From early on in his career, Andy Warhol had an extraordinary ability to find the sacred in the profane. Like so many successful Americans, he was a product of Eastern European immigrant experience, who himself became an icon - a shy, gay, working-class man who became the court painter of the 1960s and 70s. He was the most glamorous figure of 20th Century American Art. He surrounded himself with the elite of New York City - people who all give compelling yet competing commentaries of their time with him. Warhol was certainly an enigma, and yet, ironically, he is one of the world’s most well-known artists and a cult figure. Popular culture inspired his art; Warhol used instantly accessible images to reach mass audiences. He gave Americans what was already theirs, both critiquing and glorifying American culture and the American way of life. Above all, Warhol was a chronicler of modern life. He redefined art and what art can be, what it can mean, who has access to art, who can make art, and whose voice matters. His artwork still resonates with the public decades after they were created. His impact has most definitely lasted much longer than fifteen minutes.
