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Lot Essay
A career-defining work of rare elegance, Diamond Dust Shoes embodies the glamour of Andy Warhol’s New York City at the turn of the 1980s. Its larger-than-life scale mirrors Warhol’s own grand presence, which fueled the art world as we know it today. In a fabulously literal gesture, diamond dust is actually sprinkled upon his vibrant pigments, calling to mind the transcendent sparkle of Dorothy’s ruby slippers or the glowing personalities of Studio 54. Diamond Dust Shoes is an important later work that would help define Warhol’s artistic output before his untimely death in 1987. Exhibited in his epochal 1989 retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, it distills the entirety of his career, from his beginnings in illustration to the increasingly intimate, autobiographical subject matter of his inventive final years. As Warhol recalled, “I’m doing shoes because I’m going back to my roots. In fact, I think maybe I should do nothing but shoes from now on” (quoted in P. Hackett, ed., The Andy Warhol Diaries, New York, 1989, p. 306). Diamond Dust Shoes, which shines like Warhol’s silver-coated Factory, represents a career-long love of fashion, luxury, and beauty that resonates in our contemporary moment.
The present work has all the opulence suggested by its name. Warhol fills the seven-and-a-half foot by nearly six-foot canvas with his characteristically Pop colors, which are set off by the dark background. The shoes transform into rays emitted by a disco ball or luminescent jewelry. We can see one shoe bearing the monogram of I. Magnin, a storied West Coast luxury brand. The other pumps are brandless, allowing them to become archetypes or pure bursts of pigment. Warhol includes grey, white, and black shoes to complement the brightness of the scene, and each heel, while separated from its pair, feels interconnected. Diamond Dust Shoes therefore exhibits the fantastical, rich disco colors that originated in New York in the 1970s, while reminding us of the icons of monochromatic dressing, from Coco Chanel’s little black dress to Carolina Herrera’s crisp, white dress shirts. Like the ruby slippers of The Wizard of Oz, Diamond Dust Shoes establishes a place for itself within an indispensable sartorial history.
In Diamond Dust Shoes, Warhol pays homage to and reformulates the advertorials that helped launch his career. Rather than being lined up or worn, the heels are partially inside and outside the frame and arranged as if cast off after a party. Warhol finds sumptuousness in this uninhibited arrangement. This unique approach emerged from a storied collaboration that captures the community of artists and designers that comprised New York’s downtown art scene. The Diamond Dust Shoes series began as an advertising commission from Warhol’s friend Roy Halston Frowick, known as Halston. Halston, one of fashion’s most legendary designers, was best known for creating the unmistakable pillbox hat worn by Jacqueline Kennedy at her husband’s inauguration, which would also find its way into Warhol’s silkscreens.
The artist Victor Hugo, Halston’s boyfriend and a regular at Warhol’s Factory, brought over a bag of shoes, and when his studio manager dumped them on the floor, Warhol liked their unplanned beauty. He then added in shoes from his own collection and photographed them against white paper, which became the source material for the Diamond Dust Shoe series. The photographs were then silkscreened and coated with diamond dust upon the drying pigment. With Warhol’s characteristically interdisciplinary style, this multi-step process combined painting, photography, and printmaking. This labor paid off with a luxurious sheen like the glossy pages of Vogue. Diamond Dust Shoe thus becomes a monument to Warhol’s foundational merging of art and fashion. As co-founder of the Andy Warhol Foundation, Vincent Fremont observes, “The merger of women’s shoes and diamond dust was a perfect fit… Andy created the Diamond Dust Shoe paintings just as the disco, lamé and stilettos of Studio 54 had captured the imagination of the Manhattan glitterati. Andy, who had been in the vanguard of the New York club scene since the early 60s, once again reflected the times he was living in through his paintings” (V. Fremont in Diamond Dust Shoes, exh. cat., New York, Gagosian Gallery, 1999, pp. 8–9). In Diamond Dust Shoe, we experience Warhol’s life and times in all their glory.
Shoes inspired Warhol for much of his career. They were not only a source of luxury, but also of familiarity and comfort. Warhol mused, “There are three things that always look very beautiful to me: my same good pair of old shoes that don’t hurt, my own bedroom, and U.S. Customs on the way back home” (quoted in The Philosophy of Andy Warhol, New York, 1977, p. 72). Perhaps this fondness came from his early work in advertising. In the 1950s, Warhol worked for Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and the shoemaker I. Miller and Sons, often creating illustrations for footwear advertisements and editorials. Interestingly, the first stiletto heel, according to many accounts, was invented in 1954 by the designer Roger Vivier for Christian Dior. Warhol was always one to absorb the latest trends. His unique style was quickly noticed, and helped set his career up for the massive success that would soon come his way. In fact, Women’s Wear Daily called him “the Leonardo da Vinci of the shoe trade” (D. Bourdon, Warhol, New York, 1989, p. 42).
In addition to this technical skill and delicate eye, there is something tender and youthful in Warhol’s early shoe illustrations. We might therefore see Diamond Dust Shoes as nostalgic for a time before all the fame and riches. Shoes therefore provide a throughline from the beginning of Warhol’s career to his later years. As critic Phyllis Tuchman observes in her review of Andy Warhol: Dark Star (2017) at Museo Jumex, Mexico City, “A charming suite of seven illustrations for I. Miller’s footwear from the 1950s needed decades to grow into the more elaborate Diamond Dust Shoes, 1980” (P. Tuchman, “Andy Warhol,” Artforum, October 2017, online [accessed: 4/7/2025]). Diamond Dust Shoes is the product of Warhol’s constantly developing visual style, and the final form of his decades-long observation of a dazzling and lavish milieu—indeed, a milieu that he helped to sustain.
Diamond Dust Shoes proves the perennial allure and influence of Warhol’s oeuvre. Simultaneously a member of punk and elite social scenes, he used fashion as a means of self-presentation, from the joyous delicacy of his advertising work to the present lot, which shows him at his most opulent. Warhol sought to democratize that opulence and allow each viewer to find and appreciate their own beauty. As he once opined, “If everyone isn't beautiful, then no one is.” Above all, Diamond Dust Shoes is a timeless work of art that takes on the permanence of its unique media. Though his work is often known for its ephemerality, Warhol’s addition of diamond dust lends a permanence, as if he resolved to remain elegant and enchanting forever—not just for a proverbial 15 minutes. In Diamond Dust Shoes, he accomplishes this goal. It is no mistake that Warhol turned increasingly to self-portraits in his late career. Diamond Dust Shoes could be an abstract self-portrait—an image of the obsession, aspiration, and taste that would characterize his unparalleled career.
The present work has all the opulence suggested by its name. Warhol fills the seven-and-a-half foot by nearly six-foot canvas with his characteristically Pop colors, which are set off by the dark background. The shoes transform into rays emitted by a disco ball or luminescent jewelry. We can see one shoe bearing the monogram of I. Magnin, a storied West Coast luxury brand. The other pumps are brandless, allowing them to become archetypes or pure bursts of pigment. Warhol includes grey, white, and black shoes to complement the brightness of the scene, and each heel, while separated from its pair, feels interconnected. Diamond Dust Shoes therefore exhibits the fantastical, rich disco colors that originated in New York in the 1970s, while reminding us of the icons of monochromatic dressing, from Coco Chanel’s little black dress to Carolina Herrera’s crisp, white dress shirts. Like the ruby slippers of The Wizard of Oz, Diamond Dust Shoes establishes a place for itself within an indispensable sartorial history.
In Diamond Dust Shoes, Warhol pays homage to and reformulates the advertorials that helped launch his career. Rather than being lined up or worn, the heels are partially inside and outside the frame and arranged as if cast off after a party. Warhol finds sumptuousness in this uninhibited arrangement. This unique approach emerged from a storied collaboration that captures the community of artists and designers that comprised New York’s downtown art scene. The Diamond Dust Shoes series began as an advertising commission from Warhol’s friend Roy Halston Frowick, known as Halston. Halston, one of fashion’s most legendary designers, was best known for creating the unmistakable pillbox hat worn by Jacqueline Kennedy at her husband’s inauguration, which would also find its way into Warhol’s silkscreens.
The artist Victor Hugo, Halston’s boyfriend and a regular at Warhol’s Factory, brought over a bag of shoes, and when his studio manager dumped them on the floor, Warhol liked their unplanned beauty. He then added in shoes from his own collection and photographed them against white paper, which became the source material for the Diamond Dust Shoe series. The photographs were then silkscreened and coated with diamond dust upon the drying pigment. With Warhol’s characteristically interdisciplinary style, this multi-step process combined painting, photography, and printmaking. This labor paid off with a luxurious sheen like the glossy pages of Vogue. Diamond Dust Shoe thus becomes a monument to Warhol’s foundational merging of art and fashion. As co-founder of the Andy Warhol Foundation, Vincent Fremont observes, “The merger of women’s shoes and diamond dust was a perfect fit… Andy created the Diamond Dust Shoe paintings just as the disco, lamé and stilettos of Studio 54 had captured the imagination of the Manhattan glitterati. Andy, who had been in the vanguard of the New York club scene since the early 60s, once again reflected the times he was living in through his paintings” (V. Fremont in Diamond Dust Shoes, exh. cat., New York, Gagosian Gallery, 1999, pp. 8–9). In Diamond Dust Shoe, we experience Warhol’s life and times in all their glory.
Shoes inspired Warhol for much of his career. They were not only a source of luxury, but also of familiarity and comfort. Warhol mused, “There are three things that always look very beautiful to me: my same good pair of old shoes that don’t hurt, my own bedroom, and U.S. Customs on the way back home” (quoted in The Philosophy of Andy Warhol, New York, 1977, p. 72). Perhaps this fondness came from his early work in advertising. In the 1950s, Warhol worked for Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and the shoemaker I. Miller and Sons, often creating illustrations for footwear advertisements and editorials. Interestingly, the first stiletto heel, according to many accounts, was invented in 1954 by the designer Roger Vivier for Christian Dior. Warhol was always one to absorb the latest trends. His unique style was quickly noticed, and helped set his career up for the massive success that would soon come his way. In fact, Women’s Wear Daily called him “the Leonardo da Vinci of the shoe trade” (D. Bourdon, Warhol, New York, 1989, p. 42).
In addition to this technical skill and delicate eye, there is something tender and youthful in Warhol’s early shoe illustrations. We might therefore see Diamond Dust Shoes as nostalgic for a time before all the fame and riches. Shoes therefore provide a throughline from the beginning of Warhol’s career to his later years. As critic Phyllis Tuchman observes in her review of Andy Warhol: Dark Star (2017) at Museo Jumex, Mexico City, “A charming suite of seven illustrations for I. Miller’s footwear from the 1950s needed decades to grow into the more elaborate Diamond Dust Shoes, 1980” (P. Tuchman, “Andy Warhol,” Artforum, October 2017, online [accessed: 4/7/2025]). Diamond Dust Shoes is the product of Warhol’s constantly developing visual style, and the final form of his decades-long observation of a dazzling and lavish milieu—indeed, a milieu that he helped to sustain.
Diamond Dust Shoes proves the perennial allure and influence of Warhol’s oeuvre. Simultaneously a member of punk and elite social scenes, he used fashion as a means of self-presentation, from the joyous delicacy of his advertising work to the present lot, which shows him at his most opulent. Warhol sought to democratize that opulence and allow each viewer to find and appreciate their own beauty. As he once opined, “If everyone isn't beautiful, then no one is.” Above all, Diamond Dust Shoes is a timeless work of art that takes on the permanence of its unique media. Though his work is often known for its ephemerality, Warhol’s addition of diamond dust lends a permanence, as if he resolved to remain elegant and enchanting forever—not just for a proverbial 15 minutes. In Diamond Dust Shoes, he accomplishes this goal. It is no mistake that Warhol turned increasingly to self-portraits in his late career. Diamond Dust Shoes could be an abstract self-portrait—an image of the obsession, aspiration, and taste that would characterize his unparalleled career.