John Warhola, Brother of Artist Andy Warhol and Museum Founder, Dies at Age 85
December 29, 2010 by All Art News
Filed under Artists & People
ROCHESTER, PA (AP).- John Warhola, the older brother who helped raise pop art icon Andy Warhol and later helped establish the Andy Warhol Museum in their native Pittsburgh, has died. He was 85.
Warhola died on Christmas Eve after battling pneumonia at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, according to his son, Donald Warhola. The hospital is just a few blocks from the museum. Warhola lived in nearby New Sewickley.
- In this Aug. 9, 2002 file photo, the family of pop artist Andy Warhol, a Pittsburgh native, older brothers John Warhola, left, and Paul Warhola, right, stand with Andy’s great nephew Matthew Warhola, 2, of Cranberry, Pa., in front of the newly issued Andy Warhol stamp at a first day of issue celebration at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh. John Warhola, the older brother who helped raise Andy and later helped establish the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, has died. Warhola’s son, Donald, says his father was 85 when he died on Christmas Eve after battling pneumonia in a Pittsburgh hospital. AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar.
He was one of three founding members of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and was its vice president for 20 years. The foundation established the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh in 1994, seven years after the artist — whose given name was Andy Warhola — died at age 58 from complications following gall bladder surgery.
After their father Andrij Warhola died in 1942, John Warhola was tasked with raising his younger brother, Andy, and making sure he attended college. Their father had purchased enough savings bonds to pay for Andy’s first two years of college, but told John the rest was up to him.
“My grandfather told my father, ‘Your role is to take care of Andy and make sure he goes to school, because he’s going to be successful someday,’” Donald Warhola told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Andy went on to attend the School of Fine Arts at what was then Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon University). Warhol was a successful commercial artist before becoming known for his pop art, ranging from silk screened images of celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe to detailed renderings of Campbell’s Soup cans, and other avant-garde fare.
“He really trusted my father as a father figure,” Donald Warhola told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, saying his father was “very diligent in his responsibilities” with the Warhol foundation.
“He was proud to be the vice president of the foundation, and he really took on the role of historian,” Warhola said.
Warhola’s funeral will be Wednesday at the Holy Ghost Byzantine Baptist Church on Pittsburgh’s North Side. He will be buried in the family plot at St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Cemetery in suburban Bethel Park.
Related posts:
- Andy Warhol Museum Releases The Warhol: D.I.Y. Pop App for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad
- After Serving as Acting Director, Eric C. Shiner Named Director of the Andy Warhol Museum
- McNay Art Museum announces “Andy Warhol: Fame and Misfortune” to open in February 2012
- The Andy Warhol Museum Presents The Word of God(ESS) by Artist Chitra Ganesh
- Andy Warhol Museum opens exhibition by today’s foremost comic book artist: Alex Ross
