People around the globe acknowledge Andy Warhol as the protagonist of American post-war art and the image of him as an extroverted eccentric with sunglasses and a white wig, has become part of our collective memory. Warhol's creations, which are considered icons of American pop art, are likewise striking and eye-catching. The fact that Warhol actually was a rather shy person, even a loner, who created both a mask and a trademark with this garish appearance, is less known. It was only at the College of Fine Arts in his home town of Pittsburgh that the slight,unusually pale student was able to overcome the trauma of exclusion thanks to his outstanding artistic talent. Throughout his life, art offered the Warhol both recognition and a place of retreat: as an observer who drew and later also photographed, he became an artistic chronicler of the American post-war era. In 1949, at the age of just 21, Warhol moved to New York, where he initially worked as a commercial artist. He received his first commission for "Glamour" magazine in the fall of 1949. Making his first shoe drawings for the magazine that were characterized by a strictly linear style would set the tone for the rest of his career. With the purchase of his first Polaroid Big Shot Camera in the early 1970s, the camera would be Warhol's constant companion. Since then, Warhol's paintings and graphic works have mostly been based on his own photographs or on photographic templates from newspapers and advertisements. Our large-format, black silkscreen print, which gets it unique surface effect and the glamorous expression through the extensive use of wonderful glittering diamond dust, is also based on a photographic template by the artist. It is part of an iconic series of just five silkscreen prints published in a black de-luxe edition of only ten copies . This small series expresses Warhol's fascination with glamour and luxury in a special way and at the same time traces the artistic beginnings, Warhol's early shoe drawings as a young commercial artist. Bob Colacello, editor of "Interview Magazine", recalls the birth moment of this series, which is so unrivaled in Warhol's graphic oeuvre in terms of both color and technique, as follows: "A big box of shoes was sent down to Warhol to be photographed for an ad campaign. An assistant turned the box upside down and dumped the shoes out. Andy liked the way they spilled all over the floor so he took a few Polaroids [..]". So it was only this brief, chance moment that Warhol was able to successfully exploit thanks to his unique spontaneity and creativity [JS]