Andy Warhol

"I just paint things I always thought were beautiful, things you use every day and never think about... I just do it because I like it. (Beckris 110) I just do it because I like it is Andy's philosophy on life. Andy might just be the most interesting and and at the same time the most confusing individual you will ever read about. Andy's work is like none others. His art brought common day people together and showed the impact of contemporary society and the idea of mass media on values. Andy's father Ondrej Wharhola is best described as a bald, burly man with a bulging belly and massive upper arms, pudgy nose and bristling sideburns. Ondrej was born in 1889 in Minkova. (Bekris, 6) He was married and living with Julia Warhola, mother of Andy, for three years in Mikova. In order to avoid being drafted into the Balkan conflict in 1912 he immigrated to Pittsburgh without her at the age of seventeen to work in a coal field in the industrial district of Philadelphia. (Bekris, 7) Julia Warhola was born in a small village in the Capathian mountains outside of Czechoslovakia. Julia was the oldest and prettiest of her fifteen other siblings. She was also said to be the artistic one of the bunch. (Bekris, 7) In 1914 Julia gave birth to a baby girl. Because of the conditions due to the war the infant contracted influenza six months later and died. Julia's mother was so depressed about the news of the infants death that she died one month later. (Bekris, 8-9) Julia was now reliable for her only two surviving sisters of ages six and nine. For the next four years Julia fled from the soldiers, hiding in woods and barns. She was supposed to be receiving money from Ondrej but because she was always on the run she never saw the money. From 1918-1921 she raised 160 dollars to go to the united states to find Ondrej. (Bekris, 9) Andy Warhol was born on September 28, 1930 in Forest City, Pennsylvania. Or so we think. This is what the original birth certificate read but Andy wanted people to believe he was born in Mc Keesport, or even Hawaii. He also stays true to believe the certificate is a forgery. Most books and other reportable sources confirm that he was indeed born in 1930 but the dates do range from 1925-1931 (Bekris, 10). Andy was raised in a coal mining town in Philadelphia. It was a dark musty town were the sky stayed black. The town was overrun with poverty and crime. (Bekris, 10) Being raised in an environment as such would greatly affect a person's personality in their later years. This might explain Andy's later fascination with death related topics. In 1930 Andy's father got a steady job laying roads and moving houses. This was a high paying job at the time because of the mass rate of growth in the cities. Ondrej saved his money and one-year later moved his family into a larger house on Beelan Street. Shortly after moving into the house Ondrej lost his job and was forced to move into a two-bedroom apartment. The rent was six dollars a week and Andy's father had to work odd jobs to just barley pay the rent. It was not just Andy and his parents. Andy had two other brothers, one older and one younger. All three of the children were said to be afraid of their father. "Dad didn't like us to start commotion because he was so exhausted and he would get emotionally upset. Usually all he had to do was look at you." (Beckris 12) Andy always had a problem with grammar school. He was not a social child and preferred to keep to himself. As most children do, they saw this in Andy and picked on him frequently. (Bekris, 18) Andy's brother Paul stated, "At age four Andy cried a lot at school and one day a little black girl slapped him" (Beckris 15) He was very traumatized by this incident and asked his mother if she could keep him home from school. As the loving mother she was, she took Andy out of school and kept him home for two years. Over this time he became very close to his mother. When it was time for him to return to school he threw a temper tantrum. It took his mother, brother and neighbor to drag Andy back to school. Because of this incident he developed a nervous tick. (Rateliff, 11) Fortunately, Ondrej got his old job back and earned enough money to move back into a larger house in Oak Land. This town was much more suitable for raising a child and had better school systems. In this town Andy made new friends, which were particularly girls. This would later explain Andy's homosexual tendencies. Margie Girman was one of his closest friends. She was said to be bright and stimulating which would encourage Andy to do better in school. Andy began to have a fascination with the cinema. Every weekend he and Margie would go to the movies. At the end of every show the ushers would hand out autographed photos of the actors and actresses. Andy would end up using these same images in his prints. Andy started to distance himself from boys and became closer to girls and his new found talent of drawing. Andy's brother John said, " When Andy was out in the field by the time you hit the ball he wasn't there." (Bekris, 16-17) He would go back to the house and draw in his notebook. Andy soon got the reputation as a "mamas boy". If he was not with his girlfriends or sketching in his notebook, he was out with his mother helping her pick out hats and skirts. At age six Andy had entered the second grade. His teacher Catharine Meta said that Andy would walk through the halls with his head down wishing he was invisible. This made him a prime suspect for abuse by his fellow classmates. From early on in Andy's life he had been a sickly child. Because Andy was known to be a mamma's boy and a crybaby his parents paid little to no attention to him when he whined about being hurt or sick. At age two Andy's eyes swelled shut due to an infection and his mother had to use daily doses of boric acid to get rid of the mucus. At age four he was playing on the train tracks and broke his arm. The wound went unnoticed for several weeks until someone saw an unnatural bend to his arm. The bone had to be re-broken and set. At age six Andy contracted scarlet fever, which would later effect his overall development. His illness went unnoticed until Andy began not being able to control his limbs or speech. He had trouble holding his own arm and completing a sentence. This part of Andy's life greatly contributed to his mistrust in people and his art. (Bekris, 19) Andy's art talent in high school was amazing. He drew everything he laid his eyes on. Even though he had such a great talent he was still singled out. Lee Karageores says "But sorely he was sort of left out. He wasn't even in the art club because his talent was so superior." Andy attended Scheley High School. During his senior year he applied to both the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Institute of Technology. Andy