David Whitney and Tibor de Nagy 1972

This photograph by Andy Warhol captures David Whitney and Tibor de Nagy in a seemingly candid moment, adorned in the classic bow ties of formal attire. The bow tie, a symbol of elegance and sophistication, echoes across centuries, from the elaborate ruffs of Renaissance nobility to the modern-day black-tie affair. Consider how this small piece of fabric, tied meticulously around the neck, has transformed from a marker of aristocratic distinction to a staple of bourgeois respectability. In earlier eras, the neck was a focal point for expressions of power and status; now, it hints at a certain self-conscious performance of class and identity. The gesture of dressing up, like the bow tie itself, can be understood through the lens of collective memory, subconsciously evoking a desire to belong to a lineage of refinement, of established social orders. Warhol, ever attuned to the subtleties of social performance, captures not just an image but a relic, a symbol laden with the weight of history, continuously reshaped and re-contextualized through time.