Paola Dominguín, 1981
Polaroid print
3 ⅜ × 4 ¼ in.
Embossed "ANDY WARHOL" in the lower right margin.
January 2, 2024
In the early 1980s, Andy Warhol was a fixture at top fashion shows, where he could be seen shooting his own photos of the models on the runway. When Warhol photographed Paola Dominguín in 1981 she had emerged as a jet setting model, and was walking in shows for designers like Valentino, Giorgio Armani, and Óscar de la Renta.
Paola Dominguín no doubt held a particular fascination for Warhol because her life story was like a fable of international celebrity. She was born in Madrid in 1960, the product of a tempestuous marriage between Spain’s most celebrated bullfighter, Luis Miguel Dominguín, and famed Italian actress Lucia Bosé. Ernest Hemingway was a close family friend, and Pablo Picasso was her godfather. She spent summers drawing with Picasso at his house on the Côte d'Azur. At the time when this photo was taken, her brother, the singer Miguel Bosé, was a pop music sensation in Italy, Spain, and Latin America.
Warhol photographed Dominguín in a glamorous Yves Saint-Laurent cocktail dress that highlights her Spanish heritage, and used this image as the basis for subsequent drawings and prints.
