The 13 Most Iconic Andy Warhol Paintings
Andy Warhol paintings are some of the most well-known and celebrated pop art images in American art. Have you ever wondered who Andy Warhol was and what made him so famous? Or maybe you have more technical questions, like "What kind of paint did Warhol use?"
From his iconic Campbell’s soup cans to his brightly colored celebrity portraits of Elvis and Marilyn Monroe, Warhol’s art revolutionized modern art in America and around the world, and it still has much to say to us today.
If you are an artist looking to update your style with some trippy painting ideas, it might be worth exploring Warhol’s signature repetitive design and use of bright, bold colors.
According to the Art Institute of Chicago, “no artist is more closely associated with advertising, consumer culture, and mass media than Andy Warhol.” Warhol’s painting process of projecting images, drawing them and then using silkscreening to quickly replicate them was a major shift in American modern art.
His focus on consumerism and American capitalism quickly revolutionized pop art and made Warhol one of the most famous painters. Original Andy Warhol art has been known to sell for millions of dollars at auction, inspiring new talents like Thomas Kinkade paintings, and his most iconic paintings are worth exploring.
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- Who Was Andy Warhol?
- Why Was Warhol So Famous?
- Why Are Andy Warhol Paintings So Expensive?
- Andy Warhol Pop Art
- Andy Warhol Portraits
Who Was Andy Warhol?
Andy Warhol (August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was a talented American artist who is best known for his unique painting techniques that contributed to the growth of pop art as a genre.
Warhol demonstrated a love for art and drawing from his early childhood, and his first solo show as an artist took place in 1952. From there, he did many things in his career, from revolutionizing pop art to using silk screening as a way to quickly produce multiple prints of his work.
Over the course of his artistic career he worked in commercial art, designed album covers and even made films. Warhol is best known for pop art, a genre that opened up avenues for artists to use popular brands, celebrities and consumer products in their artwork.
You might be most familiar with Warhol’s paintings of Campbell soup cans; these are an excellent example of his work, and the soup can became one of the most lasting motifs of his career.
Warhol’s paintings, life and artistic endeavors were all changed on June 3, 1968, when he faced an assassination attempt.
Why Was Andy Warhol Shot?
The shooter, a struggling writer and extreme feminist named Valerie Solanas, shot Warhol over a dispute about a film script she had written. Warhol’s injuries were so extensive that he was pronounced medically dead while doctors worked to resuscitate him.
The shooting had long-term effects on his health and his art. After the shooting, he had to wear a medical corset, and there are more themes of death and destruction in Warhol paintings from 1968 on.
Why Was Warhol So Famous?
In the 1960s, Warhol became famous for his colorful depictions of pop culture and celebrities. He started a business called Factory Additions to produce his silkscreen artwork, and some of his most famous pieces, like his Campbell soup can images and Marilyn Monroe prints, were made at this time.
These bright, colorful works of art revolutionized pop art as a genre and made Warhol one of its leading artists. His art represented a change in society and in the accepted definition of art.
According to Warhol, art could make statements about capitalism and consumerism by incorporating the common brands and products that Americans used every day. His focus on fame and celebrity reflected what was happening in American culture, a move away from the natural elements in movements like American Modernism, exemplified in Georgia O'Keefe painting. It's safe to say he truly transformed the trajectory of modern art through his unique style and techniques.
What kind of paint did Warhol use to achieve his bright and colorful effects? In the 1960s, he switched to using a signature method of tracing photographs and using acrylic paint for the silk screening process — far removed from the standard oil on canvas or the gold-leafed Gustav Klimt paintings.
His career also opened doors for him to add celebrity portraits to his repertoire. He became a celebrity himself, welcoming many of the famous people he painted, like Marilyn Monroe and Jackie Kennedy, into his home.
Warhol’s paintings of Elvis and Marilyn Monroe are among some of his most famous examples of pop art, and the equal fame of his Coca-Cola and Campbell’s brands show the connections between fame, consumerism and celebrity that he was trying to explore with his work. He also befriended many artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Herring, influencing some of the most famous Basquiat paintings.
Why Are Andy Warhol Paintings So Expensive?
Throughout history, artwork has carried immense value, and Warhol’s paintings are no different. His artwork regularly sells for millions of dollars due to his extreme popularity and the impact he made on modern art.
Even the cheapest Andy Warhol paintings are pricey, ranging from the thousands to tens of thousands. But this is nothing compared to his most famous (and most expensive) works.
What Is the Most Expensive Warhol Painting Ever Sold?
In 2022, Warhol’s painting “The Blue Shot Marilyn” was sold at auction for $195.4 million dollars. The incredible price tag on this painting is just further proof of Warhol’s enduring legacy and the transformational power of his artwork.
Unfortunately, this also means that if you are looking for Warhol paintings for sale, they might be a bit out of the average buyer’s price range! Let’s dive into some of Warhol’s most popular paintings for a further look at his trademark style.
Andy Warhol Pop Art
1. Campbell’s Soup Cans
What was Andy Warhol's most famous piece? When you think about original Andy Warhol art, chances are this is the example that pops to mind.
This is a collection of 32 canvases, each one depicting one of Campbell’s soups. Warhol made these using his printmaking process that replicated the branding of the cans.
For a fun take on this pop art trend in your own home, use these acrylic painting ideas for beginners and create your own pop-art canvas collection featuring your favorite brands or products.
2. Andy Warhol’s Banana
Another of the most famous Andy Warhol pop art examples is his painting of a banana from the late 1960s. One of Warhol’s paintings of a banana was used as the cover on “The Velvet Underground & Nico” album.
The artwork was even more ground-breaking as an album cover, because the banana peel was a sticker that could be peeled away.
3. Brillo Box Sculptures
Warhol’s foray into sculpture caused some controversy in the art world because of his choice of subject matter. For his Brillo Box Sculptures, Warhol meticulously recreated boxes of Brillo pads to display.
This was a true fusion of popular consumer products with art, and many critics didn’t like the relatively boring subject matter of the sculptures.
4. Orange Car Crash Fourteen Times
After Warhol was injured in a shooting in 1968, his artwork took a different direction. He created a series called Death and Disaster that featured catastrophes like car crashes.
He would take an image of a disaster and use his trademark silkscreen process to reproduce it over the canvas, making complex statements about how our society can trivialize even death and disaster by replaying the images over and over in the media.
5. Coca-Cola
In addition to Campbell’s soup and Brillo boxes, Warhol used Coca-Cola bottles and branding in several different pieces of art. The first Andy Warhol painting of the now-famous brand was a simple black painting of a Coke bottle on a large white canvas.
This was another one of his attempts to convey the impact of consumerism and branding on American art.
6. Endangered Animals
Warhol’s artistic inspirations weren’t limited to soup cans and disasters, however. He also drew inspiration from nature. In 1983 he created a series of 10 pop art prints that showed different animals who were listed on the endangered species list.
His goal was to bring awareness to animals like the bald eagle, orangutan, African elephant and more who were in grave danger of extinction. The bright colors and pop art styling make these a unique take on wildlife art.
You could replicate the style of Andy Warhol’s paintings in your own home by picking up oil painting for beginners and creating a pop art style portrait of your pet. Wondering how to start oil painting? We have plenty of guides and inspiration available for you.
Andy Warhol Portraits
7. Marilyn Diptych
Marilyn Monroe is one of Andy Warhol’s most recognizable celebrity muses. The Warhol painting Marilyn Diptych is perhaps the most famous.
It is composed of two different canvases, one featuring a grid of brightly colored prints of Monroe, the other featuring a similar grid in shades of black and white.
This Andy Warhol painting shows Monroe’s fame and celebrity in two contrasting lights, the brightly colored side of fame and the darker, behind-the-scenes reality of celebrity life.
8. Blue Shot Marilyn
Another famous Warhol painting of Marilyn Monroe is the Blue Shot Marilyn. This is the piece that sold for an astronomical $195.1 million. It features an image of Monroe on a bright, sky blue background.
9. Triple Elvis
Elvis Presley was another musical icon who was portrayed in a Warhol piece. Warhol used a photography still from the film Flaming Star as the basis for the work of art, and Elvis became another celebrity who featured heavily in Warhol’s works.
10. John Lennon
Singer-songwriter John Lennon was a global celebrity. As co-lead vocalist of the Beatles, Lennon rose to incredible fame, and his portrait by Warhol is one of the most famous Andy Warhol paintings.
Warhol depicts Lennon on a dark red background with multicolored outlines around Lennon’s face. Lennon, who died in 1980, had become a music icon, and this painting, made about 5 years after the musician’s death, helped further solidify his fame. It sold in 2014 for 2.85 million dollars.
11. Jackie
First Lady Jackie Kennedy was another subject of Warhol’s portraits. Warhol began this work shortly after President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963.
He used photographs from the media coverage of the assassination and cropped them to only show the First Lady’s face in this work art, which combined his pop art sensibility with commentary on media, tragedy and celebrity.
12. Elizabeth Taylor
Warhol also created images of Elizabeth Taylor in his characteristic style. These pieces were another commentary on fame and its consequences, similar to his famous portraits of Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley.
13. Mao Zedong
One of Warhol’s most famous and most controversial portraits was of the then leader of the Communist Party in China. Warhol’s depiction of Mao in brightly colored pop art style broke all of the strict rules of Communist society and was Warhol’s version of political commentary.
Throughout his career, Warhol painted other key leaders like presidential candidates and world rulers, but none of those portraits are quite as famous as his image of Mao Zedong.
As you can see, Andy Warhol’s painting and career ranged from pop art images of celebrities to grim commentary on the disasters in the headlines during his lifetime. For anyone looking for a burst of creativity, the bright colors and repetitive screen printing style of his artwork is like a jolt of electricity.
Whether you are looking for prints to hang on your walls or inspiration for your next art project, for even more fun art ideas, check out other experiences happening on Classpop!
