In writing this book I have received a great amount of support and assistance. I know how lucky I have been to benefit from the knowledge, suggestions and kindness of all those who have helped me; without them this book could not have been written at all and the certain inadequacies of this text reflect on myself solely.
I should not have been able to proceed in the first place without the financial support of a Henry Moore Foundation post-doctoral fellowship. I am especially grateful to the Henry Moore Institute’s Head of Sculpture Studies, Lisa Le Feuvre, for her belief in my project early on. The commitment to research and scholarship at the Henry Moore Institute was humbling from the start. It provided a friendly, grounded environment in which to develop my work in termly seminars and presentations. I am grateful to all those who attended these sessions for their contributions in testing my ideas out and encouraging their development, particularly Jon Wood and Pavel Pys. I hope I reciprocated with my own contributions to the discussions in my time there.
At the Department of the History of Art, UCL, my long-time home from home, my work has continually been supported and advocated to the wider world, primarily through the figures of Professors Frederic Schwartz, Briony Fer and Andrew Hemingway. To them, and to the staff at the department in general but, especially, Charles Ford, I owe a great deal for their friendly guidance and their interest in my progress from BA student to published author. Special thanks also goes to UCL’s Art Librarian, Liz Lawes and to Daniela Tanner Hernández for her help with the index.
Matt Wrbican, the archivist at the Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, is the foremost authority on Andy Warhol. It is through his great generosity and the kindness of the staff at the Warhol, especially Greg Burchard, that this book has much of its content. Geri Amanda at the Menil Collection; Dominic Molon and the staff at the Museum of the Rhode Island School of Design; and Mark Francis of the Gagosian, London, were all key friends and supporters of the project.
Likewise, I want to thank Gary Comenas author of Warholstars.org for his assistance. Warholstars is really something special, an invaluable resource for anyone interested in Warhol and those around him. In correspondence with Gary, I have learnt a huge amount and, through his support for my project, he has gained my lasting affection.
As part of a wider network of young scholars in universities in the UK and abroad, my understanding of Warhol’s work and times was improved enormously by conversations with James Boaden, Alex Taylor and Elisa Schaar. In addition, for crucial feedback and encouragement, at many different stages of this book’s development, I owe thanks to the readership and support of John Jervis, Anthony Grudin and Mark Stuart-Smith.
I want to acknowledge a list of Warhol ex-associates and champions who have all contributed their time and knowledge to my research. My thanks goes to Bob Colacello, Vito Giallo, Thomas Kiedrowski, Benjamin Lui, Gerard Malanga, Billy Name, John O’Connor and Paige Powell.
My heartfelt thanks also goes to Elizabeth Murray Finkelstein, Bettina Funcke, Seth Price, Richard Prince, Jason Sapan, Arthur Tress, Wolfgang Tillmans and Kelley Walker.
Finally my editors, Baillie Card and Anna Coatman, made I.B.Tauris the best possible place to take my work. Their faith in the book and stewardship of the project meant that the, at times, harrowing experience of going to press was also a rewarding and even fun experience.
This book is dedicated to the memory of my father; to my family, my mother Mary and my brother Ja; but especially to Cadence Kinsey on whose caring, careful support and companionship I have depended these last few years. She has given meaning to (and allayed a lot of nonsense from) both this book and its author’s life, her contribution has been and continues to be fundamental.