Studio 54 Complimentary Drink Invitation, 1978

Went to Castellano’s for dinner (cab $6) with David Whitney, but without Philip who was off having dinner with some swells. And David still reminds me that he wants us to get married, and now that I hear how many Jasper Johnses he has, it would be really worth it.
ANDY WARHOL

(Andy Warhol, from Andy Warhol Diaries, January 12, 1987, p. 791).

The present lot, inscribed “To David Whitney 1978” captures a slice of not only the glimmering world of Studio 54 in the late 1970s, but also a personal relationship vital to both artist and friend. David Whitney was an American art curator, gallerist and critic, anda close friend of Andy Warhol. Studio 54 Complimentary Drink Invitation, 1978, a unique screenprint on paper, reveals four screens of the studio tickets offering complimentary drinks to the holder who revealed them at the door of the most famous nightclub. The repeated screens offer access to a world brimming with the pleasure and profusion that defned the decade from which these stubs were stolen. The present lot was inscribed just days before Andy Warhol admitted he should have married the magnanimous curator and gallerist.