by Andy Warhol
Monday, July 28, 1986
I cabbed up to Peter Marino’s birthday party for his dog which was unreal ($5). And a Daily News guy was there covering it, so we’ll see the angle he takes. There were two dishes that said “Archie” and “Amos” but I hadn’t brought them, I just wanted to take photos for the Party book. Peter’s wife, Jane Trapnell, does the costumes on Kate & Allie, the TV show, so Jane Curtin had her dog there. Walked around Peter’s office which is really big, he has building models and fabric samples all over the place and he must have about forty people working for him. And Jed’s decorating business is doing good, too—he’s billing millions.
Tuesday, July 29, 1986
Joan Quinn called. She said, “When are you going to do my drawing and portrait?” and I said, “What do you mean?” And she said, “Well, you promised me and I’ve been the West Coast editor of Interview for seven years now.” And I said, “Aren’t you the West Coast editor because you’re social climbing? And aren’t you getting paid?” And she said that I told her in the Polo Lounge at the beginning when she first started that I would do her portrait. And I just would never mean that. Maybe I made some joke about it when she was wangling all these free portraits out of other artists, but I never said anything serious. So then I just told her point-blank that I wasn’t going to. I mean, with art especially I always keep my word and I remember when I say things. And then I called Gael and Gael said, “Listen, I don’t want to get involved.” So that really upset me. And I don’t know whether I get sick because I get mad, or get mad because I get sick.
And then this kid drops off fifty invitations to this soap opera party at Area that say “Andy Warhol invites you …” and I just got furious. I mean, he’d called once and asked if he could use my name along with a whole bunch of other names, so I said yes just to help Area out, and here I’m the only name! And I don’t do that for anybody, so why should I do it for this kid I don’t even know?
Then I had to go to Sue Etkin’s loft for the Curiosity Killed the Cat video that Vincent and Don Munroe were shooting, and they had rented a half-block van. The group is staying at the Chelsea and loving it. They were such cute, fresh-looking kids.
Then cabbed to Mr. Chow’s (cab $8) for a dinner with Gael and Paige and Steven Greenberg—he’d invited us. And he had this big bruiser Irish guy, Bob Mulane, there from Bally Casino in Las Vegas and he said he collected autographs, like Mini Ha-Ha’s and then he said he had Patrick Henry’s, and he said the quotation, “I regret I have but one life to give for my country,” and after he finished, Stuart said, “I have to tell you, that was Nathan Hale.” So I (laughs) knew right then it was going badly. I could have it backwards, maybe it was the other guy and it was “Give me liberty or give me death,” but anyway it was Nathan Hale when it should’ve been Patrick Henry or vice versa. I don’t know. Stuart knew. And we were downstairs instead of upstairs and the noise was so loud, and I started to feel sick. And I really knew it had gone down wrong when I offered to pay and Steven Greenberg didn’t stop me (dinner $300).
Thursday, July 31, 1986
Was picked up by Stuart Pivar. We went to the Robert Miller Gallery which is where the old Andrew Crispo Gallery used to be. They said if I let them have the show of my sewn photos there they’d give me extra space. Steve Aronson was there doing a story for Vanity Fair on the gallery, and he’d also just finished an article on Stuart for Architectural Digest. And Stuart for weeks had been playing it so cool, telling me how he didn’t really want the publicity, how he wanted to stay “low profile,” how he just wanted to be a “private person,” but then when he was talking to Steve you could see he wanted it desperately.
Anyway, the photography show they had there was so interesting and I’d forgotten (laughs) you can steal ideas. I liked the ones where Bruce Weber had the dyed colors—blue, pink … I guess it’s like they used to do with sepia. And superimpositions are coming back. Paige is using that new Polaroid like crazy, the flashes are starting to bother my eyes.
I didn’t send Liza a note or anything when her father died on Friday. I thought it’d fade away and I could say I didn’t know about it, but they’re making a big thing, so I’ll have to write something, but what? Maybe do another picture of him. But I’ve already done so many.
And then I noticed the weird thing Stuart does with his hands—he exercises each finger like the piano players do. Like the tendon in the middle fingers he says goes all the way to the back. And he had me feel his fingers, he’s been doing it about four months, and they feel like claws. I couldn’t even move them.
The Pace-MacGill guy came by, and it’s so weird being wanted by two galleries at once, that’s never happened like this before, and they’re both offering the same things, and it’s like having two boyfriends or girlfriends after you. What do you do?
Saturday, August 2, 1986
Wilfredo had gotten tickets for Prince, and so cabbed over to Madison Square Garden ($3). We passed Debbie Harry and Stephen Sprouse who were there, and we sat down just as Prince jumped out naked, or almost, and it’s the greatest concert I’ve ever seen there, just so much energy and excitement. I saw Ron Delsener and he invited us to the party for Prince at the Palladium. Prince left in a limo the second the show was over.
We went into the Mike Todd Room and it was just almost empty, tables set up, reserved, and there, in a white coat and pink bellbottoms, like a Puerto Rican at a prom, all by himself, was Prince. He was just great, that image of him being weird and always with the bodyguards and everything was just dispelled, and he came over to each and every person and shook their hand and said he was so happy they came, and he danced with each and every girl—all these weird girls in sixties dresses. Literally with every girl, and he wasn’t even a good dancer. And he remembered names, like he said, “So glad you came, Wilfredo.” What manners! And Wilfredo was in heaven. We asked Prince if he would be our December cover and he said we’d have to talk to his manager and we said that we’d asked the manager and the manager said to ask him, and so they said they’d work it out. We were just shaking, it was so exciting. And Billy Idol was there and you know, seeing these two glamour boys, it’s like boys are the new Hollywood glamour girls, like Harlow and Marilyn. So weird.
Sunday, August 3, 1986
Turned on TV and saw Jimmy Swaggart preaching and he had a huge auditorium of people, bigger than Prince.
Went to church and it was just organ music, and then went to 26th Street to the flea market and while I was there I verified a fake—that a fake was a fake. It was a portrait of me, actually a good copy. They did a good job, they just didn’t frame it right and some of the cotton canvas with the white was showing.
Monday, August 4, 1986
Went to the office. The Hare Krishna kid from Max’s in the sixties stopped by—the one who was just in Hannah and Her Sisters. He’d been to Gimbel’s which is going out of business and he said it’s such a shame to see a store that’s such a tradition go out of business, that this great name was going down. But it’s just a name. So what. And here’s this Hare Krishna saying it, it was funny. I guess Macy’s will be the only thing happening over on Herald Square.
I read Cindy Adams’s obituary of Roy Cohn. She said she knew he was dying at that party at the Palladium when they had to help him up to the podium and that when she shook his hand his weight fell on her. Fred’s mad because my name is linked with Roy’s in all his obituaries as one of his good friends. And Roy’s stuff is going to look just like Rock Hudson’s at auction. All weird things that you don’t know why they’d be in a house, like things people gave him. His house in town was always just on the verge of being a slum, but the one in Greenwich was more decorated, more chintzed-up.
Wednesday, August 6, 1986
All day people just whispered Happy Birthday, they didn’t say it out loud. Paige was getting together an advertising dinner for that night, which I was afraid was just going to be a birthday dinner disguised, so I told her she’d better have at l
east four advertisers there or there’d be trouble.
The day got strange when Kenny Scharf called and said that Martin Burgoyne was with his family in Florida, sick. That what they thought was the measles wasn’t. And I said that the people we knew who had “it” had had the best care money can buy, and they were the first to go, so I didn’t know what to say. And Florida seems like a healthy place to be. Madonna was in the papers buying books on Columbus Avenue for “a sick friend” so I guess that was Martin.
Got to Caffe Roma at 8:00 and it was Stephen Sprouse and Debbie Harry and Chris Stein who looked handsome, and Debbie had to leave early to go work on her new record. And there was a Polaroid guy there, and I finally told him that if Polaroid didn’t advertise at this point, I was never going to use their name again in my life, and he said, “Oh don’t say that, don’t let it mean we can’t be friends.” And he gave me something he said was very meaningful to him (laughs)—it was a Polaroid. Of a sunset.
Tama’s going to be rooming with Paige when she comes up from Princeton University on weekends, she’s going to be “in residence” down there. We bought the rights to all of Tama’s stories in Slaves of New York about living with Ronnie—I mean, with “Stash,” and Vincent is looking for financing to make it into a feature movie.
Friday, August 8, 1986
Just like old times because Benjamin picked me up. We stopped in at E.A.T. and saw our favorite girl that gives us free stuff. Isa. She used to work in a commune in the sixties, so (laughs) I think that’s why she gives us so much extra food, really dishes it out. Tipped her (food $35). Benjamin and I talked about the jewelry business and it was fun.
Sunday, August 10, 1986
At the flea market I ran into Dolly Fox’s mother, who’s a Miss America from the fifties. And I also ran into Little Nell buying stuff to furnish her new club with.
Tuesday, August 12, 1986
Kent Klineman was around. He brought a forty-page contract for me to sign about the John Wayne thing. He’s there saying, “I don’t like the color. What color will the lips be?” And I mean, it’s a blue face! What difference does the color of the lips make when it’s a blue face? I mean, he’s ridiculous.
Wednesday, August 13, 1986
Went out and the construction workers whistled so I gave them Interviews. And I saw myself in a store window and I do stand out like a sore thumb on the street.
Beauregard from Details came by and left a new issue, they’re going national.
Went to see Stand by Me at the Coronet or Baronet. These four little kids and there’s the Fat kid, and the Brilliant kid and the Crazy kid. The only disappointing thing was that the kid who’s a writer they show writing about it later in life, and this really cute little kid has turned into Richard Dreyfuss! It should’ve been Richard Gere. Then I would’ve been happy.
Thursday, August 14, 1986
I originally stopped eating meat to see if I was allergic and I wasn’t, but now I just don’t eat it much because I didn’t miss it.
Candy Pratts came by the office, she was really upset about Way Bandy, she’d been with him the week before and said he looked great. There’s a rumor that he drank Clorox to commit suicide. But I saw him once on TV talking about he always washed his food in Clorox, so do you think that’s how the rumor got started?
Friday, August 15, 1986
Read the weekend section of The New York Times which had really interesting art stuff in it, about a kid who draws dollar bills and pays for meals with it, then gets change.
Saturday, August 16, 1986
Went to dinner with Wilfredo and Len and Beauregard at Barocco ($165) and then we walked up from Church Street to a new place called Saturday’s that’s called something else during the week. We got there and it was all beautiful straight models, dressed to the hilt, accessorized with jewelry and T-shirts torn just the right way, like Weber photographs, and they all look like they just fell out of a magazine. And the right age, like twenty-eight to thirty. They parked their motorcycles out front. And beautiful girls, too. This place overflowed onto the sidewalk, it was so chic. I could’ve stayed there longer but we left at 2:30 (drinks $40).
Sunday, August 17, 1986
My nephew’s in town, and he’s graduated from the University of Pittsburgh, and he wants a job setting up our office and Interview’s with computers. Donald. He has a friend who’ll advise us on the hardware and he’ll advise on the software, the applications. I had him talk to Gael, call her in the country. He’d probably do a good job. He’ll probably like one of those Interview girls. He’s a good catch—he’s cute and smart. If he works for us, he’ll have to change his name to Warhol—I couldn’t take a “Warhola” running around the office. Oh, and Beauregard told me that Details is running a thing on people’s real names. Like Annie Flanders was just something like Schwartz. It really worked for her. And Beauregard’s real name was Billy Stretch.
Went to the Cooper-Hewitt Hollywood show and there were so many people there looking at movie-star stuff. I can’t believe there’s not a movie museum anyplace. They had a Marlon there, but somehow the placard had come off so I don’t know who had loaned it.
Monday, August 18, 1986
The day started with Jean Michel calling from Josie’s, she’s the South African Calvin Klein model. He’s not in a gallery now. He left Mary Boone and they’re both glad. He wants to be with Leo, but I don’t think Leo’s taking anyone on. Jean Michel would just like to have one show there, though, even though he knows Leo won’t sell anything.
Tuesday, August 19, 1986
I got Wilfredo invited to the Tama Janowitz dinner that everybody wanted to go to, but then he said he was going to see the guy who plays the harp at Radio City Music Hall. I couldn’t believe that. He said he’d come after dinner.
Sam picked me up. I was working on my Wig painting. Jumped in a cab and went to 73rd and First Avenue to Petaluma for Alan Rish’s dinner for Tama, and it was a really great crowd. Alan Rish finally gave a really great party. Paul Morrissey was being funny, he knows I’ve hated David Weisman ever since Ciao Manhattan so he brought him over and said to me, “Andy, may I present David Weisman,” and I just—I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t let bygones be bygones. I looked away from him, I didn’t want to do it. Weisman’s now a producer on Ironweed, Jack Nicolson’s going to star. Paul Shaffer came over and said why didn’t we work on a TV special together, produce it. I told him he could be the new Ed Sullivan and he liked that. The party began when Dianne Brill arrived with her tits and a big better-looking version of her ex, Rudolf, and the Savitt girl had a not-as-attractive version of Rudolf with her. It was the crème de la party scene. Patrick McMullan and I talked, he said he’s really getting into girls now.
They put me with Tama at her publisher’s table, Crown. Which is also our publisher for the Party book, I guess, but nobody said anything to me like that they knew about it. It was a wild party, lots of table-hopping, and Tama had her Texas millionaire boyfriend there. Paul Morrissey’s acting discovery from Mixed Blood, little Rodney Harvey, was there, and René Ricard and Susan Blond and her husband. Anita Sarko, and Michael Musto wearing a slave costume. Billy Norwich from the Daily News was there and Lou Reed’s wife, Sylvia. And Steve Aronson with Kathy Johnson. So it was fun. Tama left, I guess she went home to fuck her boyfriend. Some people were going down to a party at Revolution. Sam walked me home and we bought the Enquirer and a Dove Bar at the Food Emporium. Got home and PH called to find out if I saw anyone near her gold Fiorucci bag—it got stolen at the party and her camera and keys were in it.
Monday, August 25, 1986
Martin Burgoyne called and he asked me to do a drawing of him for a benefit to help pay his hospital bills.
Gael brought me the Don Johnson Miami/Las Vegas issue which had just come in. It looks sort of exciting, and I told her that. Then Fred told me to be sure to tell that to all the Interview kids, so as I saw them, I did. I even told Robert Becker I liked the art part, which I actually di
d for the first time—it had young stuff in it, the clubs and things. Oh, and the best quote in the issue was John Sex’s—that the Fontainebleau hotel made a big impression on him when he was little so he’s been trying to wear the lobby ever since.
Tuesday, August 26, 1986
Martin Burgoyne called and said he’d come over with a photograph of him and Madonna that I could use for my drawing, but I said he should rest and save his energy, that I’d have it picked up for him.
Thursday, August 28, 1986
Linda Stein cancelled my tickets to see Madonna in the David Rabe play. Goose and TomTom. She said her ex-husband Seymour said I was “press” and wouldn’t let me come. They’re all alike, those record people, so she’s on my shit list now. Martin and Keith are going.
Fred’s clipping out all the pictures of this Chambers kid who killed the girl in the park, I don’t know why. And he said he’s rehiring Robyn Geddes! It’s like hiring Brigid, it’ll be another zombie. I mean, if he was really recovered from his problems (laughs) he wouldn’t want to work for us anyway, right? Fred said Robyn was “the best worker” he ever had.
And Paige was upset because Fred criticized her about this thing she does during lunches when she gets nervous—she sort of leafs through the magazine—and she said that was her style of selling and if he was going to criticize it, that in that case she just wouldn’t do lunches anymore. She said not to tell Fred she was upset, but I did call Fred and reminded him that she sells more ads than anybody, and he said that he hadn’t said it in a bad way.