Andy Warhol — Ladies and Gentlemen (Portfolio of Ten, 1975)

Created in 1975, Andy Warhol’s Ladies and Gentlemen stands among the most culturally charged bodies of work in his post-Factory period, translating the underground glamour of 1970s New York into museum-grade portraiture. Conceived at the initiative of gallerist and publisher Luciano Anselmino and realized from Warhol’s Polaroid sittings, the series focuses on African-American and Hispanic drag performers associated with Manhattan nightlife—an era defined by sexual liberation, the rise of queer visibility, and the electric social orbit of venues such as the Gilded Grape and Studio 54. Warhol’s signature screenprint language—high contrast, saturated chroma, and deliberate shifts in color registration—does not merely depict its subjects; it elevates them into icons, capturing a rare intersection of strength and vulnerability, performance and authenticity.

This complete portfolio of ten screenprints on Arches paper is catalogued in the Catalogue Raisonné (II.130, p. 90), a key point of verification for connoisseurs and institutions alike, and is signed, dated, and numbered in pencil on the verso. With its historically specific subject matter and tightly controlled edition structure, Ladies and Gentlemen has become one of the most sought-after Warhol print portfolios for collectors building blue-chip Pop holdings with a clear cultural narrative and long-term relevance. The work’s early European presentation—most notably in Italy—further underscores Warhol’s transatlantic influence and the series’ role in expanding the canon of contemporary portraiture toward communities previously kept at the margins.