Andy Warhol (Andrew Warhola), the son of Czech immigrants to the US, rose to become the most famous figure associated with American pop art. He was fascinated by celebrities from an early age and collected signed photos of film stars, amongst other things. After completing his studies, he moved to New York, where he hoped to become rich and famous. This dream became a reality with the infamous ‘New Realist’ exhibition in New York in 1962, in which Warhol presented a series of ‘Marilyns’. The exhibition definitively launched the pop artist’s stellar career. Warhol is known for his simple representations of commercial products, film stars and photos from newspapers, which he depicted with emotionless objectivity. From the 1960s onwards, he created an increasing number of mechanically-produced serial prints.
