Mary Boone

Mary Boone’s significance in Andy Warhol’s diary lies in the practical terms of artistic representation: who sells an artist’s work, what share the dealer takes, and which gallery can offer a route to exhibition. Her relationship with Jean-Michel Basquiat changes from a contested commercial arrangement to a departure that both reportedly welcome. Later, Boone approaches Warhol about showing with her gallery, making her presence part of the diary’s record of shifting affiliations in the New York art world.

Representation and the terms of sale

In October 1983, Boone’s connection to Basquiat is presented through a direct comparison of commissions. Paige Powell had been selling Basquiat’s paintings and, according to Warhol’s account, took 10 percent; Boone took 50 percent. Basquiat had dropped Boone but remained with Bruno (art dealer), so his departure from one gallery did not mean that he would cease to be shown. The diary gives no fuller account of the arrangements or of how the percentages were set, but the contrast makes the stakes legible: gallery representation was not simply a matter of visibility, but also of who handled sales and what share they received.

That business change appears alongside personal unease. Paige was upset that Basquiat had not called her or Warhol, and she considered forgetting him, insisting that the relationship had to be all or nothing. Warhol told her that Basquiat was pursuing Joanna Carson in Milan, while wondering whether he should have said so. His reflection moves quickly from a specific piece of news to a resigned generalization about people continuing to love despite what they say. Boone is not presented as part of this emotional exchange, but the commercial rupture is embedded in a wider moment when professional dealings and private attachment are difficult to separate.

Basquiat at the Mary Boone Gallery

In 1984, Basquiat himself called Warhol and invited him to see his show at the Mary Boone Gallery. Warhol accepted and brought Jay Shriver and Benjamin Liu. The visit places Boone’s gallery at the center of a public presentation of Basquiat’s work, while the diary’s attention remains characteristically social as well as professional: Basquiat seemed very nervous, and he was holding hands with a pretty Korean woman who worked as secretary to Larry Gagosian, his gallery contact in Los Angeles. Warhol judged that Basquiat would break her heart, noting how pretty women were drawn to him. The observation records Warhol’s impression, not a confirmed account of what happened between them.

The diary thus shows the gallery opening through several overlapping forms of attention. Basquiat’s paintings looked good to Warhol; the artist’s nervousness and companionship also became part of his account of the visit. The gallery is not described through its organization or exhibition program, but through this concrete encounter: an invitation from Basquiat, a visit with Warhol’s companions, and a viewing that brings the work and the artist’s immediate social world into the same frame.

Departure and a new approach to Warhol

By August 1986, Basquiat had left Boone, and Warhol recorded that both were glad about the separation. Basquiat was no longer with a gallery and wanted to be with Leo Castelli. Warhol doubted that Castelli would take on anyone, and noted that Basquiat wanted even a single show there, although he knew Castelli would not sell anything. The account marks a clear change from the earlier Mary Boone Gallery exhibition: Basquiat’s representation was unsettled, and his desired next step was not a return to Boone but a hoped-for appearance with another dealer.

Later that year, Boone herself appears in a separate negotiation over Warhol’s work. Fred Hughes came to see him with Boone, who wanted Warhol to join her gallery. Warhol had not yet spoken with Fred about what they had discussed at lunch. He noticed Boone’s fur coat and described her smile by comparison with Ileana Sonnabend’s. The brief entry preserves the approach without recording a decision or agreement: Boone expressed interest, Fred was present, and Warhol had not yet discussed the matter with his longtime business associate.

Exhibitions, reputation, and the diary’s record

At a dinner following a David Salle opening, Warhol again noted that Boone wanted to give him a show, this time specifying the Rorschach works. In the same entry, he recorded that The Village Voice had given his photography exhibition a good review. The juxtaposition is telling without establishing that either development caused the other: Boone’s interest in a new body of work coexists with favorable attention to a different exhibition. The diary reports the offer, but does not say whether the Rorschach show took place.

Across these encounters, Boone is defined less by biography than by recurring acts of gallery-making and solicitation. She is associated with Basquiat’s earlier representation, a gallery show that he personally asked Warhol to attend, his later departure, and her efforts to attract Warhol’s work. The diary’s selective, day-by-day form leaves the negotiations incomplete; it records percentages, introductions, intentions, and changing affiliations rather than supplying a comprehensive account of Boone’s career. That incompleteness is part of her narrative role: she appears where artistic visibility becomes a question of who represents whom, on what terms, and with which exhibition still only proposed.