Pop Artist Andy Warhol arrives at Max's Kansas City in 1968, initiating legendary collaborations with Lou Reed, the Velvet Underground and Jean Michel Basquiat.

ANDY WARHOL MOVES THE FACTORY INTO THE NEIGHBORHOOD

In 1968, Andy Warhol moved his studio/superstar social club, The Factory, from East 47th Street to 33 Union Square West, across the street from Max's Kansas City. The new location had large shoes to fill: the former Factory was known for its orgies, rampant drug use, and spectacular art collection.

Warhol decided to make the Back Room at Max's his home away from home. A place of respite for himself and his superstars. Warhol made famous the completely neglected Back Room which was known for its Blood Red ambiance:

Warhol's cohort Glenn O'Brien said, "In one corner was a big Dan Flavin fluorescent sculpture, which bathed the room in a reddish light, earning it the nickname ‘Bucket of Blood'. In the opposite corner was the round table, a black vinyl banquette. Like the Round Table at Camelot, this table ruled the roost. This is where Andy sat."

Warhol and his entourage called the "Bucket of Blood" home. It become a safe-haven for the artists, musicians, addicts, models and important people.

"It was exciting but anonymous. Jim Morrison could gently nod into oblivion behind his shades, sitting with Nico without anybody asking for autographs. Even Janis Joplin was treated like a lady." said Glenn O'Brien.

THE POP ART SCENE DINES WITH ANDY WARHOL IN THE BACK ROOM AT MAX'S KANSAS CITY

Warhol's complete disregard for the establishment helped him rise to the top in the New York art scene. The Factory was Warhol's artistic home where he created his mass-produced experiments with American iconography and codified pop-art.

Max's Back Room was his very own social club where he and his cohorts created a notorious social scene that came to define the 70's.

Here's what Paul Klib had to say about Warhol's social revolution: "There was the ordinary heterosexual crowd and then you had the Warhol crowd, which was kind of a pioneer, and later in the seventies became so prevalent. It became the rock style."

ANDY WARHOL GUIDES THE VELVET UNDERGROUND TO THE STAGE

Soon after christening his new Factory and taking over the Back Room at Max's, Warhol began to reach for new creative outlets, namely a new band famous for their ear-splitting feedback, light-shows and dancers.

Andy's assistant, Leee Black Childers said, "Andy had begun to expand his activities from paintings and lithographs to include very peculiar movies and an even stranger rock band, the Velvet Underground. Besides vocals by Lou Reed and Nico, the band features a whip dance by Gerard Malanga and a fantastic light show."

The Velvet Underground's was almost entirely a Max's phenomenon. It was there that the Velvet's got their start playing as the house band, it was here that they would meet Brian Epstein through plumes of marijuana smoke in his limosouine, and it was here at Max's that they would play their final live performance with Reed, immortalized on their Live at Max's Kansas City record.

THE BACK ROOM IS THE PLACE WHERE LOU REED SAID "HEY BABE, TAKE A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE."

Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side" pays homage to the Warhol's drag queens who came from rural America in search of fame. Reed's song about drugs, transsexuality, prostitution, and oral sex paints a vivid picture of the "girls" who made Max's their home.

Leee Black Childers had a front row ticket, "Years before the Stonewall Rebellion, the attitude at Max's was permissive toward gender and sexual role experimentation. In the sixties, there weren't a lot of places that let drag queens in, but Max's did. You'd be in the ladies' room primping, and Jackie Curtis and Holly Woodlawn would be in there with you putting on their makeup, chatting and carrying on like women do about their menstrual cramps and what-not. You'd forget. It was just like talking to one of the girls."

ANDY WARHOL AND JEAN MICHEL BASQUIAT

Like other stars discovered at Max's, Jean Michel Basquiat defined a new genre of art and expression.

Warhol admired Basquiat for his ability to paint the grime and grit of New York city street culture. Basquiat admired Warhol for his ability to make him famous.

The two formed an unrivaled relationship that dominated the art world. It was historic. Never before had Warhol teamed up with another this intimately.

People wondered aloud whether Warhol was using Basquiat. Weather Basquiat was using Warhol. None of that mattered. What mattered was the fact that people were talking. On the cover of magazines, on television, in the paper.

Basquiat became a member of Warhol’s entourage in the early 80’s and quickly joined the ranks of the round table. If Warhol was king, Basquiat was prince, and the two reigned until Warhol’s death in ’87.

THE ANDY WARHOL FOUNDATION CONTINUES TO FOSTER INNOVATION IN THE POP ART SCENE

The Andy Warhol Foundation was established in 1987 shortly after Warhol’s death. Warhol knew a star when he saw one, so the Foundation works to support new and emerging artists while creating a global awareness for the power of art.

Thanks to Warhol’s Foundation artists from all over the world have the same chances as Andy’s proteges from the Back Room at Max’s Kansas City.