Andy Warhol (American, 1930-1987). "Shoe (Red Stocking)" watercolor, ca. 1955. Signed at left of stocking. A beautiful watercolor created by Andy Warhol early in his career. Warhol enjoyed drawing all types of shoes - stilettos, pumps, high heels - and shoes were among his first subjects when he worked as a fashion illustrator in New York City during the 1950s. I Miller shoes commissioned Warhol for a New York Times ad campaign, and simultaneously, he created a self-published portfolio with 16 of his own hand-colored shoe designs - "A La Recherche Du Shoe Perdu (Shoes, Shoes, Shoes)" - each one with a clever caption such as, "Any one for shoes!" This piece, however, is an original watercolor that most resembles his "Shoe and Leg" from his publication, minus the elaborate decoration embellishing the stocking. Size of artwork: 15.5" L x 11.5" W (39.4 cm x 29.2 cm) Size of frame: 21.125" L x 17.125" W (53.7 cm x 43.5 cm)

Andy Warhol's life as well as his art were focussed on consumer culture, celebrity, and mechanical reproduction. Indeed, Warhol was a champion of the Pop Art movement and responded to mass-media culture like his contemporaries Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, and Roy Lichtenstein. Warhol created masterful silk-screen prints such as his 32 Campbell's Soup Cans (1962), Brillo pad box sculptures, and portraits of Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley, in characteristic hard edges and a candy-like color palette. "The best thing about a picture is that it never changes, even when the people in it do," he once explained. Indeed, Andy Warhol created some of the most iconic images of the 20th century, and this work resonates with his early interests in the world of fashion.

Andy Warhol was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1949 and then moved to New York City to pursue commercial art, working for fashion magazines like Glamour and Vogue. In the 1960s, Warhol rented a studio loft in Midtown Manhattan later known as The Factory. The Factory was a hub for artists, movie stars, and models, who became subjects and inspiration for his prints and films. In addition, the space served as a performance venue for The Velvet Underground. By the 1980s, Warhol was collaborating with rising artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. Following Warhol's death at age 58, due to complications from routine gall bladder surgery, his estate became The Andy Warhol Foundation. In 1994, The Andy Warhol Museum museum opened in his native Pittsburgh. Today, his works are appreciated throughout the world and may be viewed in major museum collections including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, and the Tate Gallery in London.

On the verso is a label from "Stable Gallery" for a December 12, 1955 opening that is also stamped for the November preview, "ANDY WARHOL Nov. 6 - Nov. 24 / PREVIEW NOV. 6 5-7 / STABLE GALLERY / 33 EAST 74 ST. / NEW YORK 21, N.Y." In addition, there is estate stamp "THE ESTATE OF ANDY WARHOL" with a Christie's stamp to the left.

Warhol's "Shoe and Leg" (offset lithography with hand coloring) sold for $15,120 at Sotheby's New York, April 23, 2021, lot 214.

A digital copy of an evaluation of this piece by art historian and award-winning TV personality Dr. Lori Verderame is available upon request.

This piece has been searched against the Art Loss Register database and has been cleared. The Art Loss Register maintains the world’s largest database of stolen art, collectibles, and antiques.

Provenance: Private Ontario, Canada collection acquired from Estate sale and gifted from sister

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#167277

The artwork is in overall excellent condition save slight waviness and indentation marks to the paper. It is signed to the left of the stocking. On the verso is a label from "Stable Gallery" for a December 12, 1955 opening that is also stamped for the November preview, "ANDY WARHOL Nov. 6 - Nov. 24 / PREVIEW NOV. 6 5-7 / STABLE GALLERY / 33 EAST 74 ST. / NEW YORK 21, N.Y." In addition, there is estate stamp "THE ESTATE OF ANDY WARHOL" with a Christie's stamp to the left.