Gagosian Show Spotlights Andy Warhol’s Connection to Paris and Fashion – WWD

Paris – Fashion and fame were Andy Warhol’s two main obsessions – and in Paris the King of Pop Art found a fertile breeding ground for both.

Warhol may forever be identified with New York City and his factory studio, but he was equally revered in the French capital, where he was a frequent visitor. The American artist once owned an apartment in the Left Bank neighborhood of Saint-Germain-des-Près and booked Karl Lagerfeld to appear in the underground film L’Amour, which was filmed there.

A new exhibition at the Gagosian gallery near the Place Vendôme explores Warhol’s take on Paris and his ties to fashion, with portraits of famous designers including Hubert de Givenchy, Sonia Rykiel and Azzedine Alayan.

“Andy Warhol: Paris and Fashion,” which runs through Oct. 12, features 40 photographs from the iconic Polaroid he used as the basis for silkscreen paintings to black-and-white photographs. Paris signs are often taken from the back of a car.

Like a time capsule, they offer a snapshot of his life on both sides of the Atlantic, events such as dinner with Diane de Beauvais-Craon, the socialite known as the “Princess of Punk,” or a visit to Hubert De Givenchy’s atelier by art patron Sao Schlumberger.

“Warhol had a close relationship with fashion throughout his career and had a deep understanding of Parisian fashion,” says Serena Cattaneo Adorno, director of the Gagosian Paris galleries.

“His vision was clearly influenced by his friendships with famous designers with whom he shared time,” she said, pulling out a Polaroid of him on vacation in Morocco with Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé.

“Having said that, he was interested in finding new designers,” added Catteno Adorno, whose exhibition will include portraits of Diane von Furstenberg, Jean-Paul Gaultier and Stephen Sprouse in the early 30s. “He was very close to all these designers before they became famous.”

The images are drawn from a private collection. “What’s really special is bringing together images of Paris and fashion personalities in one exhibition,” she commented.

While Polaroid captures famous designers like Giorgio Armani and Carolina Herrera in captivating poses, much of Warhol’s photography is of a quality, illustrated by his documentary approach. “A picture means I know where I’ve been every minute. That’s why I take pictures. It’s a visual diary,” he once said.

Catteno notes that Adorno used the same method for famous statues as he did for famous people. “He’s really an American in Paris,” she said. “The idea is always to take something iconic and reuse it.” Indeed, Warhol It features the Eiffel Tower in one of his 1985 paintings with Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Gagosian’s team was able to process the images and identify other important details in Warhol’s diary, which was originally published in 1989 but has gained new significance thanks to a recent Netflix series. “This renewed interest in his life and with whom he spent it,” Cattaneo Adorno said.

The exhibition includes black-and-white images of a young Carole Bouquet in a sleeveless sweater and jeans; Loulou de la Falaise smokes, and Jack Nicholson shares a meal with Italian model and longtime Saint Laurent muse Marina Schiano. There’s Parisian nightlife queen Regine Polaroid and American model and jewelry designer Tina Chow.

“These days, thanks to the Internet, you can connect with anyone in the world. At that time, in Paris, the Cafe de Flore, you had to wait for someone to come in or out, says the gallery director.

In an interview with Gagosian Quarterly magazine, von Furstenberg explained how Warhol met him.

“He was VON. He let you talk and he didn’t say much and when he did it was always short and he told you to talk more. He wanted to know everything about you, he wanted to take your picture, he had a tape recorder in his pocket, he wanted to draw you. He was very interesting,” she recalled.

But in retrospect, he had an amazing brand. He had a vision of what the world would become that none of us understood until he was here. In a way, he did social media before social media. He was crazy about Instagram. He was the first influencer,” von Furstenberg said.

Meanwhile, Warhol’s commercial work, including Polaroids of Levi’s jeans and Halston-branded shoes, demonstrates his enduring influence on fashion and advertising aesthetics today. In the center of the Polaroid wall is the “Self in Fear Wig” taken in 1986, a few months before his death, suggesting that Warhol himself remains the star of the show.