Turnberry Isle was the setting for a September 1980 visit in which Andy Warhol’s portrait work and public appearances unfolded alongside the resort’s social program. The diary presents it less as a retreat than as a busy workplace: commissioned photo sessions were fitted around a cocktail party, dinner, press activity, and a hosted breakfast, leaving Warhol exhausted.

Arrival and Portrait Sessions

On September 5, a limousine took Warhol and his party from Miami to Turnberry Isle through traffic that made the journey last an hour and a half. A cocktail party downstairs became a working occasion: Warhol was expected to take photographs for three portraits while meeting guests and signing autographs. One woman, a friend of Liza Minnelli, asked to have her portrait made immediately, so they went upstairs and completed it before Warhol returned to the dinner hosted by the hotel’s owner.

After dinner, two more portrait sessions took place in the room. The women had contrasting complexions—one pale, the others suntanned—and, without a professional makeup artist, the group used a substantial amount of white makeup to adjust their appearance for the photographs. The work continued until about 2 a.m. Warhol was so tired afterward that he could not sleep.

Press and Resort Social Life

At breakfast on September 7, Warhol joined the owner, Donald Sopher, his wife Carol, and other guests at two tables. He had made Carol’s portrait two days earlier. He recalled the meal’s extensive buffet, including salmon, roast beef, bagels, cream cheese, and lox, and described the gathering as filled with chic and exciting people. Autograph signing and interviews continued, making the breakfast another public engagement rather than an interval away from work.

Warhol also recorded Sopher’s account of the scale of the property: he had acquired 800 acres of swamp and developed them into a resort. The detail gave the setting an unusual dimension in the diary, where the polished hospitality of the visit sat alongside the land transformation behind it. Although the stay offered elaborate meals and a carefully staged social environment, Warhol’s repeated obligations—to make portraits, speak with guests, sign autographs, and give interviews—made the resort visit strenuous.