Andy Warhol

Estate of the Artist
The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., New York
Jablonka Galerie, Cologne
Private Collection, Germany
Acquavella Gallery, New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above

This work is in excellent condition overall. There is minimal, stable cracking along the pull margins. There is a light, unobtrusive scuff mark in the top corner on the upper right edge. The vertical bands, where there is thinner application to the diamond dust, visible in the catalogue illustration, appear original to the screening process. Framed in natural wood frame.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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"Andy created the Diamond Dust Shoe paintings just as the disco, lamé, and stilettos of Studio 54 had captured the imagination of the Manhattan glitterati.  Andy, who had been in the vanguard of the New York club scene since the early 60s, once again reflected the times he was living in through his paintings."   Vincent Fremont

Andy Warhol's interest in shoes spanned his entire career. Dating back longer than his fascination with the concept of celebrity, he first made his name in the 1950s as a major illustrator in New York drawing shoes for major shoe designers and magazines of the time, such as I. Miller and Glamour. Always elegantly depicted, Andy's shoes were right on the cutting edge of fashion and at the height of glamour, reflecting the most in vogue styles of the age.

                                                                                                                                                 
When Warhol decided to re-visit this emblematic theme in his oeuvre in 1980, he had just begun to develop a new silkscreen printing technique involving the use of diamond dust. First presented to him by Rupert Smith around 1979, this medium seemed purpose made for Warhol.  Sparkling and glittering, the inherent qualities of diamond dust make a direct reference to movie star glamour, high fashion fame and money.  Perhaps because Warhol loved the glamour of gems and had his own collection of jewellery, the artist was immediately enchanted by this new material and wanted to incorporate it into his paintings and prints.  However, the real diamond dust proved too powdery and did not sparkle enough for Warhol's taste, so Smith ordered pulverized glass from an industrial supply company in New Jersey. With this new form of diamond dust he was able to cultivate a technique whereby the dust would adhere to the surface of the canvas in much the same manner as a silkscreened color, although with a slightly more raised relief surface.

This effect allowed Warhol, initially, to work with the obvious sharp contrast of light and darkness in the diamond dust in a powerful series of black-on-black and white-on-white Shadow paintings. Deeply meditative in feel, these were extraordinarily abstract paintings which accentuated the surface and colour of the material. However, when he developed his next series, the Diamond Dust Shoes, Warhol here combined abstraction with the figurative and this is the genius of these works.  The forms merged with the vivid purple and sumptuous texture of the diamond dust – the matte textured dust creates an opulent satin finish – Warhol uses shoes to transport us to abstraction and fantasy.  Conceptually, the merger of women's shoes and diamond dust was absolutely perfect and it would lead to some of his most dynamically composed late paintings.

Warhol gathered shoes of all shapes and sizes from everywhere, some even from his own collection, and assembled them in his studio at 860 Broadway. Placed on white paper, he took a series of Polaroids of various groupings and as with most of his works, chose his favorite images from which to make a series of paintings on the theme. The present work is one of the largest sizes he made and exhibits a harmonious horizontal composition with all the tips of the shoes pointing towards the right in a slightly disarrayed but organized fashion.  The deep hues of lavish purple and rich black collide on the surface, enhanced by the glistening diamond dust which catches the light and shimmers extravagantly.  As with all of his great icons, Warhol has somehow managed to select a very banal and everyday image and elevate its status. Picked randomly from all sorts of locations, these shoes suddenly come alive with an ethereal quality which somehow makes them much more precious than the sum of their parts.