American artist and filmmaker Andy Warhol (1928–1987) deliberately cultivated a public persona that blurred the boundaries between artist, celebrity, and media personality, becoming a recognizable cultural figure during his lifetime. His distinctive appearance, soft-spoken manner, white-blond hair, and his studio, the Factory, have made him particularly recognizable in pop culture. Since his death, Warhol has been portrayed in film, television, theater, literature, and music, while his image and artistic legacy have been commemorated through fashion, public art, museums, and historic landmarks.

Art

Paintings and drawings Warhol has been depicted by numerous artists, including several with whom he had personal or professional relationships. In 1976, artist Jamie Wyeth exhibited paintings and drawings of Warhol and his dachshund Archie in Andy Warhol and Jamie Wyeth: Portraits of Each Other at New York's Coe Kerr Gallery.

In 1982, Jean-Michel Basquiat painted Dos Cabezas, a double portrait of himself and Warhol based on a Polaroid photograph Warhol took following their first formal meeting in October of that year. In 1984, Basquiat painted Brown Spots (Portrait of Andy Warhol as a Banana). Between 1985 and 1986, Keith Haring created the Andy Mouse series, which combined Warhol's likeness with Mickey Mouse to create the fictional character Andy Mouse.

Murals In 1979, street artists Fab Five Freddy and Lee Quiñones paid homage to Warhol by spray-painting an entire New York City Subway train with images of Campbell's Soup Cans, bringing his Pop art imagery into the emerging graffiti and hip-hop culture of New York.

In 2014, Brazilian street artist Eduardo Kobra painted Fight for Street Art! in Brooklyn, New York. The large-scale mural depicts Warhol alongside Jean-Michel Basquiat. In 2018, Kobra created another mural, Mount Rushmore of Art, in Chelsea, Manhattan, above the Empire Diner, depicting Warhol alongside Frida Kahlo, Keith Haring, and Basquiat.

In 2023, Mt. Lebanon artist Ashley Hodder painted a large-scale image of Warhol on a building on East Ohio Street in Pittsburg's North Side.

Sculptures In 2002, Slovak sculptor Juraj Bartusz created Monument to Andy Warhol, depicting Warhol holding an umbrella outside the Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art in Medzilaborce, Slovakia. A separate statue of Warhol was formerly installed outside the Camouflage Restaurant in Bratislava.

In 2005, Polish visual artist Sławomir Micek created a bust of Warhol for the "Alley of Fame" in Kielce, Poland.

In 2007, to mark the 20th anniversary of his death, the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh hosted the largest exhibition of his work ever presented in Scotland. As part of the commemoration, images of Warhol's Campbell's Soup I prints were wrapped around the academy's columns, transforming its façade into a monumental Pop art installation.

In 2011, artist Rob Pruitt, commissioned by the Public Art Fund, created a chrome sculpture of Warhol that was installed outside 860 Broadway in Manhattan's Union Square, the former site of the Factory. The sculpture was on view from March through October 2011.

In 2012, the Hornby Island Community Arts Council commissioned artist Roberta Pyx Sutherland to transform a dented, rusted tank on Hornby Island into Warhol Tribute, a public artwork inspired by Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans series and created to mark its 50th anniversary.

In collaboration with EXMURO, Canadian art duo Cooke-Sasseville created The Odyssey (2014), a large-scale installation consisting of a giant Campbell's soup can flanked by three oversized pigeons. The work was first presented as part of the Passages Insolites exhibition in Quebec City in 2014 and 2015 and was subsequently installed at various locations in Ottawa. In 2025, it was exhibited in Springfield, Massachusetts, marking the work's first installation in the United States.

In 2016, an outdoor light projection featuring the multi-colored Marilyn Monroe prints served as the public promotional display for the exhibition Andy Warhol. Pop Society at Palazzo Ducale in Genoa.

Fashion

During the paper dress craze of the 1960s, the Campbell Company produced the Souper Dress, a promotional garment whose printed design directly referenced Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans series.

Warhol was a close friend of fashion designer Halston and he created a "happening" for Halton's presentation at the Coty American Fashion Critics' Awards. For the Fall 1974 collection, Halston incorporated patterns based on Warhol's Flowers lithographs.

For the 1975 exhibition Fashion as Fantasy at the Rizzoli Gallery in New York, he deconstructed and reassembled garments by different designers, combining pieces bearing labels such as Stephen Burrows and Valentino.

In the 1980s, Warhol became friends with artist Keith Haring, who cited Warhol as an influence on the Pop Shop, which opened in New York in 1986. Warhol allowed Haring to use his 1986 Self-Portrait for T-shirt designs. Several shirts were produced before Warhol's business manager, Fred Hughes, objected and the designs were discontinued.

Fashion designer Stephen Sprouse regarded Warhol as a mentor, and Warhol encouraged him to pursue both painting and fashion. As a tribute following Warhol's death, Sprouse incorporated Warhol's Camouflage screenprint into his Fall 1987 and Spring 1988 collections, reproducing it in brightly colored variations and crediting Warhol on the garment labels.

Gianni Versace was reportedly an admirer of Warhol's work, and for the Versace Spring/Summer 1991 collection, he incorporated Warhol's screenprints of Marilyn Monroe and James Dean into various garments.

The 1994 Calvin Klein CK One advertising campaign, photographed by Steven Meisel, drew inspiration from Avedon's 1969 portrait Andy Warhol and Members of the Factory, New York.

In 1997, the Whitney Museum of American Art mounted the exhibition The Warhol Look: Glamour, Style, Fashion, organized by the Andy Warhol Museum, underscoring the lasting impact of fashion on his artistic legacy.

In 1967, Warhol spray-painted Coca-Cola bottles silver and filled them with a citrus fragrance, that he reportedly claimed was toilet water. The project was abandoned after the Coca-Cola Company issued a cease-and-desist letter. In 2017, Japanese fashion label Comme des Garçons revived the concept with Andy Warhol's You're In, a unisex fragrance introduced during New York Fashion Week. The fragrance features notes of bitter orange, jasmine, and makrut lime zest packaged in six silver bottles, each bearing a quotation by Warhol.

In 2024, Piaget introduced the 15102, or "Black Tie" collection, as the "Andy Warhol Watch," referencing the artist's longstanding affinity for the brand. The following year, Piaget introduced the limited-edition Andy Warhol "Collage" watch, inspired by Warhol's 1986 self-portrait collage.

In 2026, Carolina Herrera's Spring/Summer 2027 collection, designed by Wes Gordon, featured a dress incorporating Warhol's 1979 portrait of Herrera to mark the fashion house's 45th anniversary.

Film and television Warhol appeared in several films during his lifetime, including The Driver's Seat (1974), Cocaine Cowboys (1979) and Tootsie (1982). He has been portrayed in numerous narrative films since his death in 1987, ranging from biographical dramas to comic and highly fictionalized appearances. The Guardian described Warhol as one of the more frequently portrayed figures in film and television, noting the relative ease with which his public persona could be reproduced onscreen.

In 2020, Jared Leto confirmed that he had been cast to portray Warhol in the biographical film Warhol, produced by Michael De Luca and written by Terence Winter, based on the 1989 book Warhol: The Biography by Victor Bockris.

Portrayals in film +YearFilmActorNotes1991The DoorsCrispin GloverJim Morrison encounters Warhol at a downtown Manhattan party1991Caldo soffocanteAllen MidgetteItalian film directed by Giovanna Gagliardo1992Death Becomes HerBob SwainWarhol is an immortal guest at Lisle von Rhuman's ballroom party1996I Shot Andy WarholJared Harris Dramatizes events leading up to Valerie Solanas' attempt to assassinate Warhol1996BasquiatDavid BowieWarhol befriends Jean-Michel Basquiat and they collaborate on paintings1997Austin Powers: International Man of MysteryMark BringlesonWarhol appears at the Electric Psychedelic Pussycat Swingers Club199854 Sean Sullivan Warhol appears as a party-goer at Studio 542003Any Way the Wind BlowsSergio De Beukelaer Warhol appears in a hallucination of gallery owner Firmin2003GhostlightClark RenderA camp biopic on Martha Graham2006Factory GirlGuy PearceDramatizes Edie Sedgwick's relationship with Warhol2009WatchmenGreg TravisWarhol appears alongside Truman Capote displaying his art2012Men in Black 3Bill HaderWarhol is as an undercover Men in Black agent at the Factory2017The Billionaire Boys ClubCary Elwes Ron Levin dines with Warhol at Spago2022Weird: The Al Yankovic StoryConan O'BrienWarhol is a guest at a pool party

Television Warhol had a longstanding fascination with television, which became an important part of both his artistic practice and public persona. He began watching television regularly after acquiring an RCA television set in the 1950s and later incorporated the medium into his work through experimental productions and television programs. He also appeared in several commercials. In the final year of his life, he began a series of paintings depicting images from the history of American television, although only one, Moonwalk, based on the 1969 televised Moon landing, was completed.

Warhol also produced three television programs: Fashion (1979–1980), Andy Warhol's TV (1980–1983), and the MTV talk show Andy Warhol's Fifteen Minutes (1985–1987). Through these programs, he extended his interest in celebrity, popular culture, and mass media into television itself. His television work ranged from fashion and interviews to experimental programming and candid footage of figures associated with his social circle.

In October 1985, Warhol appeared as a fictionalized version of himself in the television series The Love Boat for the 200th episode. his presence is connected to the past of a woman who had once been one of his "superstars." Art historian Branden W. Joseph later examined Warhol's appearance on The Love Boat as an example of the artist's penetration into mass-market commercial culture.

After Warhol's death, he became a recurring subject of fictional television portrayals. Jeffrey Weissman played Warhol in the NBC miniseries The 1970s (2000). In Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy (2012), Tom Meeten parodies Warhol, working first as a housekeeper and later as a barista. John Cameron Mitchell portrayed Warhol in the HBO television series Vinyl (2016). Evan Peters portrayed Warhol in the American Horror Story episode "Valerie Solanas Died for Your Sins, Scumbag" (2017), which dramatizes the relationship between Warhol and Solanas and her attempt to kill him.

Warhol has also been represented in animated television. In The Simpsons 1991 episode "Brush with Greatness," in which Warhol's Campbell's Soup Can is seen in an art gallery. In the 1999 episode "Mom and Pop Art," voiced by Hank Azaria, Warhol appears in a dream sequence in which he throws Campbell's soup cans at Homer Simpson.

In 2019, Burger King eatured Warhol in a Super Bowl commercial in which he is shown silently eating a Whopper hamburger. The footage was taken from 66 Scenes from America, a 1982 film by Danish director Jørgen Leth that documented scenes of American life.

Documentaries Andy Warhol and his Clan (1970), a 46-minute documentary directed by German filmmaker Bert Koetter, examines Warhol's personality and work through interviews and observations of his "superstars."