Untitled from A is an Alphabet

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.

1952

First solo exhibition

The gallerist Alexander Iolas organised Andy Warhol: Fifteen Drawings Based on the Writings of Truman Capote at New York's Hugo Gallery, Warhol's first solo exhibition.

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.