Following Modernism, the art world saw a plethora of new movements. The art world exploded, and began to produce new and exciting works of art. Perhaps the most notorious of the 20th century was Pop Art. Pop Art took ideas or images from popular culture, and perverted them into art. Suddenly everything became art, from cans of Campbell's Soup, to comic books. The world began to look at things in new ways, and appreciate them for their aesthetic value. Part of this was due to the extravagance and luxury that America was accustomed to following World War II. In the history of art, there is perhaps one artist that could be considered the "Father of Pop Art," Andy Warhol.
Andy Warhol was born Andrew Warhola in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1928. At the age of 17, he entered the Carnegie Institute of Technology where he majored in pictorial design. Upon graduation, Andy Warhol moved to New York where, in 1949, he began to work as an illustrator for several magazines including Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and The New Yorker (Francis, 33). He also did advertising and window displays for several retail stores. His first assignment was for Glamour magazine for an article entitled Success is a Job in New York (Francis, 54).
Throughout the 1950s, Warhol enjoyed great success as a commercial artist. He won several commendations from the Art Director's Club and the American Institute of .
Graphic Arts. In these years, he shortened his name from Warhola to Warhol. In 1952, Andy had his first individual show at the Hugo Gallery, exhibiting Fifteen Drawings Based on the Writings of Truman Capote. Other exhibitions followed, including his first .
group show at the Museum of Modern Art in 1956.
Warhol was one of the first artists to understand the importance of the mass media. He took his early material from comic strips and advertisements which he found in tabloids like The National Inquirer and The Daily News (Smith, 72).