Jamie Wyeth b. 1946

In 1976, when Jamie Wyeth painted Andy Warhol's portrait, he set up a makeshift studio at Warhol's Factory, located at 860 Broadway at 18th Street. Completed decades later, a.w. on phone. watching soaps at brass deco desk depicts Wyeth's recollections of that famed environment.

The present painting captures the view that greeted visitors on the Factory's fourth floor: a large period Wiener Werkstätte desk of bronze and enamel that served as the reception area. While Ronnie Cutrone or Brigid Berlin sometimes sat there, often Warhol himself perched at the desk to watch whoever came in and monitor the boxy TV set connected to a lobby camera—technology that was very ahead of its time. Whoever occupied that position could watch visitors heading into the Factory from downstairs. Since Andy had been shot in 1968, security remained a constant consideration.