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Lot Essay
“Andy Warhol’s pet portraits, of cats and dogs, viewed last year at the Mayor Gallery, now include one English King Charles Spaniel, Pom. Mr. Warhol […] took many snaps with his discontinued Polaroid Big Shot and new Minox Minature 35mm […] The sitter lives with Lady Adeane and her husband Sir Robert, a director of the gallery” (G. Frei and N. Printz, eds., The Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings and Sculpture late 1974-1976, Vol. 4, New York, 2004, p. 358). So the paintings of Pom were celebrated in the February 1977 of Vogue, placing the darling pup within the social ranks of some of the magazine’s most honored personalities.
In 1973, the art collector Peter commissioned two drawings of his Cocker Spaniel, Ginger, as a gift for his wife Sandra, thus inspiring Andy Warhol’s beloved series of animal portraits that he would go on to paint over the course of the next three years. Much of the series was exhibited in 1976 at James Mayor’s Gallery in London in a show titled Cats and Dogs. While in London for the exhibition, Warhol was commissioned by the gallery’s director to create a portrait of his wife’s King Charles Spaniel, Pom. Warhol photographed Pom in the gallery in several poses, including that of the present lot, with Pom sitting in profile, her upward gaze captivated by an off-screen charmer. Rendered in ultramarine blue and burnt sienna over a white background, with a sliver of bright blue highlight to emphasize the doe-eyed nature of the dog, Cats and Dogs (Pom) is a particularly endearing depiction of the cherished family dog.
In 1973, the art collector Peter commissioned two drawings of his Cocker Spaniel, Ginger, as a gift for his wife Sandra, thus inspiring Andy Warhol’s beloved series of animal portraits that he would go on to paint over the course of the next three years. Much of the series was exhibited in 1976 at James Mayor’s Gallery in London in a show titled Cats and Dogs. While in London for the exhibition, Warhol was commissioned by the gallery’s director to create a portrait of his wife’s King Charles Spaniel, Pom. Warhol photographed Pom in the gallery in several poses, including that of the present lot, with Pom sitting in profile, her upward gaze captivated by an off-screen charmer. Rendered in ultramarine blue and burnt sienna over a white background, with a sliver of bright blue highlight to emphasize the doe-eyed nature of the dog, Cats and Dogs (Pom) is a particularly endearing depiction of the cherished family dog.