Untitled (Unknown Male)

early 1950s

Friendships with television designers

Warhol befriended television designers, among them John J. Graham, who designed the NBC peacock, and the CBS set designer Charles Lisanby, who became one of his closest companions. He was interested in Lisanby's television work and wanted to follow artists such as Ben Shahn who occasionally worked in the medium.

1955

Shoe advertising for I. Miller

In 1955 Warhol began designing advertisements for the shoe manufacturer Israel Miller; the drawings drew so much attention that in 1956 they won him the Art Directors Club Award for Distinctive Merit. The photographer John Coplans recalled that nobody drew shoes the way Andy did — each had a temperament of its own.

1956

First museum showing: MoMA

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) politely declined Warhol's gift of his drawing Shoe, citing limited storage space, yet that same year one of his shoe drawings was included in the group exhibition Recent Drawings U.S.A. It was Warhol's first museum showing.

1956

Round-the-world trip with Charles Lisanby

In 1956 Warhol travelled around the world with his friend Charles Lisanby, studying the art and culture of several countries. In Kyoto he drew a stylised portrait of the business tycoon Helena Rubinstein.

1957

Illustrated books to attract clients

To promote himself, Warhol self-published books of his illustrations — 25 Cats Name Sam and One Blue Pussy and A Gold Book (both 1957) — and gave them to potential clients. He often used his mother Julia Warhola's calligraphy for the captions.