Andy Warhol Young

Andy Warhol Young

In the world of pop culture today it is not uncommon to see celebrities who were once children or teenagers making appearances on television shows and movies. In this article we will look at one such person, Andy Warhol, and examine what he looked like when he was just starting out. We'll also try to find out where his unusual career path began.
Warhol was born in 1928 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was an only child until age nine, then his parents divorced. At that point he moved with his mother and stepfather to Cleveland, Ohio for about two years while his father lived nearby in New York City. When his father remarried, they all relocated again to California. His interests include sports, art (he studied painting at several colleges), and music. His famous works have included paintings, sculptures, drawings, silk screen prints, films, photographs, magazine covers, advertisements, books, posters, T-shirts, buttons, video projections, records, cassettes, CDs, and even popcorn! The list goes on and on...


We can assume from these facts that you are interested in learning more about Andy Warhol's life as a kid. You may be wondering how someone so creative would grow up without finding any sort of direction in his early life. Or perhaps you're curious if there is anything notable about his upbringing that might provide clues into Warhol's future behavior. Keep reading to learn about Warhol's childhood.

Andy Warhol Growing Up
At some time during his youth Warhol attended Art Students League classes as well as the Carnegie Institute of Technology. However, after graduating from high school in 1946, Warhol dropped out of college due to boredom. While still living in California, Warhol worked odd jobs including dishwasher, gas station attendant, short order cook, carpenter, housepainter, bartender, truck driver, and factory worker before eventually settling down as an artist. During this period he became friends with fellow artists Sam Green and James Rosenquist. It appears Warhol's artistic style started evolving around this time because many of his first artwork pieces featured brightly colored cartoon characters.
When looking back over Warhol's biography, the most interesting part of it has to do with the fact that Warhol did absolutely nothing with his life between the ages of 22 and 23. This is quite common among artists but it seems strange when applied to someone like Andy Warhol since he seemed destined for greatness. What happened? Was he lazy? Perhaps he got distracted by other things? Did something happen that changed him? No one knows exactly why Andy Warhol went through this phase but here are three theories offered by historians.
Theory One - Warhol stopped pursuing his dream of becoming an artist because he felt he could make a better living doing another job than being an artist. As mentioned earlier, Warhol dropped out of school right after graduation and never received any formal training in art. Because of this, he decided that he wasn't good enough to pursue art fulltime and instead should get a "real" job. He ended up getting involved in commercial printmaking which led to advertising work. After working as a printer for seven months, Warhol quit his day job and devoted himself exclusively to art.
Theory Two - Warhol gave up on his dreams of fame and fortune because of his shy personality. Due to his reserved nature Warhol didn't feel comfortable performing live nor talking to large crowds. Since Warhol wanted to become rich and famous, he thought that selling himself to the public would allow him to achieve those goals quicker. Unfortunately for Warhol, his shyness prevented him from ever becoming a successful salesman.
Theory Three - Warhol abandoned his dreams of success because he was too busy focusing on other areas of his life. Instead of devoting himself solely to art, Warhol was often juggling multiple projects simultaneously. For example, he painted portraits of people, made cartoons, designed record sleeves, wrote poetry, and illustrated books. Although he enjoyed each project individually, Warhol couldn't seem to focus on any one thing long enough to complete it successfully.
Regardless of what caused him to abandon his goal of following his passion of creating art, Warhol admitted that his decision certainly affected his later actions. By giving up on his dreams of becoming a great painter, Warhol missed out on experiencing incredible highs that come along with achieving ones greatest desires. If only Andy Warhol knew what lay ahead of him in regards to his own personal history.
It is said that every artist suffers throughout their lifetime. And although Andy Warhol suffered greatly due to circumstances beyond his control, he somehow managed to emerge strong and determined with great potential. Read on to discover what kind of impact Warhol had on American society.

Andy Warhol's Childhood
As previously stated, Warhol was somewhat eccentric and introverted as a young boy. Despite this, he was considered popular amongst peers and teachers alike. Many kids admired Warhol based upon his positive attitude and outgoing personality.
Although Warhol doesn't say much about his childhood directly in his autobiography, he does discuss it in detail in interviews and lectures. According to Warhol, he was an average student academically but he excelled in certain subjects such as math and science. His favorite subject was English however, as evidenced by the fact that he won awards for writing essays.
Many students struggle with socializing skills but Warhol actually preferred hanging out with others rather than going off alone. He believed solitude helped him process thoughts and ideas. Also, staying away from distractions allowed him to concentrate fully on whatever task he needed completed. Another reason Warhol disliked spending time with other kids was because he found them immature and boring. Being surrounded by drama and chaos bothered him immensely.
One of Warhol's best memories of his childhood involves his relationship with his grandfather. His grandfather used to let Andy sleep overnight in his bedroom whenever he visited Los Angeles. On occasion his grandmother would bring her son to stay with Warhol's family. Grandpa used to take pictures of Andy dressed up as Santa Claus, Mickey Mouse, Popeye, Tarzan, etc. These photos remain precious to the author today.
Another important memory regarding Warhol's childhood is attending church services on Sundays. The sermons usually revolved around morality and religious themes. Throughout his adult life Warhol maintained a deep respect for religion but during his younger days he saw it purely as entertainment.

Throughout his childhood Warhol was close friends with Sam Green and James Rosenquist. Both men shared similar tastes in humor and art. They also had access to Warhol's sketchbooks which provided a place for both men to express themselves freely. The trio hung out together frequently until 1950 when Green died suddenly. Shortly afterward, Warhol met Candy Darling whom he married in 1952. Together they starred in numerous underground films such as Sleep which is now available on DVD. Warhol left his wife and their home in 1968 and hasn't been seen publicly since.
During his marriage to Darling, Warhol experimented heavily with drugs. In 1970 he published his infamous book titled S&M. In 1973 Warhol produced Interviews With My Father which focused primarily on his drug use. Around 1975 Warhol developed lung cancer. He continued using drugs despite having advanced stage IV lung cancer and ultimately passed away on February 3rd, 1987.
Since Warhol kept few personal possessions and destroyed almost everything related to his past, little information exists concerning his family members. Here is what we know.
His mother's name was Julia. She was born in Missouri in 1906 and came to America in 1930. Her father was William H. Bullock whose ancestors immigrated to the US from Germany in 1824. Some sources claim that Warhol's paternal grandparents were German immigrants whereas other sources state that Warhol's maternal grandparents were Italian. Regardless of whether Warhol was half Italian or half German, we don't really need to worry ourselves too much.
Julia was raised Catholic but she converted to Protestantism shortly before marrying Warhol's father. Prior to meeting Warhol's dad, Rosemary worked as a secretary for the headmaster of her local elementary school. Upon meeting Andrej, she took up nursing and taught typing classes.
Andrej was born in 1895 in Washington D.C. He graduated from St. Timothy's College located in Lisle, Illinois.

Shop Warhol Prints HERE