by Gary Comenas, 2026
Where did Andy Warhol paint and live?
Although it is often assumed that Andy Warhol painted what art writers often refer to as his "silkscreens" at the infamous Factory or later, in his Union Square studio (or "office"), some of his most famous works were painted at home.
Andy Warhol's "silkscreens" weren't silkscreens, they were paintings. He often used silkscreening as an element in a painting, but that was in addition to hand-painting techniques. If you examine a painting by Andy Warhol in a museum, get up close and look for the brushstrokes. The only fully printed works were his prints.
The original Campbell's Soup Cans (often referred to as the Ferus series because that was the gallery in which they were first exhibited) were completely hand-painted. No silk-screening was involved although he did use stencils and other modes of painting that are used today by graffiti artists.
Although Andy Warhol would always be associated with New York, his original Campbell's Soup Can series was first exhibited in Los Angeles. The Ferus Gallery was located in L.A.
Andy Warhol's Studios
Andy Warhol's first artist's studio away from home was an old fire station he rented from about November 1962. He moved his operations to the Factory in early 1964. In 1968 he worked out of 33 Union Square West and in 1974 he moved to 860 Broadway. All of these premises were rented. In December 1984 Warhol purchased his final studio/offices - the old Con Edison building on Madison Avenue between 32nd and 33rd Streets.
Andy Warhol's Campbell’s Soup Cans
Andy Warhol's original Campbell's Soup Can paintings were painted beginning in c. December 1961 at home - his town-house at 1342 Lexington Avenue in New York. He didn't have a separate studio until he rented an old fire station in November 1962 which he probably moved into in early 1963. In addition to the Campbell's Soup Can paintings, the paintings produced at 1342 Lexington include:
Advertisement paintings
Before and After paintings
Comic strip paintings
Newspaper advertisement paintings (including Icebox)
Consumer product paintings (such as Typewriter and Telephone)
Coca Cola paintings
Dance Diagram paintings
Dollar Bill paintings
Trading stamps and postage stamp paintings
Do It Yourself paintings
News headline paintings
Label paintings (such as shipping and coffee labels)
Car paintings
Teen Stars (including Natalie Wood, Warren Beatty and Tab Hunter)
Troy Donahue
Marilyn Monroe
Early Elvis paintings
Robert Rauschenberg portraits
Early Elizabeth Taylor paintings
Optical paintings
Early suicide paintings
Where Andy Warhol lived
A list of Andy Warhol's residential addresses in New York and the approximate years he lived there:
1949: Sublease at St. Marks and Avenue A with Philip Pearlstein.
1949- April 1950: After sublease was up, they moved into Franziska Boas' apartment at 323 W. 21 Street. (evicted April 1950)
April 1950 - evicted from Boas. Moved into 74 West 103rd Street by August.
From November 1950 lived for a 'few months' with Joseph Groell at 25th Street between First and Second Avenue.
By June 1951: Lived in flat registered to Victor Reilly at 218 East 75th Street.
1952: Rented accommodation on 216 East 75th Street. Mother moved in with him.
1953: Moved to 242 Lexington (between 33 and 34th St.).
30 August 1960: Moved into 1342 Lexington Avenue - 89th and Lexington.
Early 1974: Buys a six story brownstone at 57 East 66th Street between Madison and Park Avenues, paying $310,000 outright. Fred Hughes moved into Warhol's old house on Lexington Avenue at 89th Street. Vincent Fremont moved into Fred's old apartment on East 16th Street.
Warhol's other real estate holdings at the time of his death included his compound in Montauk (co-owned with Paul Morrissey) and the property on Great Jones Street where Jean-Michel Basquiat died from an overdose of heroin. (It was at the Montauk compound that the non-Warhol movie, Cocaine Cowboys was filmed. Warhol appears in the film briefly.)
Gary Comenas, 2026