"An artist is someone who produces things that people don't need to have but that he - for some reason - thinks it would be a good idea to give them"

The 1970s
Compared to the success and scandal of Warhol's work in the 1960s, the 1970s would prove a much quieter decade. This period, however, saw Warhol becoming more entrepreneurial. According to Bob Colacello, Warhol devoted much of his time to rounding up new, rich patrons for portrait commissions — including Mick Jagger, Liza Minnelli, John Lennon, Diana Ross, Brigitte Bardot, and Michael Jackson. He also founded, with Gerard Malanga, "Interview" magazine and published "The Philosophy of Andy Warhol" (1975). In this book he presents his ideas on the nature of art: "Making money is art, and working is art and good business is the best art."

Warhol used to socialize at Serendipity 3 and, later in the 70s, Studio 54, nightspots in New York City. He was generally regarded as quiet, shy, and as a meticulous observer. Art critic Robert Hughes called him "the white mole of Union Square".

The 1980s
Warhol had a re-emergence of critical and financial success in the 1980s, partially due to his affiliation and friendships with a number of prolific younger artists, who were dominating the "bull market" of '80s New York art: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Julian Schnabel, David Salle and the so-called Neo-Expressionists, as well as Francesco Clemente, Enzo Cucchi and members of the Transavantguardia movement, which had become influential. In 1985, Andy Warhol was selected as one of the Absolut Vodka artists, and several of his paintings incorporating the Absolut Vodka bottle in it were used in advertisements, bringing his art to the attention of a broader audience.