Episode 31: Rory Trifon, The Estate of Richard Bernstein
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Richard with Divine, Iman, Grace Jones and Dolph Lundgren at the launch of his 1984 book Megastar.
Changing the format of the podcast a little, instead of interviewing a creative this time I am speaking with an artist's estate. Last month I had the opportunity to chat with Rory Trifon, the president of the Estate of Richard Bernstein, over Zoom.
Richard and Berry. Photographed by Jack Robinson for Vogue, August 1972.
Known for his saturated, highly glamorous covers for Interview magazine, Richard Bernstein was born in New York in 1939; he passed away from AIDs-related complications in 2002. Rory is Richard's nephew and the one entrusted with maintaining and carrying forward his legacy. In our conversation Rory provides a short biography, touching on his art education, his pill paintings, his early exhibitions in Europe, and years as an artist before he became part of Warhol's circle as cover artist for Interview in 1972. Richard's redesign of the Interview logo (a lipstick scrawl) and aesthetic (colorful pop art) became instantly iconic—already a key figure on the New York nightlife scene, Richard was now highly in demand as a portrait artist. Warhol said of Richard that he could make anyone beautiful; more so, Richard made already beautiful celebrities into stars—the most beautiful that any of them ever looked. Though gay, Richard was in a relationship with photographer Berry Berenson (granddaughter of Elsa Schiaparelli and sister of Marisa) for several years—they were a highly vital couple at every NYC party. In 1973, she left him for actor Anthony Perkins—while they stayed friends, losing Berry drove Bernstein further into partying and drugs.
In the late 1970s, Richard Bernstein became friends with Grace Jones, helping to mold her visual identity as she first emerged as a singer. With his imagery for her first album, Portfolio, he created the Grace Jones that is seared into all of our memories: exotic, snarling, beautiful, dangerous, like no one else. Bernstein and Jones continued to work together for many years on many projects; he even introduced her to Jean-Paul Goude, with whom she would become muse and have a child.
Richard created the cover for every Interview magazine up until Warhol's death in 1987—a prodigious volume of work that serves as an archive of 1970s and 1980s celebrity culture. Having mostly forsaken his fine art career for Interview and partying, after the magazine rebranded Richard tried to return to fine art—becoming an early innovator within digital art. Branded as a commercial artist, his fine art canvases never received the attention they should have had during his lifetime.
“Violet Pilules,” c. 1968.
From 1969 to 2002 Richard lived in the grand ballroom of the Chelsea Hotel, living and working in the vast space. When he passed away, his sister (Rory's mother) quickly had to clear out the thirty-three years of art. After a decade of dealing with estate tax issues, Rory left his job in finance to start archiving the work and running the estate. We speak about what is like to run an artist's estate, what it entails, and the process of archiving. Rory was instrumental in the creation of a coffee table book on Richard, Starmaker, which was published by Rizzoli in 2018; I highly suggest reading this if you would like to learn about Richard’s life, in detail. Rory and I also speak about the inclusion of Richard's work in a new exhibition opening at the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh this fall. Called 'Andy Warhol's Social Network', it focuses on Warhol's network of friends and collaborators; it runs from September 24, 2022, to February 20, 2023.
Richard Bernstein deserves to be better known and to have his whole oeuvre celebrated. Rory is doing a wonderful job bringing Richard's art into the greater consciousness through collaborations with brands like Coach and Loewe (along with some great ones to come!)
The Estate of Richard Bernstein
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Photos and portraits of Richard:
Richard’s movie star masks created for the Costume Institute exhibition, “Romantic and Glamorous Hollywood Design,” curated by Diana Vreeland. Photos by Francesco Scavullo for Vogue, December 1974:
Joan Agajanian Quinn & Richard Bernstein at Cornerstone Gallery in Beverly Hills, 1992:
Anton Perich’s Night at Hotel Chelsea, 1974, with Tinkerbelle, Victor Hugo, Richard Bernstein, Shirley Clarke, Zandra Rhodes, and Elsa Peretti:
Richard Bernstein books for your collection:
