Julia Warhola
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Julia Warhola (born Juliana Justina Zavaczki; November 20, 1891November 22, 1972) was the mother of the American artist
Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...
. She was an artist in her own right as a calligrapher, embroiderer, and illustrator.


Biography


Early life and family

Julia Warhola was born Juliana Justina Zavaczki to a peasant family in the Rusyn village of Mikó,
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
(now
Miková Miková (; ) is a village and municipality in Stropkov District in the Prešov Region of north-eastern Slovakia. History In history, historical records the village was first mentioned in 1390. It was known as ''Mikova'' until 1899. The village i ...
in northeast Slovakia). Her mother had 15 children. Three of her brothers came to America first. She was born on November 20, 1891. At the age of seventeen, she met her husband Andrew Warhola (; 1889–1942) who was twenty. Even though she thought he was handsome, she was too young to desire to marry him, but her father made her. "My Daddy beat me, beat me to marry him. What do I know? The priest—oh a nice priest—come. 'This Andy,' he says, 'a very nice boy. Marry him.' I cry. I no know. Andy visit again. ... He brings me candy, wonderful candy. And for this candy, I marry him," she said. She remembered with fondness their three-day wedding in 1909, which featured music performed by seven
gypsies {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , ...
. In 1912, her husband fled to
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
and then emigrated to the United States because he did not want to join the
Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...
. Soon after, in December 1912, her daughter, Maria, died at six weeks old from a cold because there was no doctor in town. She lived with her parents-in-law and worked, carrying potatoes. In 1921, Warhola left
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
and joined her husband in
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
. The couple had three sons: Paul (1922–2014),
John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...
(1925–2010), and Andy (1928–1987). The family lived at several Pittsburgh addresses, beginning in 1932 at 3252 Dawson Street in the
Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...
neighborhood of the city. The family was
Byzantine Catholic Greek Catholic Church or Byzantine-Catholic Church may refer to: * The Catholic Church in Greece * The Eastern Catholic Churches that use the Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite: ** The Albanian Greek Catholic Church ** The Belarusian Gree ...
and attended St. John Chrysostom Byzantine Catholic Church. In 1942, her husband died after drinking contaminated water from a coal mine in West Virginia. To provide for her kids, she worked cleaning homes and had $11,000 in the bank. She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1942.


Life and career in New York

Warhola was particularly close to her youngest son Andy Warhol. In 1952, she moved to New York City to be near him. She did not speak English well, and although Andy did not speak Slovak, he understood her native language. Warhola enjoyed singing traditional Rusyn songs. She recorded herself singing folk songs, hymns, and prayers for her sons in the 1950s. She also did embroidery and other crafts, such as bouquets made from tin cans and crepe paper. During the Easter season, she decorated eggs in the
Pysanka The tradition of egg decoration in Slavic cultures originated in pagan times,Kazimierz Moszyński – Kultura ludowa Słowian, Kraków 1929Anna Zadrożyńska – Powtarzać czas początku, Warsaw 1985, and was transformed by the process of ...
tradition. Like her son, she loved to draw, and her favorite subjects were angels and cats. He often used her decorative handwriting to accompany his illustrations such as the book '' 25 Cats Name Sam and One Blue Pussy'' (1957). She also wrote and illustrated her own book called ''Holy Cats''. Warhola was awarded a Certificate of Merit from the
American Institute of Graphic Arts The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) is a professional organization for design. Its members practice all forms of communication design, including graphic design, typography, interaction design, user experience, branding and identity. The ...
for designing the album cover for The Story of Moondog, featuring the musician
Louis Thomas Hardin Louis Thomas Hardin (May 26, 1916 – September 8, 1999), known professionally as Moondog, was an American composer, musician, performer, music theoretician, poet and inventor of musical instruments. Largely self-taught as a composer, his ...
in 1957. In 1966, Andy made a movie called ''Mrs. Warhol'', which was filmed in color. The 66-minute film featured Warhola in her
basement apartment A basement apartment or basement flat is an apartment located below street level, underneath another structure—usually an apartment building, but possibly a house or a business. Cities in North America are beginning to recognize these units as a ...
in her son's Lexington Avenue townhouse house playing "an aging peroxide movie star with a lot of husbands," including the most recent spouse, played by Warhol's lover Richard Rheem. Warhola was featured in an article about artist mothers in the November 1966 issue of ''
Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...
'' magazine. She attended
Divine Liturgy Divine Liturgy () or Holy Liturgy is the usual name used in most Eastern Christian rites for the Eucharistic service. The Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Lutheranism, Eastern Lutheran Churches and the Eastern Orthodox Church believe the Divi ...
at St Mary Byzantine Catholic Church on East 15th Street in Manhattan.


Illness and death

After Andy survived an assassination attempt in June 1968, his boyfriend Jed Johnson moved into his home to help him recover and look after Warhola. Warhola was in poor physical condition, she had heart problems, arthritis, and weak legs. Johnson brought order to the household and accompanied Warhola to her weekly doctor's appointments. "She got really senile and she would just go out and leave the door open, forget where she went. We were just afraid that she would get lost. Once, the police came," Johnson said. "She was really difficult. She needed medication which she didn't remember to take, and then she made a lot of demands but she didn't know what she was doing. I mean, she was like a bag lady. She had things stuffed in shopping bags and her whole bed was surrounded by shopping bags and she had things safety-pinned to her clothing," he added. Warhola believed the New York Fertility Center next door buried aborted fetuses there, and she complained that she could smell the stench of their decay, so she had Johnson move her bed away from the exposed brick wall in her basement apartment. By 1970, Warhola's health was rapidly declining and Johnson felt she needed full-time care in a nursing home, but Andy was against that idea. In February 1971, already stricken with
dementia Dementia is a syndrome associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that affects a person's ability to perform activities of daily living, everyday activities. This typically invo ...
, Warhola suffered a
stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...
. Due to his busy work schedule, Andy decided she would benefit from moving back to Pittsburgh and living with his brother Paul in 1971. Warhola had another stroke at Paul's house, and after being discharged from the hospital, she was placed in a nursing home against Andy's wishes, although he covered the bill. On November 22, 1972, Warhola died at age 81 following a third stroke. Her funeral was held at the John N. Elachko Funeral Home in Pittsburgh. Andy did not attend her funeral, but he paid for the expenses. He kept her death a secret and would tell anyone asking about her that she was shopping at
Bloomingdale's Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain founded in 1861 by Joseph Bloomingdale and Lyman Bloomingdale. It was acquired by Federated Department Stores in 1930, which purchased the Macy's department store chain in 1994, ...
. His longtime partner Jed Johnson found out about her death from one of Andy's brothers. In the years that followed, Andy felt remorseful about his inability to care for his mother. In a December 1985 diary entry, he said, "And at Christmas time I really think about my mother and if I did the right thing sending her back to Pittsburgh. I still feel so guilty." Warhola is buried with her husband Andrew in the St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Cemetery in
Bethel Park, Pennsylvania Bethel Park (officially the Municipality of Bethel Park) is a borough with home rule status in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a suburb within the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, located approximately south of Pittsburgh. Th ...
, near their son Andy, who would be interred there in 1987.


Legacy

Andy Warhol created posthumous portraits of his mother Julia in 1974. The portraits appeared on the cover of the Jan/Feb 1975 issue of '' Art in America''. They were also displayed as part of his retrospective at the
Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...
in 1979. Elaine Rusinko, a professor emerita of
Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...
and
literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
at the
University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...
, wrote the biography ''Andy Warhol’s Mother: The Woman Behind the Artist'', which was published by the
University of Pittsburgh Press The University of Pittsburgh Press is a scholarly publishing house and a major American university press, part of the University of Pittsburgh. The university and the press are located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The press ...
in 2024.


Notes


References


Sources

*


External links


The Warhola Family website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warhola, Julia 1890s births 1972 deaths People from Stropkov District American Eastern Catholics American people of Rusyn descent Artists from Pittsburgh Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States Place of death missing Ruthenian Greek Catholics Warhola family Women calligraphers 20th-century calligraphers Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States