the autobiography of alice b. shoe

One of our assignments for my pop art class was to write an entry for a work that could go in a museum catalog. One day, we met for class in the WCMA (Williams College Museum of Art) classroom where they had several original pieces out on display for us. The professor gave us our assignment and we each chose a work to write on. We did several revisions with each other and the professor, so the version you see below is my 5th rewrite of this piece. I never spent so much time and energy writing one page.

Andy Warhol

American, 1928 – 1987

Autobiography of Alice B. Shoe

1955

From “A la recherche du shoe perdue” with poems by Ralph Pomeroy

Hand-colored off-set lithograph on paper

11 ¼  x 14 ¼ in.

The Autobiography of Alice B. Shoe is a print from a series of shoe lithographs, Recherche du Shoe Perdue, made by Andy Warhol in the 1950s. A life-size pink and red shoe against a white background accompanied by the fanciful cursive text, ‘the autobiography of alice B. shoe,’ Autobiography is a composition of pleasant simplicity. The print invokes a nostalgic sentiment in its charming and antique style, evoked in part by the French title of the series, which translates to ‘the search for the lost shoe,’ implying an inherent sense of loss as well as seeking that which is lost.

The black outline of the shoe and the feathers and stars of the interior are drawn with an inconsistent line weight, creating a blotted ink effect. The exterior surface is pink, while the bow, interior, and side of the heel are an orange-red. The colors are vivid and bright, but have been unevenly applied, creating variations in saturation and tone. The colors are imperfectly aligned with the black frame of the shoe. Warhol’s mother’s delightful and ornate script alongside the playful adornment of feathers and stars emphasize presence of the artist’s hand and the singularity of the print. The Victorian style of the shoe places it out of its contemporary era and fashion into a romanticized past bathed in a rose tint by the warm colors of the shoe. These elements evoke nostalgia for the world before mass, mechanized production, of soft and blushing femininity and handwritten letters.

In contrast with his later focus on mechanized production, the shoe lithographs have a very personal touch – whether a reproduction or not, they appear drawn and colored by hand. Many of Warhol’s early drawings and prints were created as gifts for friends or employers, enhancing the sense of individuality of each print. The whimsical script of Warhol’s mother bestows further uniqueness through the variations of her handwriting and errors of miscopying, including incorrect capitalizations and misspellings. Warhol’s acceptance of these errors and misalignments of color and outline as part of the process is consistent throughout all his work, and is, perhaps, another element of nostalgia in his work – the variations and errors remind the viewer that the prints were made by hand, not a perfect machine. While Warhol eliminates the more obvious traces of his creative influence and his mother’s script from his later works, by allowing the imperfections, it contrasts with completely mechanized, inhuman production.

The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, published in 1933, was written by Gertrude Stein as she imagined the autobiography of her partner, Alice B. Toklas, although it seems to be Stein’s own autobiography. Biographies are written as retrospective explorations of a beloved person and Stein’s intimate portrayal of herself and her lover complements and contributes to the nostalgic theme of Warhol’s shoe series through its reference to a lover’s tribute combined with Warhol’s mother’s involvement with her son’s work.

Some shoes from the Recherche du Shoe Perdue series are accompanied by a quip at the bottom with a reference to a celebrity, or the replacement of the word ‘shoe’ for another noun in a well-known phrase – other examples include ‘my shoe is your shoe’ or ‘taming of the shoe.’ Others have playful substitutions of a non-fashion item within the construction of the primarily Victorian-style heels. These references and substitutions contribute to the sensation of a pleasantly familiar culture set in the framework of an appealing historic era.

Bibliography

§  "The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas." Wikipedia. 25 Oct. 2008 http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/the_autobiography_of_alice_b._toklas .

§  “Alice B. Toklas.” Wikipedia. 25 Oct. 2008 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_B._Toklas .

§  Doonan, Simon, and Andy Warhol. Andy Warhol Fashion. New York: Chronicle Books LLC, 2004.
(Clark ND237 W27.3f)

§  Francis, Mark. "From Gold Leaf to Silver Screens, White Light to Black Shadows: Andy Warhol and His Time." Essay. Andy Warhol: 1956 - 86 Mirror of His Time. Ed. Junichi Shioda, Keiko Hashimoto, Kikuro Miyashita, Raiji Kuroda, Hitoshi Yamazaki, Akio Obigane and Makiko Tsuda. New York, NY: The Andy Warhol Museum, 1996. 30-39.
(Clark ND237 W27 T65 1996)

§  Fredericks, Tina S. "Remembering Andy." Introduction. Pre-Pop Warhol. By Jesse Kornbluth. New York: Random House, 1988.
(Clark ND237 W27 K67)

§  Goldman, Judith. "Warhol's Line." Essay. Andy Warhol : Drawings and Related Works. Ed. Melissa Lazarov and Allison Harding. New York: Gagosian Gallery, 2003.
(Clark ND237 W27.3 G34 2003)

§  Kuroda, Raiji. "The 1950s." Essay. Andy Warhol: 1956 - 86 Mirror of His Time. Ed. Junichi Shioda, Keiko Hashimoto, Kikuro Miyashita, Raiji Kuroda, Hitoshi Yamazaki, Akio Obigane and Makiko Tsuda. New York, NY: The Andy Warhol Museum, 1996. 44-45.
(Clark ND237 W27 T65 1996)

§  Warhol, Andy, and Ivan Vartanian. Andy Warhol : Drawings and Illustrations of the 1950s. Kyoto: Korinsha Shuppen, 1999.
(Clark ND237 W27 V37)

§  Warhol, Andy. Shoes, Shoes, Shoes. Comp. R. Seth Bright. Boston: Little Brown & Company, 1997.
(Clark ND237 W27s)

§  Williams College Museum, Darra Goldstein. “Wild Raspberries.” Encounter : Williams College Museum of Art. Ed. Vivian Patterson. New York: Williams College, Museum of Art, 2006. 140-141

§  Williams College Museum, Elizabeth Athens. “25 Cats Name Sam and One Blue Pussy.” Encounter : Williams College Museum of Art. Ed. Vivian Patterson. New York: Williams College, Museum of Art, 2006. 132