Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe, Leo Castelli gallery invitation, 1981

Since 1960 American artist Andy Warhol (1928-1987) has been considered one of the most well known and controversial artists in American Pop Art, having becoming synonymous with Pop Art itself. His works explore the relationship between artistic expression, celebrity culture, and advertising that flourished by the 1960s, and span a variety of media, including painting, silkscreening, photography, film and sculpture. Warhol used common images of popular media that were executed with hardline realism, and were considered new and outrageous. Andy Warhol is considered to be the #1 top performing artists on the art market today, comprising a sizable chunk of the contemporary art market. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Warhol initially pursued a successful career as a commercial illustrator. After exhibiting his work in several galleries in the late 1950s, he began to receive recognition as an influential and controversial artist. His New York studio, The Factory, became a well-known gathering place that brought together distinguished intellectuals, drag queens, playwrights, Bohemian street people, Hollywood celebrities, and wealthy patrons. He promoted a collection of personalities known as Warhol Superstars, and is credited with coining the widely used expression "15 minutes of fame."