Warhol’s Ladies and Gentleman series is one of his most iconic: a series
of polaroids and silkscreen paintings of 14 trans and drag queen models.
Commissioned in 1975 by the Italian art dealer Luciano Ansemino, it is
the first time that Warhol moved away from using appropriated images,
instead posing and photographing the models in his studio, the Factory.
Anselmino suggested a series of ‘impersonal, anonymous’ pictures of
‘transvestites’ and came up with the theatrical title.

The anonymity of the sitters was integral to the work and was at odds
with Andy Warhol’s own particular fascination with the cult of the
celebrity (Jackie Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley are among
the many celebrities who feature in his work).

Of the 14 sitters, each is identified by their handwritten names to the
verso of Warhol’s polaroids. None of the sitters are believed to still be
alive.

The subjects were recruited by Warhol’s friends, many from the Gilded
Grape, a bar on Manhattan’s 8th Avenue. It was a popular hangout for
New York’s Black and Latinx trans women and drag queens. It was close
to Warhol’s studio, known as The Factory, and he would sometimes take
clients there for a look at Manhattan’s nightlife.

Warhol took over 500 photographs of 14 models. He often sifted through
the Polaroids with the sitter to find the ones they both thought worked
well. A selection of them were then enlarged onto silkscreens.
The result was a large group of paintings that deviated from the original
proposal in favour of an exploration of performance, glamour and
personality.

In 2014 the Warhol Foundation published an official list of all of the
Ladies and Gentlemen paintings. This featured the names of 13 out of
the 14 sitters for the first time that they were able to identify: one of them
was Helen/Harry Morales. Warhol enjoyed their sitting so much that
he asked her to return the following day, where she appeared without
the bouffant wig. Warhol made 31 paintings of Morales and took 42
Polaroids.