Warhol Women | Blondie

Debbie Harry first saw Andy Warhol in 1965 at an event at Carnegie Hall, where she had opened for the band Warhol managed, The Velvet Underground. Speaking with Cheyenne Westphal in 2011, Harry retained a vivid memory of the first time she saw the artist, saying he, “looked like he came from 30 years in the future and the crowd just parted.” [1] The two later became acquainted through a chance run-in on Broadway and 13^th Street, and Harry noted that after they “chatted about everything,” invitations for her to visit the Factory followed. [2]

Asked how it felt to sit for Warhol, Harry remembered the artist’s Polaroid camera, and noted how his soft-spoken manner made for a relaxed experience. But if Warhol was soft-spoken, the Factory also attracted much stronger personalities, and Harry’s first encounter with “the Warhol crowd” was somewhat less comfortable. Speaking with punk music journalist Legs McNeil in 1982, Harry recalled her early encounters with members of Warhol’s entourage when they made late-night visits to Max’s Kansas City, where she was then waiting tables:

“Some of them were nice, some of them were just real bitchy, most of them were very cliquish at the time because they were so hot. I was more afraid of them because they came in so late at night and they were so wild and I was such an asshole, you know… I was such a… I didn’t really know anything or anybody so they were kind of scary.” [3]

In addition to being the subject of one of the artist’s most iconic portraits, Harry, by then a famous musician, became a regular guest on his television show WarholTV, cementing her association with Warhol’s circle. [4]

In honor of our exhibition Warhol Women, we’re sharing some of the stories behind the artist’s iconic portraits. Visit the Happenings page each week to read more!

Notes:

[1] Cheyenne Westphal, “Interview with Debbie Harry,” Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Auction(London: June 29, 2011), auction catalogue.
[2] Cheyenne Westphal, “Interview with Debbie Harry,” Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Auction(London: June 29, 2011), auction catalogue.
[3] Debbie Harry, interviewed by Legs McNeil, “‘Supposed to Be Questions About Fucking Punk Man’: The Debbie Harry Interview,” interview from January 5, 1982, published online on FlashbakJuly 8, 2016.https://flashbak.com/supposed-to-be-questions-about-fucking-punk-man-the-debbie-harry-interview-360832/.
[4] Cheyenne Westphal, “Interview with Debbie Harry,” Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Auction(London: June 29, 2011), auction catalogue.