Andy Warhol, Prince of Pop

by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan

How did shy, sickly young Andy Warhola grow up to become Andy Warhol, one of the... read more

How did shy, sickly young Andy Warhola grow up to become Andy Warhol, one of the most brazen and influential figures on the art and popular culture scene in the 1960s and '70s? Another astute artist biography from Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan looks at Warhol’s life and reveals more consistency than contradiction beneath the surface. Warhol certainly had an edgy, provocative approach to both art and life, with paintings that turned cultural figures—from soup cans to movie stars—into iconographic art, forays into experimental film, and his role as figurehead of the Factory, where the drug and counterculture thrived. Despite all this, it seems Warhol was never far removed from the insecure boy he once was. A master of turning life into art, Warhol thrived on observation as much (perhaps more) than attention and was always looking for ways to make art out of other people’s lives instead of his own (although he clearly carefully crafted his own public persona, often for shock effect). Greenberg and Jordan’s honest, straightforward treatment is a fascinating look at both the public and carefully guarded, unexpectedly tame and bittersweet private life of a major twentieth-century artist who was a cultural icon in his own right. (Ages 14–18)

© Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2005

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