A La Recherche du Shoe Perdu

The Complete Portfolio of 16 colored lithographs
Medium: Offset lithograph and watercolor on wove paper
Year: circa 1955
Sheet: 9 3/4 x 13 3/4 inches (24.8 x 34.9 cm)
Publisher: The Arttist
Literature: Feldman & Schellmann IV.69A-84A

Text by Ralph Pomeroy
Lettering by Warhol’s mother, Julia Warhola

 

Before Marilyn and Moonwalk, there was Andy the illustrator. Warhol’s career began as a commercial illustrator on New York’s Madison Avenue in 1949, during the massive post-war economic boom. His arrival additionally coincided with an extensive change in the motivations and strategies behind advertising, utilizing applied psychology to influence American consumers to purchase products. This stint as an ad man would further his Pop interest in cultural commercialization and start his artistic career; thus began the first chapter of Warhol’s oeuvre, dominated by charming and light-handed ink drawings.

 

As a master of line and contour, Warhol’s consistent and unique drawings and designs piqued the interest of his clients, earning him commissions and collaborations with some of the biggest brands of the day: Tiffany & Co., Columbia Records, and Vogue, to name a few. Though stylistically different from the Pop art that would rocket him to international stardom, these early drawings offer a glimpse at an artist well on his way to establishing an art movement that would change the way the world conceived of contemporary art and its connection to pop culture, morphing from his early successes in the commercial art scene.

 

The simple yet sophisticated line drawings contain a child-like whimsy – though that’s not to say Warhol didn’t take his work seriously. As reflected in his early drawings, he took to heart a piece of advice from one of his art teachers who told the young artist to paint for himself, not what others wanted to see. This wisdom would validate Warhol’s desire to draw his favorite things: cherubs, shoes, cats, and often young men. Across these drawings and hand-colored prints, we see Warhol as a compulsive creator, documenting life and fantasy with the stark clarity of ink on paper.

 

Cover Page (Recto and Verso)

1. Uncle Sam wants Shoe (F&S IV.69A)

2. My Shoe is Your Shoe (F&S IV.70A)

3. Beauty is Shoe, Shoe Beauty (F&S IV.71A)

4. Dial M for Shoe (F&S IV.72A)

5. Anyone for Shoes? (F&S IV.73A)

6. To Shoe or Not To Shoe (F&S IV.74A)

7. See a Shoe and Pick it up and All Day Long You’ll Have Good Luck (F&S IV.75A)

8. The Autobiography of Alice B. Shoe (F&S IV.76A)

9. Shoe of the Evening, Beautiful Shoe (F&S IV.77A)

10. I Dream of Jeannie with the Light Brown Shoes (F&S IV.78A)

11. In Her Sweet Little Olive Blue Shoes (F&S IV.79A)

12. When I’m Calling Shoe (F&S IV.80A)

13. Sunset and Evening Shoe (F&S IV.81A)

14. Shoe Bright, Shoe Light, First Shoe I See Tonight (F&S IV.82A)

15. You Can Lead a Shoe to Water but You Can’t Make it Drink (F&S IV.83A)

16. Shoe Fly Baby (F&S IV.84A)

 

 

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Auction Results

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1. Single Plates

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Phillips New-York: 24 October 2024
Estimated: USD 5,000 – 7,000
USD 10,795

 

 

 

2. Complete Books

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Christie’s London: 27 September 2023
Estimated: GBP 30,000 – 50,000
GBP 30,240

ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987)
A La Recherche du Shoe Perdu, circa 1955
The complete set of 17 offset lithographs including the cover
16 with hand-coloring in watercolor on wove paper
With poems by Ralph Pomeroy, signed and titled on the cover in blue ballpoint pen
Each with the Andy Warhol Authentication Board inkstamp and annotated PMP.2 in pencil on the reverse

 

 

Sotheby’s London: 22 March 2016
Estimated: GBP 100,000 – 150,000
GBP 293,000

ANDY WARHOL
A la recherche du shoe perdu; and Shoe and Leg (F. & S. IV.69B – 85), circa 1955
The complete portfolio, comprising 16 offset lithographs on wove paper
15 with hand coloring, and the hand-colored cover, with text by Ralph Pomeroy
Together with Shoe and Leg, circa 1955
Each sheet with The Estate of Andy Warhol and the Authorized by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts inkstamps verso
Each annotated in pencil verso
The lettering by Warhol’s mother, Julia Warhola

Feldman and Schellmann catalogue Shoe and Leg separately from the A la recherche du shoe perdu portfolio; however they write that Warhol created it at approximately the same date and that some portfolios include this work.  Warhol’s original intention is not known.