Brigid Emmett Berlin (September 6, 1939 – July 17, 2020) was an American artist and
Warhol superstar
Warhol superstars were a clique of New York City personalities promoted by the pop artist Andy Warhol during the 1960s and early 1970s. These personalities appeared in Warhol's artworks and accompanied him in his social life, epitomizing his fam ...
.
Early years
Berlin was born on September 6, 1939 in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. She was the eldest of three daughters born to socialite parents, Muriel (Johnson) "Honey" Berlin and
Richard E. Berlin
Richard E. Berlin (1894-1986) was the president and chief executive officer of the Hearst Foundation.
Work
In his early career Berlin directed advertising for ''The Smart Set'' and ''McClure's'' magazines. In 1919 he joined the Hearst Corporatio ...
. Her father was chairman of the
Hearst media empire for 32 years.
As a child, Berlin regularly mixed with celebrities and the powerful:
I would pick up the phone and it would be Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
. My parents entertained Lyndon Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
, J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation ...
, and there were lots of Hollywood people because of San Simeon
San Simeon (Spanish: ''San Simeón'', meaning "St. Simon") is a village and Census-designated place on the Pacific coast of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Its position along State Route 1 is about halfway between Los Angeles ...
– Clark Gable
William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...
, Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion pict ...
, Dorothy Kilgallen
Dorothy Mae Kilgallen (July 3, 1913 – November 8, 1965) was an American columnist, journalist, and television game show panelist. After spending two semesters at the College of New Rochelle, she started her career shortly before her 18th birth ...
... I have a box of letters, written to my parents in the late 1940s and 1950s from the Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
and Duchess of Windsor
Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (born Bessie Wallis Warfield, later Simpson; June 19, 1896 – April 24, 1986), was an American socialite and wife of the former King Edward VIII. Their intention to marry and her status as a divorcée caused a ...
.
Her socialite mother frequently worried about Brigid's weight and constantly attempted to get her to lose it through any means, from giving her cash for every pound she lost at age 11 to having the family doctor prescribe
amphetamine
Amphetamine (contracted from alpha- methylphenethylamine) is a strong central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy, and obesity. It is also commonly used ...
s and
dexedrine
Dextroamphetamine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant and an amphetamine enantiomer that is prescribed for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy. It is also used as an athletic performance and c ...
. Berlin recalled, "My mother wanted me to be a slim, respectable socialite. Instead, I became an overweight troublemaker."
She was briefly married to John Parker, a window dresser. They married in 1960 and later divorced. As Andy Warhol observed in his book ''Popism'': "When Brigid brought her window dresser fiancé home to meet the family, her mother told the doorman to tell him to wait on a bench across the street in
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
. Then she handed Brigid her wedding present – a hundred dollar bill – and told her to go to
Bergdorf's and buy herself some new underwear with it. Then she added, 'Good luck with that fairy.'"
She had three siblings, all younger: sister Richie, who was, for a time, the roommate of Warhol Films' "It Girl" and superstar
Edie Sedgwick
Edith Minturn Sedgwick Post (April 20, 1943 – November 16, 1971) was an American actress and fashion model, known for being one of Andy Warhol's superstars.Watson, Steven (2003), "Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties" Pantheon Books, pp. 210& ...
; youngest sister Christina "Chrissy" Berlin, who was instrumental in engineering the defection of Russian ballet star
Mikhail Baryshnikov
Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov ( rus, Михаил Николаевич Барышников, p=mʲɪxɐˈil bɐ'rɨʂnʲɪkəf; lv, Mihails Barišņikovs; born January 28, 1948) is a Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Latvian-born R ...
; and the youngest sibling, brother Richard Berlin Jr.
Association with Andy Warhol
After several years as a reluctant debutante and a failed marriage, Brigid Berlin met
Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...
in 1964 and quickly became a central member of his entourage. After moving to
Hotel Chelsea
The Hotel Chelsea (also the Chelsea Hotel or the Chelsea) is a hotel in Manhattan, New York City, built between 1883 and 1885. The 250-unit hotel is located at 222 West 23rd Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, in the neighborhood of Ch ...
, she took on the nickname Brigid Polk because of her habit of giving out 'pokes', injections of Vitamin B and
amphetamine
Amphetamine (contracted from alpha- methylphenethylamine) is a strong central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy, and obesity. It is also commonly used ...
s. These injections were readily available through the many 'Doctor Feelgoods' in New York and perfectly legal.
Berlin appeared in several of Warhol's films, including ''
Chelsea Girls
''Chelsea Girls'' is a 1966 American experimental underground film directed by Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey. The film was Warhol's first major commercial success after a long line of avant-garde art films (both feature-length and short). It w ...
'' (1966), in which she is seen injecting herself while performing a monologue, and ''
Ciao! Manhattan
''Ciao! Manhattan'' is a 1972 American avant garde film starring Edie Sedgwick. A scripted drama in which most of the actors play themselves, it centers on a character very closely based on Sedgwick, and deals with the pain of addiction and the ...
'' (1972), which starred
Edie Sedgwick
Edith Minturn Sedgwick Post (April 20, 1943 – November 16, 1971) was an American actress and fashion model, known for being one of Andy Warhol's superstars.Watson, Steven (2003), "Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties" Pantheon Books, pp. 210& ...
. Decades later, she appeared in minor parts in two
John Waters
John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his Cinema of Transgression, transgressive cult films, including ''Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), ''Pink Flamin ...
' films: ''
Serial Mom
Serial may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media The presentation of works in sequential segments
* Serial (literature), serialised literature in print
* Serial (publishing), periodical publications and newspapers
* Serial (radio and televisi ...
'' (1994) and ''
Pecker'' (1998). ''Pie in the Sky: The Brigid Berlin Story'' (2000) is a documentary in which she tells her life story in intimate detail and breaks her diet by consuming an entire meal of key lime pies. In its review, ''Variety'' suggests "Berlin comes across as a rather sad character despite her colorful and provocative life."
She was known for her obsessive taping and photographing of everyday life. Selections from these tapes were later compiled by
Anthony Ingrassia
Anthony J. Ingrassia (1944 – December 16, 1995), better known as Tony Ingrassia, was an American director, producer, and playwright whose works were produced on Broadway, Off Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, and internationally.
Early years
Tony I ...
to form the play ''
Andy Warhol's Pork
''Andy Warhol's Pork'' (also known as ''Pork'') is the first and only play by Andy Warhol. It was directed by Anthony Ingrassia, produced by Ira Gale, and stage-managed by Leee Black Childers. ''Pork'' opened on May 5, 1971, at La MaMa Experim ...
''. Other tapes made by her were the basis for ''
Live at Max's Kansas City
''Live at Max's Kansas City'' is a live album by the Velvet Underground recorded at the famous nightclub and restaurant at 213 Park Avenue South in New York City. It was originally released on May 30, 1972, by Cotillion, a subsidiary label of At ...
'' (recorded 1970, released 1972),
The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacLise w ...
's first live album.
Berlin was complicit in one of Warhol's more infamous pranks when, in 1969, Warhol announced that all of his paintings were the work of Berlin. Brigid enthusiastically followed this line when interviewed by ''Time''. The prank led to a drop in the value of Warhol's work, and both parties eventually retracted their statements. The question of authorship looms large in valuing Warhol's paintings to this day.
In 1975, Berlin began work as a permanent employee for Andy Warhol's ''
Interview
An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" ...
'' magazine, a position that she held until well after Warhol's death. Berlin transcribed interviews as well as knitted under the desk.
Patricia Hearst
Patricia is a female given name of Latin origin. Derived from the Latin word ''patrician'', meaning "noble"; it is the feminine form of the masculine given name Patrick. The name Patricia was the second most common female name in the United State ...
(a close friend of Berlin who began work at ''Interview'' in 1988) observed "On my first day at work, I noticed two small pugs who seemed to have the run of the castle. They belonged to a woman who sat behind the front desk every day from 9:00 to 5:00, but who never seemed to answer the phone. Instead, she compulsively knitted, ate bags of candy and tended lovingly to the dogs."
Artwork
Berlin was also a prolific artist. Therein it has been argued by some that her artwork was both influential to Andy Warhol's and simultaneously overshadowed by Warhol's celebrity and output. Berlin's "Tit Prints" were artworks created using her bare breasts. Berlin would dip her breasts into multiple colored paints and then create a print by pressing them down onto canvas/paper. The Tit Prints are arguably Berlin's most infamous work and were exhibited by Jane Stubbs at a gallery on Madison Avenue in 1996. On occasion, Berlin would publicly create Tit Prints, integrating visual art and performance art that "is totally not about nudity, this is about, you know, art." She performed this act live at the Gramercy International Art Fair. After experiencing the performance, filmmaker
John Waters
John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his Cinema of Transgression, transgressive cult films, including ''Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), ''Pink Flamin ...
later said "I think that she's the most unselfconscious nude person...
he has
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
great confidence for a fat girl."
Berlin also compiled and maintained scrapbooks that she referred to as "trip books." Volumes of these scrapbooks collecting cartoons and sketches of male genitalia were known as "The Cock Book" and included the genitalia of artists such as
Jasper Johns
Jasper Johns (born May 15, 1930) is an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker whose work is associated with abstract expressionism, Neo-Dada, and pop art. He is well known for his depictions of the American flag and other US-related top ...
,
Robert Rauschenberg
Milton Ernest "Robert" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his Combines (1954–1964), a group of artwor ...
, and Warhol. Three volumes of "The Cock Book" sold for $175,000 at auction to artist
Richard Prince
Richard Prince (born 1949) is an American painter and photographer. In the mid-1970s, Prince made drawings and painterly collages that he has since disowned. His image, ''Untitled (Cowboy)'', a rephotographing of a photograph by Sam Abell and ...
.
Both Berlin and Warhol used the medium of
Polaroid
Polaroid may refer to:
* Polaroid Corporation, an American company known for its instant film and cameras
* Polaroid camera, a brand of instant camera formerly produced by Polaroid Corporation
* Polaroid film, instant film, and photographs
* Polar ...
photography obsessively, and are said to have been very competitive in the Polaroid film department, whether over the best equipment or the best film. In 1969–1970 German art dealer
Heiner Friedrich Heiner Friedrich (born April 14, 1938 in Stettin) is an art dealer and collector of minimal art and conceptual art.[Off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...](_blank ...<br></span></div> did a small showing of Berlin's work called ''Polaroids and Tapes'' and created a catalogue for the work of the same name. The experimental nature of Berlin's double-exposed Polaroids transcend the static, emotionless )
one-woman shows. A one-woman show of her Polaroid self-portraits titled "It's All About Me" showed in 2015 at the
Invisible-Exports Gallery in New York City. The ''New York Times'' review stated "Ms. Berlin's prints seem less of a lark and more like a strident, celebratory statement by an artist who was never shy about exposing...well, anything."
Berlin's digitized archives were published in 2015 as ''Brigid Berlin Polaroids'' with a foreword by John Waters. A review of the book in the ''Wall Street Journal'' notes that Berlin was also the first person Andy Warhol allowed to photograph his body after the 1968 assassination attempt.
Filmography
*''
Chelsea Girls
''Chelsea Girls'' is a 1966 American experimental underground film directed by Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey. The film was Warhol's first major commercial success after a long line of avant-garde art films (both feature-length and short). It w ...
'' (1966)
*''
Tub Girls
''Tub Girls'' is a 1967 American avant garde film directed by Andy Warhol and starring Viva, one of the Warhol Superstars. The film features Viva sitting naked in a bathtub talking with other Factory regulars, including Brigid Berlin (credited a ...
'' (1967)
*''
Bike Boy'' (1967)
*''
The Nude Restaurant
''The Nude Restaurant'', also billed as ''Nude Restaurant'', is a 1967 feature-length underground film directed by Andy Warhol, and starring Viva, Louis Waldon, Taylor Mead, Billy Name, Allen Midgette, and Rolando Peña. Different versions of the ...
'' (1967)
*''
Imitation of Christ
In Christian theology, the imitation of Christ is the practice of following the example of Jesus.''A concise dictionary of theology'' by Gerald O'Collins, Edward G. Farrugia 2004 page 115''Imitating Jesus: an inclusive approach to New Testament ...
'' (1967)
*''
Four Stars****'' (1967) aka ''24 Hour Movie''
*''
Lonesome Cowboys
''Lonesome Cowboys'' is a 1968 American Western film directed by Andy Warhol and written and produced by Paul Morrissey. The film is a satire of Hollywood Westerns, and was initially screened in November 1968 at the San Francisco International ...
'' (1967) (originally Berlin was to play a leader of a rival gang of cowboys)
*''The Loves of Ondine'' (1967)
*''
Women in Revolt
''Women in Revolt'' is a 1971 American satirical film produced by Andy Warhol and directed by Paul Morrissey. The film stars Jackie Curtis, Candy Darling, and Holly Woodlawn, three trans women and superstars of Warhol's Factory scene. It also fea ...
'' (1971)
*''
Ciao! Manhattan
''Ciao! Manhattan'' is a 1972 American avant garde film starring Edie Sedgwick. A scripted drama in which most of the actors play themselves, it centers on a character very closely based on Sedgwick, and deals with the pain of addiction and the ...
'' (1972)
*''Phoney'' (1973)
*''Fight'' (1975)
*''
Andy Warhol's Bad
''Andy Warhol's Bad'' is a 1977 comedy film directed by Jed Johnson and starring Carroll Baker, Perry King, and Susan Tyrrell. It was written by Pat Hackett and George Abagnalo, and was the last film produced by Andy Warhol before his death ...
'' (1977)
*''The Critical Years'' (1987)
*''
Serial Mom
Serial may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media The presentation of works in sequential segments
* Serial (literature), serialised literature in print
* Serial (publishing), periodical publications and newspapers
* Serial (radio and televisi ...
'' (1994)
*''
Pecker'' (1998)
*''Pie in the Sky: The Brigid Berlin Story'' (1999)
*''Danny Williams and the Dream Factory'' (documentary, 2007)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berlin, Brigid
1939 births
2020 deaths
20th-century American painters
21st-century American painters
American debutantes
American performance artists
American photographers
American contemporary painters
People from the Upper East Side
American women painters
People associated with The Factory
Painters from New York City
Film directors from New York City
20th-century American women photographers
20th-century American photographers
21st-century American women photographers
21st-century American photographers