diagnosed with a gallstone in 1973, he had refused surgery for years out of fear of hospitals; his family later settled a malpractice suit.

What was Warhol wearing on his head in his open casket?

He also wore a black cashmere suit and paisley tie and held a prayer book and a red rose.

Who gave eulogies at Warhol's memorial at St. Patrick's Cathedral in April 1987?

More than 2,000 people attended, followed by lunch at the Diamond Horseshoe nightclub.

Warhol's Time Capsules, begun in 1974, eventually numbered how many containers?

They were filled with letters, photos and ephemera and now sit in the museum devoted to him in his home town.

Which Warhol work sold for $195 million in 2022, a record for any American artwork at auction?

Silver Car Crash had made $105 million in 2013.

Which writer called Warhol 'the only genius with an IQ of 85'?

He said it was not pejorative and called Warhol 'a cultural litmus paper'.

Which musician played Warhol in the 1996 film Basquiat?

Other screen Warhols include Crispin Glover in The Doors, Guy Pearce in Factory Girl and Bill Hader in Men in Black 3.

In which country did Warhol's family open the first museum devoted to him, in 1991?

It stands in Medzilaborce, near his parents' home village of Miková, and was renamed the Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art in 1996.

In 2012 the International Astronomical Union named a crater after Warhol on which planet?

Pittsburgh honoured him more locally, renaming the Seventh Street Bridge the Andy Warhol Bridge in 2005.

Warhol's oceanfront estate Eothen, bought in 1971 with Paul Morrissey, was in which Long Island town?

Guests included Jackie Kennedy, the Rolling Stones and Elizabeth Taylor; 15 acres of the property later became the Andy Warhol Preserve.

Which 1963 Warhol diptych sold for $105.4 million in 2013, then a record for the artist?

Green Car Crash had fetched $71.1 million in 2007; the record fell again in 2022 with Shot Sage Blue Marilyn.

When his partner Jed Johnson asked what he prayed for, what did Warhol reportedly answer?

A practising Ruthenian Catholic, he attended church several times a week, sat in the back pews to avoid notice and quietly paid for his nephew's seminary education.

Warhol's 1986 Last Supper series is described as the largest body of religious-themed work by whom?

He was nicknamed the 'Pope of Pop Art', and the Brooklyn Museum's 2021-22 show Revelation explored the role of faith in his art.

How much did Warhol charge for a commissioned portrait in the 1970s?

Two came at a discount, $40,000 for the pair; his 1965 Flowers paintings had sold for as little as $400.

In 2024 Warhol was posthumously awarded the Order of the White Double Cross by which country?

The honour, 'for promoting the Slovak Republic's good name abroad', came on the 37th anniversary of his death.