Bella Abzug

Bella Abzug is glimpsed through concise, scattered entries rather than a sustained biographical narrative. The diary records election outcomes, her presence at an embassy gathering, and a portrait Warhol made of her—details that place her at the intersection of political activity and the social world around him.

Public and Social Appearances

At a gathering at the Iranian embassy, Abzug arrived with her husband, Martin, and Shirley MacLaine. She appears among a varied group of guests, including Margaret Trudeau and Barry Landau, as the evening moved from dinner to the upstairs gathering. The entry gives no account of Abzug’s role in the event beyond her presence, but it locates her within a network where political figures, entertainers, and Warhol’s acquaintances met.

Another embassy entry links Abzug to MacLaine in a more personal way: MacLaine told Warhol that she kept a portrait he had made of Abzug on her bureau. The diary also briefly refers to Abzug’s campaigner without identifying the person. Together, these details suggest how Abzug’s public standing entered Warhol’s social circle and how his portrait of her circulated into a private home.

Election Outcomes

The diary reports Abzug’s electoral setbacks in two terse updates. In Paris on September 9, 1977, Warhol learned that Abzug had lost while Cuomo had won. Elsewhere, an entry states that Abzug lost to Bill Green. The notes preserve the outcomes but provide little detail about the contests, their campaigns, or Abzug’s response; their abruptness makes political news one thread among the many personal and social events Warhol recorded.

Portrait and Narrative Presence

Warhol’s portrait gives Abzug a presence in the diary beyond the brief reports of elections and appearances. MacLaine’s account of keeping it on her bureau supplies a specific destination for the image: it had moved from the artist’s work into a private domestic setting. The diary does not describe the portrait itself, but the detail connects Abzug’s public identity to Warhol’s portrait practice and to the intimate social networks through which his work was seen.