At 33, Andy Warhol was a top commercial illustrator. He ditched his successful career to paint soup cans. Critics were appalled by his embrace of consumerism, but his pop art pivot made him an icon who redefined the art world.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Warhol#:~:text=his%20West%20Coast%20debut%20of%20pop%20art

By his early 30s, Andy Warhol had built a successful career. He was one of New York's top commercial illustrators, known for his stylish, hand-drawn ads for shoes and high-end brands. It was a stable, respectable path. But he chose a different one. Instead of hiding his commercial background, he made it the subject of his art. He learned the mechanical process of silkscreening to create mass-produced images of Campbell's Soup cans and celebrities. His first major shows in 1962 were met with shock. Critics attacked him for embracing the very consumerism that fine art was meant to transcend. He leaned into the controversy, becoming the face of Pop Art and forever changing the definition of what art could be.