Andy Warhol

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Warhol was renowned for his foot fetish. His commercial work was dominated by popular shoe illustrations and in his personal drawings he also enjoyed depicting feet. In this linear pen drawing, he shows a foot that seems to be resting on a decorated tablecloth with a cat perched behind. The cloth’s design, with small doves holding olive branches in their beaks, bears distinct similarities to aspects of Henri Matisse’s work. Warhol had numerous pet cats and in 1954 he published a series of cat portraits in the form of a book - although the cats depicted were not based on his animals but instead on photographs by a cat photographer. However, in ‘Foot with Cat’ the casual composition creates the impression that this was perhaps an impromptu sketch and so the cat may be one of Warhol’s own.

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