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Lot Essay
“Went over to Studio 54. The band struck up “New York, New York” and they carried Liza in. Halston did photos with her. Then a little later they played “New York, New York” and Martin walked in, and I think maybe they carried Liz in again or picked her up again, but I was leaving”—Andy Warhol, The Andy Warhol Diaries, Tuesday June 21, 1977
“Had dinner with Sharon Hammond and Robin Lehman and afterwards we walked down Eighth Avenue through the drag queens and transvestites and whores over to Studio 54. Steve Rubell was thrilled to see us and let all ten of us in for free”—Andy Warhol, The Andy Warhol Diaries, Thursday, July 4, 1977
(Andy Warhol, quoted by A. Warhol & P. Hackett (ed.), The Andy Warhol Diaries, New York, 1989, p. 62).
“Peter Beard was at Studio 54 and for the first time I saw him so drunk that his words were slurred… Sterling St. Jacques was there…he brought me over to meet Shirley Bassey and she seemed thrilled to meet me. Steve Rubell was nice to me and kept bring me vodkas, but the vodka there is the cheapest and I hide it” ”—Andy Warhol, The Andy Warhol Diaries, Monday, September 19, 1977
“I wanted to get out of Studio 54 because there were so many beauties trying to get my number, …so I had to leave” ”—Andy Warhol, The Andy Warhol Diaries, Thursday, July 4, 1977
“And then it was time to dress Bianca for Studio 54. Then over to Studio 54 and it was full of pretty people”—Andy Warhol, The Andy Warhol Diaries, Wednesday, January 4, 1977
“Cabbed over to Studio 54, and when we got there, the place was packed… It was jumping for a snowy night, Stevie couldn’t believe that so many people came out in the blizzard for it, he was turning people away at the door as usual. Then along came a white guy and a black girl… They said Stevie wouldn’t let them in because they didn’t look right, but I thought they looked fine to me—I mean, he looked like a fairy and she looked like a drag queen, it was the Studio 54 look”—Andy Warhol, The Andy Warhol Diaries, Saturday, January 21, 1978
“Then there was a Valentino party at 54. I guess Stevie was trying to make it a really bad party, because he had the waiters dressed up like pilgrims and he was serving turkey”
“The Daily News had just called and wanted a quote from me, they said that fifty agents had gone in and raided Studio 54 for income tax…”—Andy Warhol, The Andy Warhol Diaries, Thursday, December 14, 1978
When the lights were going out all over New York in the late 1970s as a result of the economic and social hardships facing the city, there was one place that acted as a beacon for the city’s brightest creative minds. Beyond Studio 54’s velvet rope lay a debauched world where its patrons could express themselves without reservation and where anything could happen, and usually did. During its heyday in 1977-79 it attracted the glitterati of the New York social scene; Mick and Bianca Jagger, Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Jones, Michael Jackson, Calvin Klein, Elton John, Truman Capote and Jackie Kennedy Onassis.
During one legendary New Year’s Eve party the entire floor of the club was covered with a four-inch layer of glitter, which prompted the co-owner Ian Schrager to declare was like standing on stardust. “People got the glitter in their hair, in their socks. You would see it in people’s homes six months later, and you knew they’d been at Studio 54 on New Year’s” (I. Scharger, quoted by B. Weber, “Robert Isabell, Who Turned Events Into Wondrous Occasions, Dies at 57,” New York Times, July 10, 2009, via https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/11/nyregion/11isabell.html?_r=0, [accessed September 12, 2016]).
While many celebrities (including on one infamous occasion, Cher) were deemed unworthy to be granted entry by the club’s legendary co-owner, Steve Rubell, Warhol was welcomed with open arms and would often hold court there surrounded by a retinue of long-time friends and new acquaintances. His diaries are full of entries describing arriving at the club after dinner and spending until the early hours dancing, drinking and enjoying the atmosphere. “Went over to Studio 54,” he wrote in June 1977. “The band struck up ‘New York, New York’ and they carried Liza [Minnelli] in. Halston did photos with her. Then a little later they played “New York, New York” and Martin [Scorsese] walked in, and I think maybe they carried Liza in again or picked her up again, but I was leaving” (A. Warhol, quoted by A. Warhol & P. Hackett (ed.), The Andy Warhol Diaries, New York, 1989, p. 53).
Warhol captured the glamor and excitement of Studio 54 in a series of works based on the club’s VIP ticket. The iconic logo, the disco inspired palette and the expressive energy of Warhol’s painterly additions to his silkscreen process, all speak to the hedonism and excitement of the club and its many devotees. Studio 54 was often the place where Warhol felt his happiest, being the center of attention and thoroughly enjoying the adulation. The key of the success of Studio 54, Warhol once said, is that it’s a dictatorship at the door and a democracy on the dance floor.
“Had dinner with Sharon Hammond and Robin Lehman and afterwards we walked down Eighth Avenue through the drag queens and transvestites and whores over to Studio 54. Steve Rubell was thrilled to see us and let all ten of us in for free”—Andy Warhol, The Andy Warhol Diaries, Thursday, July 4, 1977
(Andy Warhol, quoted by A. Warhol & P. Hackett (ed.), The Andy Warhol Diaries, New York, 1989, p. 62).
“Peter Beard was at Studio 54 and for the first time I saw him so drunk that his words were slurred… Sterling St. Jacques was there…he brought me over to meet Shirley Bassey and she seemed thrilled to meet me. Steve Rubell was nice to me and kept bring me vodkas, but the vodka there is the cheapest and I hide it” ”—Andy Warhol, The Andy Warhol Diaries, Monday, September 19, 1977
“I wanted to get out of Studio 54 because there were so many beauties trying to get my number, …so I had to leave” ”—Andy Warhol, The Andy Warhol Diaries, Thursday, July 4, 1977
“And then it was time to dress Bianca for Studio 54. Then over to Studio 54 and it was full of pretty people”—Andy Warhol, The Andy Warhol Diaries, Wednesday, January 4, 1977
“Cabbed over to Studio 54, and when we got there, the place was packed… It was jumping for a snowy night, Stevie couldn’t believe that so many people came out in the blizzard for it, he was turning people away at the door as usual. Then along came a white guy and a black girl… They said Stevie wouldn’t let them in because they didn’t look right, but I thought they looked fine to me—I mean, he looked like a fairy and she looked like a drag queen, it was the Studio 54 look”—Andy Warhol, The Andy Warhol Diaries, Saturday, January 21, 1978
“Then there was a Valentino party at 54. I guess Stevie was trying to make it a really bad party, because he had the waiters dressed up like pilgrims and he was serving turkey”
“The Daily News had just called and wanted a quote from me, they said that fifty agents had gone in and raided Studio 54 for income tax…”—Andy Warhol, The Andy Warhol Diaries, Thursday, December 14, 1978
When the lights were going out all over New York in the late 1970s as a result of the economic and social hardships facing the city, there was one place that acted as a beacon for the city’s brightest creative minds. Beyond Studio 54’s velvet rope lay a debauched world where its patrons could express themselves without reservation and where anything could happen, and usually did. During its heyday in 1977-79 it attracted the glitterati of the New York social scene; Mick and Bianca Jagger, Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Jones, Michael Jackson, Calvin Klein, Elton John, Truman Capote and Jackie Kennedy Onassis.
During one legendary New Year’s Eve party the entire floor of the club was covered with a four-inch layer of glitter, which prompted the co-owner Ian Schrager to declare was like standing on stardust. “People got the glitter in their hair, in their socks. You would see it in people’s homes six months later, and you knew they’d been at Studio 54 on New Year’s” (I. Scharger, quoted by B. Weber, “Robert Isabell, Who Turned Events Into Wondrous Occasions, Dies at 57,” New York Times, July 10, 2009, via https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/11/nyregion/11isabell.html?_r=0, [accessed September 12, 2016]).
While many celebrities (including on one infamous occasion, Cher) were deemed unworthy to be granted entry by the club’s legendary co-owner, Steve Rubell, Warhol was welcomed with open arms and would often hold court there surrounded by a retinue of long-time friends and new acquaintances. His diaries are full of entries describing arriving at the club after dinner and spending until the early hours dancing, drinking and enjoying the atmosphere. “Went over to Studio 54,” he wrote in June 1977. “The band struck up ‘New York, New York’ and they carried Liza [Minnelli] in. Halston did photos with her. Then a little later they played “New York, New York” and Martin [Scorsese] walked in, and I think maybe they carried Liza in again or picked her up again, but I was leaving” (A. Warhol, quoted by A. Warhol & P. Hackett (ed.), The Andy Warhol Diaries, New York, 1989, p. 53).
Warhol captured the glamor and excitement of Studio 54 in a series of works based on the club’s VIP ticket. The iconic logo, the disco inspired palette and the expressive energy of Warhol’s painterly additions to his silkscreen process, all speak to the hedonism and excitement of the club and its many devotees. Studio 54 was often the place where Warhol felt his happiest, being the center of attention and thoroughly enjoying the adulation. The key of the success of Studio 54, Warhol once said, is that it’s a dictatorship at the door and a democracy on the dance floor.