Andy Warhol - Shoes Deluxe Edition F.S. 248-252 jpg

Shoes (Deluxe Edition) Complete Portfolio

Catalog Title: Shoes (Deluxe Edition) (FS II.248-252)
Year: 1980
Size: 40 1/4" x 59 1/2" | 101.2 x 151.1cm (each)
Medium: Portfolio of 5 Screenprints with diamond dust on Arches Aquarelle (Cold Pressed) paper
Edition: Edition of 10, 1 PP, signed and numbered in pencil on verso.
Hidden

Shoes (Deluxe Edition) by Andy Warhol is a riveting portfolio that revisits and reimagines an enduring motif from his early career as a commercial artist: shoes. The series, conceived at the pinnacle of Warhol’s illustrious journey in 1980, embodies a confluence of the artist’s commercial beginnings and his later, more experimental indulgences in art. Each print within the portfolio unfolds as a unique spectacle, where shoes are not merely inanimate objects but vessels of intimate narratives and expressions of concealed desires.

Warhol’s artworks in the regular edition Shoes portfolio are marked by the artist’s quintessential repetition but vary in their presentation and evocation. Some pieces shimmer with vivid colors and celebratory flamboyance, aligning with the familiar pop-art aesthetics.

In contrast, the Shoes (Deluxe Edition) portfolio is submerged in darker hues, unveiling a realm of mystery and sensuality. For each artwork in this series, the shapes and forms of the shoes are rendered in shades of black and gray against a dark background. His application of darker tones in certain pieces suggests the shoes’ concealment in secretive spaces, perhaps alluding to obscured aspects of identity and desire, a reflection of Warhol’s own experiences navigating the art world’s complexities and societal norms.

Enhanced with “diamond dust”—a material Warhol derived from pulverized glass, inspired by Rupert Jasen Smith’s print making techniques—the prints emanate a subtle yet captivating shimmer, creating an atmosphere of tantalizing allure and hidden glamor. Warhol’s use of this shimmering effect could be interpreted as a commentary on the commercialization of intimacy, linking the realms of high fashion with nuanced expressions of personal desires.

Yet in the realm of subtle contrasts that the artworks in the Shoes (Deluxe Edition) portfolio evoke, the shoes are not just mundane objects. They transmute into almost abstract and organic forms, reminiscent of natural elements like rocks or geological formations. The granulated textures and the interplay of shadows conjure a semblance of mineral surfaces and crystalline structures, imparting the artworks with a sense of depth and dimension. There’s a powerful suggestion of an intricate landscape where multiple layers and forms meld and clash in multi-dimensional space. The use of shadow and light in the images also contributes to creating a sense of volume and three-dimensionality in the depicted forms.

 Shoes (Deluxe Edition) as Part of Andy Warhol’s Larger Body of Work

In the broader spectrum of Andy Warhol’s oeuvre, the Shoes artworks hold a significant place, marking a confluence of his commercial genesis and his evolution as a formidable force in modern art. Each piece in Warhol’s “Shoes”collection, whether radiating with colorful exuberance or shrouded in the mysteries of muted tones, serves as a testament to Warhol’s ingenuity in transforming the mundane into the magnificent, and the personal into a universal canvas of expression and exploration. Thus, Shoes (Deluxe Edition) stands as a powerful anthology of Warhol’s artistic journey, a series that encapsulates the essence of his creativity, from commercial allure to profound, personal and abstract expressions.

Photo credit: Andy Warhol Leonardo Bust, Halston Shoes 1981, Printed Photograph by Robert Levin. Courtesy of the Maison Gerard, New York.

Share this page:

Related Works