Did you know that Andy Warhol was a huge cat lover? He and his mother, Julia Warhola, both loved cats and had several of their own, all named Sam except for one called Hester.
In the 1950s, before Warhol became famous for his pop art, he worked as an advertising illustrator and graphic artist. During this time he created numerous whimsical drawings of cats. He even created a limited edition artist’s book 25 Cats Name Sam and One Blue Pussy (that’s not a typo, the d was originally left off “Name” in error, but Warhol liked it and kept the mistake.) Apparently the cats in this book were based on the images of the famous cat photographer Walter Chandoha, not Warhol’s own cats. The original copies of 25 Cats Name Sam and One Blue Pussy were given by Warhol as gifts to clients and friends (an original sold in May 2006 for $35,000), but it has been republished and used copies can sometimes be found on Amazon.
Reproductions of all the cat images can be found at Allposters.com
for as little as $9.99 US.
Warhol continued to be inspired by cats, creating this cat portrait in the 1970s using his signature Pop Art style.
Warhol’s cats continue to appear on various merchandise, including this 2010 Mini Wall Calendar
I love Warhol, he’s one of my heroes and inspirations! Not only that, he’s a hometown boy. Thanks for profiling him!
And if I may add: Andy Warhol had a nephew who wrote a children’s book called “Uncle Andy’s Cats”. I heard the author on NPR a few years ago talking about his visits to his uncle’s home as a child and seeing all of his cats. It looks like a cute book.
Thanks for showing the Andy Warhol cat art. I love it!
Not really an Andy fan, but I did know he loved cats and painted them, and I love that part of his career and preferences, of course!
I didn’t realize how much cat art Andy Warhol had done. Love the cat with the Purr Purr Purr Purrs.
I love all of them!
Andy Warhol was a gifted, talented, loved, bright, loyal, curious, and sad person. Seldom do I read biographies, but the stories about him and the many (often famous) people in his life are like candy.
There’s much more to him than most of us know, unless we look a bit deeper. And it is worth digging.
This is awesome, I didn’t realize he was such an avid cat lover. Thank you for sharing =^-^=