In early 1963, Warhol rented a studio in New York, where he created Eight Elvises and Triple Elvis along with a series of Elizabeth Taylor portraits which were shown at his second exhibition in Los Angeles. He relocated from his first studio the following year, which came to be known as ‘The Factory’. It was soon a regular meeting place for musicians, artists, writers, models and celebrities and became notorious for its parties, drug use and sexually lenient atmosphere. Regular visitors included David Bowie, Jerry Hall, Debbie Harry, Mick Jagger, Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, Truman Capote and Grace Jones. That year too, he had another exhibition which featured sculptures of commercial boxes (Brillo, Kellogg’s Cornflakes etc) stacked and scattered to resemble a warehouse.

In 1965 he produced the first album for Velvet Underground and they served as the house band at The Factory. When Lou Reed went out on his own as a singer, his best-known song Walk On The Wild Side, related to the superstars and life of The Factory. In June 1968, Warhol was almost killed by radical feminist Valerie Solanas, who shot him inside his studio. He recovered but his injuries had a lasting effect on his health. He was still creating prints but he also continued with his film work. Almost all of it featured nudity, graphic sex, drug use and trans-gender characters. His most notorious film was Blue Movie released in 1969.

In the 1970s and 1980s he devoted much of his time socialising with potential new and rich patrons for portrait commissions including celebrities and foreign royalty. These works were panned by the critics who called them superficial, facile and commercial, with no depth or indication of the significance of the subjects.

Warhol died unexpectedly after gall bladder surgery in New York in 1987 aged 58. His prints are now hugely in demand and in 2022, Shot Sage Blue Marilyn which he created in 1964, sold for $195 million.