By the early 60?s, Warhol became determined to establish himself as a serious painter, as well as to gain the respect of such famous artists of the time, whose work he had recently come to know and admire. He began by painting a series of pictures based on crude advertisements and on images from comic strips. He reproduced advertisements and cartoons, as well as such familiar household items as telephones and soup cans, often painting …showed first 75 words of 263 total…

…showed last 75 words of 263 total…in their obvious rejection of innovation and their blatant vulgarity, were somewhat brutal and shocking, designed with the intention of offending an audience ?accustomed to thinking of art as an intimate medium for conveying emotion.? Thus, the once struggling commercial illustrator transformed into one of the most recognized and influential artists of the century, considered the progenitor of American Pop Art, and to me is one of the greatest if not the greatest contemporary artists.