The Factory

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The Factory
The Factory
Interactive map of The Factory
Address22 East 33rd Street
New York, NY
United States
Operator Andy Warhol
TypeArt studio
Construction
Opened1964
Closed1987

The Factory was Pop artist Andy Warhol's New York City studio and the center of his artistic, social, and filmmaking activities from 1964 to 1987. Originally located at 231 East 47th Street before moving to two later sites, the Factory became known for its distinctive blend of art production, experimental film, fashion, music, and countercultural nightlife. It served as a gathering place for a wide circle of artists, musicians, writers, socialites, and underground personalities—collectively known as Warhol superstars—who contributed to the studio’s reputation as one of the most influential creative hubs of its era. The Factory played a key role in the development of Warhol's Pop art, his film projects, and his exploration of celebrity culture, helping shape the landscape of American avant-garde art in the 1960s and 1970s.

Contents

History

1960–64: Early studios

In 1960, Pop artist Andy Warhol purchased a townhouse at 1342 Lexington Avenue in the Carnegie Hill neighborhood of Manhattan, which he also used as his art studio. [1] Due to the mess his work was causing at home, Warhol wanted to find a studio where he could paint. [2] A friend of his found an old unoccupied firehouse on 159 East 87th Street where Warhol began working in January 1963. [3] No one was eager to go there, so the rent was $150 a month. [3] Later that year, Warhol was informed that the building would have to be vacated soon. [4]

1964–68: 231 East 47th Street

In November 1963, Warhol found another loft on the fifth floor at 231 East 47th Street in Midtown Manhattan, which would become the first Factory. [4] By January 1964, Warhol had moved his studio into the new premises. Around this time, artist Ray Johnson took Warhol to a "haircutting party" at Billy Name's apartment, decorated with tin foil and silver paint, and Warhol would later ask him to do the same scheme for his recently leased loft. Name covered the whole factory in silver, even the elevator thus giving the space became known as the Silver Factory. Name brought in the red couch, which became a prominent furnishing at the Factory, finding it on the sidewalk of 47th street during one of his "midnight outings." The sofa quickly became a favorite place for Factory guests to crash overnight, usually after coming down from speed. It was featured in many photographs and films from the Silver era, including Blow Job (1964) and Couch (1964). During the move in 1968, the couch was stolen while left unattended on the sidewalk for a short time. [5]

Warhol achieved a reputation for his large output of work with assistants. He used silkscreens so that he could mass-produce images the way corporations mass-produced consumer goods. He attracted a ménage of poets, drag queens, socialites, musicians, and free-thinkers who became known as the Warhol Superstars. They starred in his films and created the atmosphere for which the Factory became legendary. Musician John Cale later recalled, "It wasn't called the Factory for nothing. It was where the assembly line for the silkscreens happened. While one person was making a silkscreen, somebody else would be filming a screen test. Every day something new." [6]

Warhol created a sexually lenient environment at the Factory for the "happenings" staged there, which included fake weddings between drag queens, porn film rentals, and vulgar plays. What was called free love took place in the studio, as sexuality in the 1960s was becoming more open and embraced as a high ideal. [7] Many Warhol films, including those made at the Factory, were shown at the New Andy Warhol Garrick Theatre or 55th Street Playhouse. [8] [9] [10] [11]

In 1967, Warhol created the business Factory Additions to handle the business of publishing and printmaking. [12] That year, he began looking for a new Factory location because the building was scheduled to be demolished. The location where 231 East 47th Street once was is now the entrance to the parking garage of One Dag. [13]

1968–74: 33 Union Square West

In February 1968, Warhol relocated the Factory to the Decker Building at 33 Union Square West. [14] During this period, Warhol's office manager Paul Morrissey and business manager Fred Hughes strongly shaped Factory life, though they envisioned it differently. Morrissey wanted a streamlined office focused on film production, "a place that kids wouldn't feel like hanging around." [15] Hughes argued for a mix of art and business, reminding Warhol, "Listen, you’re an artist! What do you want to do? Rent a room with a desk and a sign that says 'Podunk Porno Movies?'" [15] Warhol ultimately sided with Hughes, choosing to search for a large loft with room for art, films, and future endeavors. However, it was actually Morrissey who located the loft at the eleven-story Decker Building near the corner of East 16th Street. [15] He took the entire sixth floor, including a small balcony overlooking Union Square. The location appealed to Warhol in part because of its proximity to Max's Kansas City, which he frequented. [15] During an early visit, Warhol's group shared an elevator with artist Saul Steinberg, who occupied the top floor. Warhol later recalled in his book Popism (1980):

When I look back, I can see that the biggest fights at the Factory were always over decorating. In other areas everybody stuck to their own field of interest, everybody was easygoing, but when it came to how the place should look, everybody had ideas that they turned out to be willing to really fight for.

Fred was doing so much decorating that he nicknamed himself "Frederick of Union Square."

I left the big open spaces to everybody else to section off however they wanted, and I moved into a small narrow office over on the side where I could clutter up and not get in anybody's way. [16]

The Decker Building, the second location of the Factory at 33 Union Square West. Decker Building, 33 Union Square West, NYC (2008).jpg
The Decker Building, the second location of the Factory at 33 Union Square West.

In early 1968, Name took a series of photographs known as The Bathroom Pictures, depicting a "cross section of friends and strangers, hustlers, camp followers, and 'superstars,'" and Warhol himself emerging from the Factory toilet. [17] They represent the end of an era before Warhol was shot by feminist Valerie Solanas at the Factory in June 1968. [18] The Factory had an open-door policy where anyone could enter, but after the shooting, Warhol's partner Jed Johnson built a wall around the elevator and put in a Dutch door so that visitors would have to be buzzed in. [19]

In 1969, Warhol co-founded Interview magazine and the Factory transformed "from an all-night party to an all-day office, from hell-on-earth to down-to-earth." [20] Aside from the prints and paintings, Warhol produced films and commissioned work. [21] The studio was characterized by John Chamberlain's galvanized steel sculpture, Papagayo (1967), that stood near the front door. [22]

Despite the new security precautions put in place after the shooting, two gunmen broke into the Factory in 1971 and demanded to see Warhol. [11] [23] Warhol was led by Warhol superstar Joe Dallesandro and Jed Johnson to the editing room in a terrified state. [11] The intruders refused to leave when Paul Morrissey and Warhol's business manager Fred Hughes gave them money and plane tickets. [11] [23] They then took Dallesandro's son from his wife's arms and threatened to shoot him unless Warhol emerged. [11] After Dallesandro informed the two that Warhol had called the police, they surrendered his son and fled the scene. [11]

1974–84: 860 Broadway

In August 1974, Warhol moved the Factory to 860 Broadway, overlooking Union Square Park at East 17th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. [24] He rented the entire third floor of the building and installed a security system with closed-circuit TVs. [20] Warhol's partner Jed Johnson and architect Peter Marino worked together to renovate the new space. [25] By the time Warhol and his group moved in, the boardroom was already lush with carved wood paneling. [24] Warhol's new Factory was noted for its comparatively subdued atmosphere, shaped in part by the presence of large Art Deco furnishings that were props from his films, and a moose head—given to Warhol from art historian John Richardson. [26] [24] [27] The elegant furniture, which featured complete sets of chairs designed by Edgar Brandt and Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann were "used furniture," according to Warhol. [26] "It was stuff we used for a movie [ L'Amour ] we were making in Paris a couple of years ago. Now we use it as a conference table, and for the lunches we bring in every day from Brownies on 16th Street. We eat here out of paper boxes with people like Bertolucci and Sylvia Miles and big producers like Grimaldi." [26]

The third incarnation of the Factory was located at 860 Broadway. 860 Broadway.jpg
The third incarnation of the Factory was located at 860 Broadway.

Beige plasterboard barriers with white spackle divided the Factory into spaces for Warhol's many activities, including painting, publishing, and filmmaking. [24] The space had an unfinished appearance, which he liked. "The random spackling makes nice, quiet background for paintings," explained the artist. [24] In the foyer, there was the "guard dog"—a stuffed Great Dane named Cecil—rumored to have belonged to film director Cecil B. DeMille, but had actually been a champion dog, whose real name was Ador Tipp Topp. [28] For Warhol, Cecil was a fruitless attempt to deter burglars who, he claimed, broke in almost every Friday. [29]

The Factory did not have many paintings on display. There is a massive landscape painting by 19th-century French realist Gustave Courbet; the other paintings, including Warhol's, were stacked on furniture and lean against the wall. [24] A steady stream of famous people visited the Factory. Numerous guests arrived to be interviewed for Interview magazine. [24] Visitors are greeted with a massive wooden bust of Leonardo da Vinci after being buzzed through glass doors. [24]

By 1980, Warhol had outgrown his studio at 860 Broadway and began searching for a new Factory location to accommodate his expanding business ventures in television and print. [30] His Interview magazine had reached a circulation of 90,000 in 1981, and he filmed his television series Andy Warhol's TV at 860 Broadway from 1980 to 1983. [31] [32]

1984–87: 158 Madison Ave (22 East 33rd Street)

In August 1981, Warhol toured 22 East 33rd Street, a former Con Edison substation. [33] He remarked in his diary: "It's a beautiful building, but buying it would be like buying a beautiful piece of art, this beautiful space. And it has a main big T-shaped room that could be a great Interview office, but you can't rent anything out. It goes up five floors and there's no heat, it's just like one shell, but it's so perfectly beautiful." [33] In November 1981, Warhol purchased the building, acquiring approximately 40,000 square feet across three connected sections. [34] The five-story Madison Avenue portion sold for $900,000, while the one- and three-story sections on East 32nd and 33rd Streets sold for $500,000 each; all featured large windowed facades. [34] After renovations, Warhol relocated his studio there at the end of 1984. [35] [36] From 1985 to 1987, the building housed the production of Andy Warhol's Fifteen Minutes for MTV. [37] The television studio had an entrance at 158 Madison Avenue and Interview magazine office had an entrance at 19 East 32nd Street. [38] Following Warhol's death in 1987, the property served as the headquarters of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts until 1994. [36]

In 2007, Thor Equities purchased the property for $28.4 million, and it was demolished to make way for the Sundari Lofts and Towers. [39]

The Factory milieu

This trunk was used in Warhol's Silver Factory as a storage unit and film prop. Edie Sedgwick sits on this trunk in Vinyl. After Warhol died in 1987, photographic negatives by Billy Name were found inside the trunk, as well as the script of Up Your Ass by Valerie Solanas, which was thought to have been lost. This was one of the factors that led Solanas to shoot Warhol in 1968. Warhol silver trunk 03.jpg
This trunk was used in Warhol's Silver Factory as a storage unit and film prop. Edie Sedgwick sits on this trunk in Vinyl . After Warhol died in 1987, photographic negatives by Billy Name were found inside the trunk, as well as the script of Up Your Ass by Valerie Solanas, which was thought to have been lost. This was one of the factors that led Solanas to shoot Warhol in 1968.

Music

The Factory became a meeting place of artists and musicians such as Lou Reed, [40] Bob Dylan, and Mick Jagger, as well as writer Truman Capote. Less frequent visitors included Salvador Dalí and Allen Ginsberg. [40] Warhol collaborated with Reed's influential New York rock band the Velvet Underground in 1965, and designed the noted cover for The Velvet Underground & Nico, the band's debut album. It featured a plastic image of a yellow banana, which users could peel off to reveal a flesh-hued version of the banana. [41] Warhol also designed the album cover for the Rolling Stones' album Sticky Fingers . [42]

Warhol included the Velvet Underground in the Exploding Plastic Inevitable, a spectacle that combined art, rock, Warhol films and dancers of all kinds, as well as live S&M enactments and imagery. The Velvet Underground and EPI used the Factory as a place to rehearse and hang out. [21] : 253–254  The song "Walk on the Wild Side", Lou Reed's best-known song from his solo career, was released on his second, and first commercially successful, solo album, Transformer (1972). The song relates to the superstars and life of the Factory. He mentions Holly Woodlawn, Candy Darling, Joe Dallesandro, Jackie Curtis and Joe Campbell (referred to in the song by his Factory nickname Sugar Plum Fairy). [43]

Films

Warhol started shooting movies in the Factory with experimental films such as Kiss (1964) and Blow Job (1964). He screened his films at the Factory for his friends before they were released for public audiences. [44] When traditional theaters refused to screen his more provocative films, Warhol sometimes turned to night-clubs or porn theaters, including the New Andy Warhol Garrick Theatre and the 55th Street Playhouse, for their distribution. [45] [46] While Warhol was recuperating from the June 1968 assassination attempt, Paul Morrissey stepped in to handle the filming and oversee the Factory’s operations. [47]

Warhol superstars

Warhol superstars were a shifting group of actors, models, and downtown personalities who appeared in Warhol's underground films and became central figures at the Factory during the 1960s and 1970s. Celebrated more for their charisma than traditional fame, they embodied Warhol's idea that anyone could become a "superstar."

Notable figures included Baby Jane Holzer, Edie Sedgwick, Ultra Violet, Viva, Joe Dallesandro, Candy Darling, Holly Woodlawn, Jackie Curtis, and Jane Forth. [48] [49] [50] [51] Their presence helped define the Factory’s mix of art, performance, and countercultural glamour, and they remain closely associated with Warhol's legacy and his fascination with celebrity and reinvention.

Locations

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ Bourdon, David (1989). Warhol. New York: Abrams. p. 67. ISBN   978-0-8109-1761-3.
  2. ↑ Warhol & Hackett, p. 25.
  3. 1 2 Elbaor, Caroline (November 21, 2016). "Andy Warhol's First New York Studio Sells for $9.98 Million". Artnet News. Archived from the original on May 20, 2022. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  4. 1 2 Warhol & Hackett, p. 61.
  5. ↑ Warhol & Hackett, p. 264.
  6. ↑ "My 15 minutes". The Guardian . February 12, 2002. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
  7. ↑ Greffe, Xavier (June 29, 2016). The Artist–Enterprise in the Digital Age. Springer. p. 86. ISBN   978-4-431-55969-6.
  8. ↑ "Garrick Cinema – 152 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012". Cinema Treasures. Archived from the original on March 24, 2018. Retrieved March 27, 2018. Previous Names: New Andy Warhol Garrick Theatre, Andy Warhol's Garrick Cinema, Nickelodeon
  9. ↑ Garcia, Alfredo (October 11, 2017). "1968". Andy Warhol Films: Newspaper Adverts 1964–1974. Archived from the original on March 24, 2018. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  10. ↑ Staff (2010). Fodor's See It New York City (4th ed.). Fodor's Travel Publications. ISBN   978-1-4000-0498-0 . Retrieved March 27, 2018– via Google Books.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ferguson, Michael (2015). Joe Dallesandro: Warhol Superstar, Underground Film Icon, Actor. Open Road Media. ISBN   978-1-5040-0654-5 . Retrieved March 27, 2018– via Google Books.
  12. ↑ "2019: 50 Works for 50 Years". South Dakota State University. Archived from the original on May 12, 2023. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Andy Warhol in New York". Bob Cromwell: Travel, Linux, Cybersecurity. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  14. ↑ Scherman, Tony (2009). Pop: The Genius of Andy Warhol. Internet Archive. New York, NY : HarperCollins. p. 411. ISBN   978-0-06-621243-2.
  15. 1 2 3 4 Warhol & Hackett 1980, p. 263.
  16. ↑ Warhol & Hackett 1980, p. 264.
  17. ↑ Scherman, Tony (2009). Pop: The Genius of Andy Warhol. New York, NY: HarperCollins. ISBN   978-0-06-621243-2.
  18. ↑ Solomon, Tessa (June 18, 2020). "Who Was Valerie Solanas, the Feminist Revolutionary Who Shot Andy Warhol?". ARTnews.com. Archived from the original on May 2, 2022. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  19. ↑ O'Brien, Glenn (June–July 2008). "Pat Hackett". Interview. 38 (5): 106.
  20. 1 2 Colacello, Bob (1990). Holy Terror: Andy Warhol Close Up. New York, NY: HarperCollins. pp. 74, 233. ISBN   978-0-06-016419-5.
  21. 1 2 Watson, Steven (2003). Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties. Pantheon Books. ISBN   0-679-42372-9.
  22. ↑ Gopnik, Blake (2020). Warhol. Internet Archive. New York, NY: ECCO, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers. p. 628. ISBN   978-0-06-229839-3.
  23. 1 2 "Upset In The Underground: Gunmen Go For Andy". Daily Mirror. July 30, 1971. p. 4. Retrieved September 17, 2025.
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Gilbert, Rose (September 27, 1976). "'Wasted space is any space that has art in it'". Daily News. p. 34. Retrieved April 28, 2025.
  25. ↑ Goldstein, Andrew M. (August 12, 2016). ""Art Architect" Peter Marino on How He Became the Dark Prince of Luxury". Artspace. Retrieved April 28, 2025.
  26. 1 2 3 Bourdon, David (November 11, 1974). "Stacking the Deco". New York Magazine. 7 (45): 64, 66.
  27. ↑ Richardson, John (July 1983). "Andy on the Move: The Factory Factor". House & Garden. 155 (7): 90–97, 148–151.
  28. ↑ Day®, National Purebred Dog (August 6, 2019). "The Great Dane, "Cecil"". National Purebred Dog Day®. Retrieved April 28, 2025.
  29. ↑ Sheppard, Eugenia (May 28, 1974). "Warhol Factory Houses All Of His Projects". The Lexington Herald. p. 9. Retrieved May 20, 2025.
  30. ↑ Warhol & Hackett 1980, p. 337Entry date: October 21, 1980
  31. ↑ Weil, Debbie (June 26, 1981). "Andy Warhol In Fantasyland: Somehow Smaller Than Life". The Atlanta Constitution. pp. 1-B, 3-B. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  32. ↑ "Proof That Andy Warhol Was the Biggest Starfucker – TheArtGorgeous". TheArtGorgeous. January 11, 2019. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  33. 1 2 Warhol & Hackett 1980, p. 401Entry date: August 17, 1981
  34. 1 2 Greer, William R. (November 22, 1981). "WARHOL HAS PLANS FOR SUBSTATION". The New York Times.
  35. ↑ Warhol & Hackett 1989, p. 681.
  36. 1 2 "Warhol's Old Factory: A Restaurant and Offices; 15 Minutes of Pasta?". The New York Times. March 1, 1998.
  37. ↑ Gotthardt, Alexxa (November 21, 2017). "On His MTV Show, Andy Warhol Broke All the Rules". Artsy. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  38. ↑ Dunlap, David W. (August 29, 1993). "Andy Warhol's 'Factory'; The Foundation's Moving". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  39. ↑ Wellborn, Mark (July 11, 2007). "Thor Equities Closes on Warhol's Old Space for $28.4 M." Observer. Retrieved January 6, 2026.
  40. 1 2 Willett, Edward (2010). Andy Warhol: Everyone Will Be Famous for 15 Minutes . Enslow Publishers. p.  68. ISBN   978-0-766-03385-6.
  41. ↑ Chapman, Peter (2009). Bananas: How the United Fruit Company Shaped the World. Canongate U.S. p. 166. ISBN   978-1-847-67194-3.
  42. ↑ Gair, Christopher (2007). The American Counterculture . Edinburgh University Press. p.  185. ISBN   978-0-748-61989-4.
  43. ↑ Roberts, Chris (2004). Lou Reed: Walk on the Wild Side : the Stories Behind the Songs. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 44. ISBN   0-634-08032-6.
  44. ↑ Deed of Trust Doc ID FT-190000023196, February 2, 1983 – via Office of the Registrar, Manhattan, NY
  45. ↑ "Garrick Cinema – 152 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012". Cinema Treasures. Archived from the original on March 24, 2018. Retrieved March 27, 2018. Previous Names: New Andy Warhol Garrick Theatre, Andy Warhol's Garrick Cinema, Nickelodeon
  46. ↑ Ferguson, Michael (2015). Joe Dallesandro: Warhol Superstar, Underground Film Icon, Actor. Open Road Media. ISBN   978-1-5040-0654-5 . Retrieved March 27, 2018– via Google Books.
  47. ↑ Davis, Melton S. (July 15, 1973). "Morrissey From 'Flesh' and 'Trash' to 'Blood for Dracula'". The New York Times.
  48. ↑ Lyden, Jacki (March 15, 2014). "'Baby Jane' Holzer's Flight From High Society To Warhol Superstar". NPR. Retrieved December 6, 2025.
  49. ↑ Bender, Marylin (July 26, 1965). "Edie Pops Up as Newest Superstar". The New York Times.
  50. ↑ Klemesrud, Judy (May 11, 1970). "An Actress‐Model Who 'Has the Face of Now'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 26, 2025. Retrieved December 6, 2025.
  51. ↑ Trebay, Guy (November 1, 2013). "The Real-Life Stories Told in 'Walk on the Wild Side". The New York Times.
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