Andy Warhol was born on this day in 1928.

Andy Warhol was a leader in the avant-garde popular art movement (Pop Art) that became popular in the early 1960s. This art form uses a variety of techniques to depict images from everyday life. Warhol made the Campbell’s Soup can and Brillo Pad boxes famous for art in addition to brand recognition. He also developed a method of silkscreening and a technique of repeating and layering images, highlighting such popular celebrities as Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley. Warhol was most famous for this aspect of his creative talents, but he also produced films, managed a musical group called the Velvet Underground and wrote several books. Warhol died while recovering from surgery in 1987; he remains a Pop Art icon.

ARTSEDGE
In Making the Ordinary Pop (5–8), students learn about Andy Warhol’s methods of repetition and Claes Oldenburg’s idea of presenting the ordinary object as sculptural form of art. Students then combine the two methods into a two-dimensional artwork using hands-on painting and photo editing software.

Pop Art is one of the many movements of modern art. In A Tribute to Miró (5–8), students create a modern artist’s painting in the style of Spanish artist Joan Miró (1893–1983). Students explore how horizontal, vertical and curved lines can be combined with basic geometric and natural shapes to create an original painting.