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BRIGID BERLIN:
FROM BEAU MONDE TO BOHEME
Brigid Berlin has spent over five decades living the most exciting kind of double life. She has gone from uptown to downtown, from debutante parties to partying with Andy Warhol, managing to carve a niche for herself in both these mythical and exclusive worlds within New York City.
As the daughter of Richard E. Berlin, the chief of the Hearst publishing empire, Brigid was born into the heart of the beau monde in the 1950s. She was groomed for dinners with prominent family friends like the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. But instead of playing the role of the dutiful daughter, Brigid moved downtown to become one of the most prominent and visible members of the Factory.
She was indispensable to Warhol from the moment they met. They talked on the phone every morning for many years and recorded their conversations (Brigid would tape Warhol, and Warhol would tape Brigid). Out of her drive to document herself and her friends, Brigid ended up assembling a significant archive of her cultural moment. From discussions with artist friends like Rauschenberg and Smithson to the legendary final performance of the Velvet Underground on August 23, 1970, now known as Live at Max’s Kansas City, Brigid recorded it all.
Aside from being arguably Warhol’s best friend, Brigid also had an extraordinary influence on his art. Historians still have yet to come to terms with how much Warhol’s work owes to Brigid. The obsession with recording both in Polaroid and tape, the total immersion in media culture, the fetish for stardom: all these things are as much a part of Brigid as they are of Warhol. No wonder, then, that Brigid used to go “prop shopping” with Warhol to pick out subjects for his artwork.
After Warhol died in 1987, Brigid continued to remain active in the social world. She became friends with people like Patty Hearst and John Waters, who gave her a cameo in Serial Mom. Brigid has also maintained her career as an artist, making intricate needlework pillows and other decorative objects with often subversive and hilarious content. A series of pillows depicting cover headlines from the New York Post will be featured in a solo show, “Breaking News,” beginning on October 21 at John McWhinnie @ Glenn Horowitz Bookseller.
No description of Brigid would be complete without paying tribute to her beloved pugs. Since 1958, Brigid has never been without a pug. To walk into her home is to walk into a shrine to these dogs. Statuettes, pillows, paintings, boxes: everything is under the sign of the pug. Of course, like their owner, Brigid’s pugs have nothing but the best. Each one of them wears a bespoke collar, made to order at Goyard in Paris.
FEEDING THE OBSESSION
Brigid’s passion for costume jewelry began while she was spending time with Andy Warhol at the Factory on 22 East 33rd Street. She quickly established herself among New York dealers as a collector who wanted the best pieces, and wanted them first. Many of them would come directly to Brigid’s office at the Factory with their newest stock for her to peruse.
Brigid was excited by exquisite workmanship, and it shows in her collection. In fact, this enthusiasm for the métier ran in the Berlin family: Brigid’s mother, the socialite Honey Berlin, was a client of Madame Gripoix in Paris and regularly commissioned custom pieces from her studio. Brigid complemented her collection of select vintage pieces by working with contemporary designers like Kenneth Jay Lane and Iradj Moini to produce one-of-a-kind pieces that reflect her unique sense of style.
QUOTABLE QUOTES
“Brigid was a rebel without a cause – her only cause really was upsetting her mother.”
– Bob Colacello
“I would stop at Tiffany’s, buy some sapphire cufflinks, and toss them from the seaplane into the swimming pool at Cherry Grove.”
– Brigid Berlin
“Obsession has always been the basis of Brigid’s humor. And her art is, really, about this kind of obsessional personality. I think it’s her therapy. Without the obsessions, Brigid might be in the most expensive mental institution in America!”
– John Waters
“Brigid was always my favorite Warhol star. She was such a star to me, so much more so than the people in ‘real’ movies.”
– John Waters
“They had a very perverse relationship, but it was also a very productive relationship. One of the best chapters in Andy’s Philosophy is the cleaning chapter, where he just tape-recorded Brigid talking about her ritual of cleaning her room at the George Washington Hotel.”
– Bob Colacello, on Andy and Brigid
“I don’t like gambling or anything like that – I like transacting and spending money.”
– Brigid Berlin
“Everything that I like – pleasure – makes me miserable.”
– Brigid Berlin
“Honey Berlin and Andy Warhol and me: the great big pie in the sky, the cake with no candles.”
– Brigid Berlin
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UPTOWN GIRL: Brigid dressed for Andy Warhol's opening at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN GLASS HOUSES: Brigid with close friend and architect Philip Johnson.
GOING ONCE: Brigid with pugs Whoopi and Honey at the sale of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor collection.
FACTOYR GIRL: Brigid in front of the last Factory at 22 East 33rd Street
ROYAL GARDEN PARTY: Richard and Honey Berlin with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
FASHION'S FRONT ROW: Honey Berlin and the Duchess of Windsor watching the runway.
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