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Lot Essay
Warhol's success as a commercial illustrator was solidified upon his appointment as illustrator for the I. Miller shoe company in the mid-1950s. Warhol's ad campaign transformed an otherwise conservative company with a dynamic new look. Images of Warhol's shoes were ubiquitous in the New York fashion scene, and praised by important editors and tastemakers. Shoes soon became Warhol's signature commercial product in the 1950s. Warhol also explored this subject in his increasingly important personal projects, most significantly in his early 1955 portfolio A la Recherche du Shoe Perdu.
In these shoe portraits from the 1950s, signs of Warhol's Pop Art style begin to emerge. No longer under obligation to any supervisor but himself, Warhol's art could fully evolve. The simplified design of the print advertisement must appeal to a mass audience and focus on the product itself. Enna Jetticks is particularly significant in its composition, with a striking gold background and saturated tones. Gold appears frequently in Warhol's work from this period and would later return in his celebrity portraits, most significantly in his depictions of Marilyn Monroe. Warhol's dynamic advertisements of the 1950's such as Enna Jetticks foreshadow his revolutionary Pop Art that would follow.
In these shoe portraits from the 1950s, signs of Warhol's Pop Art style begin to emerge. No longer under obligation to any supervisor but himself, Warhol's art could fully evolve. The simplified design of the print advertisement must appeal to a mass audience and focus on the product itself. Enna Jetticks is particularly significant in its composition, with a striking gold background and saturated tones. Gold appears frequently in Warhol's work from this period and would later return in his celebrity portraits, most significantly in his depictions of Marilyn Monroe. Warhol's dynamic advertisements of the 1950's such as Enna Jetticks foreshadow his revolutionary Pop Art that would follow.