Andy Warhol and His Amazing Technicolor Shoes: Characterizing the Synthetic Dyes Found in Dr. Ph. Martin’s Synchromatic Transparent Watercolors and Used in À la Recherche du Shoe Perdu

Synthetic organic dyes were extensively used by artists in the first half of 20th century, knowingly or otherwise. This included Andy Warhol and his À la Recherche du Shoe Perdu (c. 1955), a major portfolio hand-colored prints, copy which resides collection The Museum Modern Art (MoMA). friends known to use Dr. Ph. Martin’s Synchromatic Transparent Water Colors bring these prints life. A historical set Watercolors initially investigated UV-visible spectroscopy, samples from historic also characterized µ-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy for fingerprint identification. To better elucidate nature mixtures present, thin-layer chromatography was coupled with surface-enhanced Raman separate components all colorants set. decisively identified include Acid Red 73, 87, 17, 103, Basic 1, Orange 7, Yellow 23, Green 4, Blue 3, 93, Violet 10, Black 2. Overall, along 7 2, found greatest number Data subsequently direct comparison reflectance spectra using principal component analysis. Microfade testing on brochure conducted identify fugitive colorants, results extrapolated each portfolio. analysis provided further insight into confirmed extreme light sensitivity some fastness others.