These boots were made for walking

Gold Baby Shoes, Andy Warhol (1956) A Pair of Boots, Vincent Van Gogh (1887)

Boots are a vital part of any walkers equipment so I wanted to compare the work of two different artists on this subject. Firstly, I choose to include Andy Warhol’s ‘Gold Baby Shoes’, as Andy Warhol is one of my favourite artists and because I like this piece of work. I also like the medium Warhol has used to create ‘Gold Baby Shoes’ - the medium is unusual, gold leaf and pen and ink. It is a small art piece, 8 x 10 in. They are the first type of ‘shoes’ (I would call them boots) that children use to take their first steps walking outdoors. I wondered if I could use a similar style (no gold leaf though) by drawing my own walking boots? Boots are essential for the type of walking I do.

Van Gogh produced several paintings of shoes or boots. There is nothing dainty about the boots Van Gogh painted. They were rough and well-worn. They were the boots of a working man and had to be sturdy- note the studs on the bottom of the shoes. The colour and roughness of the boots and the background indicated by the paint and strokes reinforce teh roughness. Fellow artist and friend, John Peter Russell, stated that Van Gogh's paintings of the boots and shoes were a message that Van Gogh understood the hard working life of the peasant or working man.

References

Claymoors List, Gold Baby Shoes, Andy Warhol, www.claymoorslist.com/2013/05/andy-warhol-gold-baby-shoes-c-1956.html. [Accessed: 17th November 2014].

Still life paintings by Vincent van Gogh, Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Still_life_paintings_by_Vincent_van_Gogh_%28Paris%29, [Accessed: 18th November 2014].