The forerunner in pop art is the very known painter and filmmaker, Andy Warhol. Born Andrew Warhola in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Czech immigrants. He would become popular by showing what was popular. He first studied at the Caraegie Institute of Technology and moved to New York after graduating in 1949. He wanted to become a commercial artist (what is most commonly called a graphic design today). But, although successful, he switched gears from the commercial to fine art.

Andy worked from every day things: labels,  celebrities, packaging, and comics. In 1962 he adds silkscreen portraits to his range of works. This commercial process was now a fine art process. From 1968-1972 only made movies. He made art in what he called the “Factory." At the tail end of his career, Andy had the ideas and he paid others to make the artwork, thus: Factory. The Factories only machine was Andy. "I think everybody should be a machine."

At the Factory, in 1968, a crazed lady shot and nearly killed Andy. This would cause him pain and medical issues for the rest of his life. He died suddenly in 1987, from complications after gall bladder surgery. With no family, his multi million dollar estate was used to establish an endowment fund for the arts.