Painters

Andy Warhol

The son of Ruthenian immigrants, grew up in the ethnic North Side neighborhood of Pittsburgh, attending Holy Ghost Byzantian Church. Studied art as a youth at the Carnegie Museum of Art and later at the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University). Worked as an advertising designer before becoming the "Father of Pop Art" with his silk-screened pictures of Campbell's Soup cans and distorted images of Marilyn Monroe.

Started making films in 1963. After a near-fatal shooting by an unstable fan, Warhol retired from direct involvement in filmmaking, and under former assistant Paul Morrissey, the Warhol films became increasingly commercial. Warhol spent the 1970s and 1980s as a major pop culture figure, constantly attending parties and providing patronage to younger artists. The Andy Warhol Museum, located near the neighborhood where Andy grew up, is one of Pittsburgh's most popular.

Mary Cassatt

An Impressionist painter best known for mother and child compositions and also for color prints, based on Japanese woodblock techniques and that combined drypoint, etching, and aquatint. Was recognized by the turn of the century as one of the preeminent painters both the U.S. and France, which became her permanent home. Most of her life was spent in France, where she was greatly influenced by great French contemporaries, particularly Manet and Degas, whose friendship and esteem she enjoyed.