Who Shot Andy Warhol?
Andy Warhol was shot on 3 June 1968 by Valerie Solanas, a writer who had drifted around his studio, the Factory. He nearly died, and never fully recovered.
The attack changed Warhol, his art and the open door policy of the Factory forever.
Who Valerie Solanas was
Solanas was a radical writer, author of a self published tract called the SCUM Manifesto, who had hovered on the edge of Warhol circle.
She had given Warhol a play script and become convinced he meant to steal or suppress her work. On that June day she came to the Factory and shot him.
How close he came to dying
The bullet tore through several organs, and Warhol was pronounced clinically dead at one point before surgeons revived him.
He spent weeks in hospital and wore a surgical corset for the rest of his life to support his damaged body. The wounds left him in lasting pain.
The aftermath
Solanas also wounded an art critic who was visiting the Factory that day, then turned herself in to a traffic officer hours later, saying Warhol had had too much control over her life. She was arrested, judged unfit and sent to psychiatric care, later serving a short prison term.
Warhol, who had always been fascinated by death and disaster, now carried its mark on his own body. He spoke of feeling that he was watching life on television rather than living it, and the scars from the surgery became a subject he allowed others to photograph.
Questions about the Warhol shooting
Who shot him?
Valerie Solanas, in 1968.
Why?
She believed he was controlling and would steal her writing.
Did he survive?
Yes, but barely, and with lifelong injuries.
What happened to Solanas?
She was arrested and spent time in prison and psychiatric care.
The wound that closed the Factory
After the shooting Warhol locked down the once open Factory, grew warier of the hangers on he had collected, and turned increasingly to business and portraits. The full arc is in the Andy Warhol guide.