An American artist and a figure in the movement known as Pop Art. After a successful career as a commercial illustrator, Warhol became famous worldwide for his work as a painter, avant-garde filmmaker, record producer, author, and public figure known for his membership in wildly diverse social circles that included bohemian street people, distinguished intellectuals, Hollywood celebrities and wealthy aristocrats.

Warhol has been the subject of numerous retrospective exhibitions, books, and feature and documentary films. Warhol created the concept of "15 minutes of fame", which refers to the fleeting condition of fame in the modern world, mainly attributed to mass media and transience in human beings. Warhol produced both comic and serious works; his subject could be a soup can or an electric chair. Warhol used the same techniques – silkscreens, reproduced serially, and often painted with bright colors – whether he painted celebrities, everyday objects, or images of suicide, car crashes, and disasters, as in the 1962–63 Death and Disaster series.

The unifying element in Warhol's work is his deadpan style – artistically and personally affectless. This was mirrored by Warhol's own demeanor, as he often played "dumb" to the media, and refused to explain his work. The artist was famous for having said that all you need to know about him and his works is already there, "on the surface."