Brigid Berlin’s Costume Jewelry

Brigid Berlin is one of the great underrated artists of our time. Best known as Andy Warhol’s closest collaborator from 1964 until his death in 1987, Berlin has often been branded as the pill-popping star of Chelsea Girls (1966) and an all-around Factory troublemaker. Today she’s a serious and—mostly—sober artist. But she would be the first to admit that she’s always been obsessive-compulsive—a condition that is celebrated in both her art and her obsessions. From her trip books to “tit” prints, pugs to Polaroids, her attention to detail is as important as the “treasure” itself. Another obsession of Brigid’s is costume jewelry-one that’s not so publicly known and began as a little girl. “When mother would go out, she used to hang these pieces made by Madame Gripoix everywhere. I would just hold them and look at them,” she recalls. Brigid’s assembly of rare and uniquely detailed costume jewelry is one obsession that she’ll be letting go of, when Doyle New York auctions off her entire collection on October 7. “Selling my collection is not about the ­money at all,” she says. “It’s just that I’ll no longer visit it as much as I used to.” -Jeffrey Stalnaker

Brigid Berlin’s Costume Jewelry

Brigid Berlin is one of the great underrated artists of our time. Best known as Andy Warhol’s closest collaborator from 1964 until his death in 1987, Berlin has often been branded as the pill-popping star of Chelsea Girls (1966) and an all-around Factory troublemaker. Today she’s a serious and—mostly—sober artist. But she would be the first to admit that she’s always been obsessive-compulsive—a condition that is celebrated in both her art and her obsessions. From her trip books to “tit” prints, pugs to Polaroids, her attention to detail is as important as the “treasure” itself. Another obsession of Brigid’s is costume jewelry-one that’s not so publicly known and began as a little girl. “When mother would go out, she used to hang these pieces made by Madame Gripoix everywhere. I would just hold them and look at them,” she recalls. Brigid’s assembly of rare and uniquely detailed costume jewelry is one obsession that she’ll be letting go of, when Doyle New York auctions off her entire collection on October 7. “Selling my collection is not about the ­money at all,” she says. “It’s just that I’ll no longer visit it as much as I used to.” -Jeffrey Stalnaker