ANDY WARHOL | 25 Cats Name[d] Sam and One Blue Pussy (Feldman & Schellmann IV.52B-68B)

The complete book, comprising 18 offset lithographs, each with hand-colouring, circa 1954, signed in blue ball-point pen and numbered 68 on the colophon (from the edition of 190), on laid paper, bound (as issued) in original white buckram boards, printed by Seymour Berlin, New York

The book is in good condition, the interior plates with bright colours, slight paper discoloration, a few fox marks, occasional unobtrusive creases, the colophon with some broken creases and nicks at lower sheet edge, the cover plate discoloured and faded, with small losses, scuffs and staining mostly at edges. The boards with losses along spine, staining and signs of wear.
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Pittsburgh native Andy Warhol lived hand to mouth following his move to 1950s New York, barely able to make ends meet as a young graphic artist.  Picking up odd jobs with advertising agencies and publishers of children’s books, he could hardly afford his squalid apartment.  Alarmed by her son’s living conditions, Warhol’s mother Julia Warhola bought a one-way bus ticket to the city, where she remained his roommate and constant companion for twenty years.  An artist in her own right, she championed his creative career and was determined to support him by any means necessary. Sharing a love for cats, Warhol and his mother made their humble house a home by populating it with feline friends.  They first adopted Julia’s beloved Hester, who was joined by Sam…then another Sam…and another…until they had a clowder of 25 cats, almost all named Sam.  Julia associated each Sam with a colour, affectionately referring to them as “Blue Sam” or “Red Sam”.  Inspired by their beloved pets, the mother-son duo collaborated to self-publish Warhol’s most celebrated and delightful artist’s book, 25 Cats Name[d] Sam and One Blue Pussy.

Erroneously titled 25 Cats Name Sam and One Blue Pussy by Julia, the whimsical book features her delicate calligraphy alongside Warhol’s quirky illustrations. Though there is no text, Warhol cited his dear friend Charles Lisanby, the famed set designer, as the author.  The entire book was a group effort, as the artist invited his friends to help hand-colour the lithographs at “colouring parties” – a precursor to the cooperative method employed at his Factory.  Contrary to the title, only eighteen cats are actually pictured, each frolicking or languishing like their namesakes in Warhol’s Lexington Avenue home. 

Printed in 1954, the present book served as a “promotional”. Warhol gifted 25 Cats to friends and family, and sent copies to cultural influencers, such as Diana Vreeland, who found her edition “charming”.  A fine example of his early work, it demonstrates both his skill as a draughtsman and his eccentric sense of humour, which can only be described as Warholian.