Before Andy Warhol became a leading light in the pop art movement and synonymous with images of Marilyn Monroe recoloured in neon shades, he was a commercial illustrator for fashion magazines with a particular expertise drawing shoes.
In 1955, Warhol was made the only illustrator for the advertising campaigns of I.Miller, a New York shoe manufacturer favoured by actors and dancers. Each week Warhol had to create designs for advertisements in The New York Times and shoes became something of a signature piece.
On 22nd March 2016 a complete portfolio of Warhol’s shoe designs titled À la recherche du shoe perdu was sold at Sotheby’s. A dream buy for fashionistas, it included 18 unique prints.
Each print was hand-coloured, often by Warhol and his friends when they got together for ‘colouring parties’, and had a witty caption written by the American poet Ralph Pomeroy and inspired by references to pop culture. ‘Dial M for Shoe’ pays homage to Alfred Hitchcock while the title of the portfolio itself plays on Marcel Proust’s famous novel À la recherche du temps perdu.
Here are some of our favourite sketches...
![A sketch by Andy Warhol showing an orange heeled shoe](https://c02.purpledshub.com/uploads/sites/42/2016/03/1-a65ffc8.jpg?webp=1&w=1200)
Any one for shoes?
![A sketch by Andy Warhol showing an orange and white heeled shoe](https://c02.purpledshub.com/uploads/sites/42/2016/03/2-6fb5c04.jpg?webp=1&w=1200)
You can lead a shoe to water but you can’t make it drink
![A sketch by Andy Warhol showing a red heeled shoe](https://c02.purpledshub.com/uploads/sites/42/2016/03/3-64f2507.jpg?webp=1&w=1200)
Dial M for shoe
![A small illustration by Andy Warhol showing a delicate yellow shoe with a pink lining](https://c02.purpledshub.com/uploads/sites/42/2016/03/4-f44f023.jpg?webp=1&w=1200)
Beauty is shoe, shoe beauty…
![A small illustration by Andy Warhol showing a blue heeled court shoe with a pink lining and gold buckle](https://c02.purpledshub.com/uploads/sites/42/2016/03/5-1e47654.jpg?webp=1&w=1200)
Shoe fly Baby
![An illustration by Andy Warhol of a small black and white shoe](https://c02.purpledshub.com/uploads/sites/42/2016/03/6-c147572.jpg?webp=1&w=1200)
To shoe or not to shoe
![An illustration by Andy Warhol of a red heeled shoe](https://c02.purpledshub.com/uploads/sites/42/2016/03/7-36c9998.jpg?webp=1&w=1200)
I dream of Jeannie with the light brown shoes
![An illustration by Andy Warhol of a pale blue heeled shoe with little green bows](https://c02.purpledshub.com/uploads/sites/42/2016/03/8-88f292a.jpg?webp=1&w=1200)
My shoe is your shoe
![An illustration by Andy Warhol of an orange and red heeled shoe](https://c02.purpledshub.com/uploads/sites/42/2016/03/9-262ad25.jpg?webp=1&w=1200)
Shoe of the evening, beautiful shoe
![An illustration by Andy Warhol of a yellow heeled shoe with a pink cuff](https://c02.purpledshub.com/uploads/sites/42/2016/03/10-80721c9.jpg?webp=1&w=1200)