Ronee Blakley

Ronee Blakley is a recurring but briefly recorded presence in Andy Warhol’s diary: she appears at gatherings around his art and film work, and once invited him to the Academy Awards. The entries do not develop her biography; instead, they capture her through particular encounters and the occasions that brought her into Warhol’s orbit.

At the Gallery Opening

At the opening of Warhol’s Hammer & Sickle exhibition at Castelli Gallery, Blakley was among the guests who arrived as the initially quiet gathering filled up. The diary places her within a busy social scene of artists, collectors, and other guests, but records no particular exchange between her and Warhol that evening. Her presence is one detail in the opening’s larger picture of the exhibition as both an art event and a meeting place.

Los Angeles Gatherings

On March 26, 1977, Blakley attended a Los Angeles party that Warhol described as a gathering of roughly 200 people. She was there with her brother, amid guests assembled around the film Bad and its premiere-season events. The entry gives no conversation or action specific to Blakley; its value is as a record of her place in the broad social company surrounding the film.

The Invitation to the Academy Awards

The following day, Blakley invited Warhol to attend the Academy Awards ceremony with her. He missed the invitation because he was in Fred Hughes’s room photographing jockey Willie Shoemaker for a commissioned portrait project. The diary preserves the missed opportunity as a small collision between Warhol’s work and social life: Blakley offered him a place at the ceremony, while his attention remained with a portrait appointment. Across these entries, she is glimpsed through attendance and invitation rather than through an extended personal portrait.