Barbara Allen de Kwiatkowski
Barbara Allen de Kwiatkowski | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1951 |
| Died | June 8, 2020 (aged 68–69)[1] |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names |
|
| Occupation(s) | model, actor, journalist |
| Known for | associate of Andy Warhol |
| Children | Nicholas[2] |
Barbara Allen de Kwiatkowski née Tanner, was a model, journalist, and socialite. She is also known as an associate of Andy Warhol, working with him on Interview magazine.[3][4]
Life and career[edit]
She was born in 1951, in New Mexico, but moved to the United Kingdom that year when her father, an officer with the USAF was posted there.[3] Kwiatkowski describes growing up British. However her family later moved to Paris, when her father was posted to France.
She married Joseph Allen, described then as a "newsprint entrepreneur", when she was 19 and he was 29.[3] Allen bought a share of Interview, which he put in Barbara's name, "so she would have something to do". Fran Liebowitz, also an associate of Warhol, said her marriage to Allen was essentially over, after Barbara joined the Warhol entourage.
After joining the Warhol entourage, and starting a career in modeling, Barbara became someone whose partying became noteworthy.[5][6]
During the next decade, in addition to working with Warhol, Barbara modeled, tried appearing in movies, and rebuffed many ardent admirers.[3] In the mid-1970s she was the girlfriend of Peter Beard, a celebrated photographer.[7] She described one incident where, early one morning, Mick Jagger tried to sneak in her bedroom window, only to sneak into the window of Beard's bedroom. She said the three of them had a good laugh over Jagger's misadventure. In another account Jagger snuck into the window of houseguest Bob Colacello.[8] Other boyfriends and admirers from this period included Taki Theodoracopulos, Philip Niarchos, Ilie Nastase and Warren Beatty.
She met Henryk de Kwiatkowski in the mid-1980s, and married him in 1986.[3] Henryk was a wealthy Canadian aircraft broker. He was 31 years older than she was. Barbara and Henryk were married until his death in 2003. Their child, Nicholas, was born in 1989.[2]
The Andy Warhol Diaries was published in 1989.[3][9][10] The book mentioned Barbara 73 times, and contained many embarrassing details.[11] She described how Henryk's grown children from his first marriage were shocked, and showed the diaries' account of Barbara's wild times to their father. She said he told her he didn't care.
The New York Times profiled her again, in August 2019, when she put the 5,000 square foot Manhattan apartment she had shared with her husband up for sale.[5] The article noted that, while she and her husband had used the apartment's large spaces to host parties attended by "bold-face names", she now lived a more retired life-style, and would be more comfortable in a smaller space.
She died, of natural causes, at age 69, on June 8, 2020.[1][2][12]
On November 2, 2020, Christie's auction house announced that they would be in charge of auctioning off her collections of art, jewelry and clothing.[13]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Lewis, Isobel (June 9, 2020). "Andy Warhol Muse Barbara Allen De Kwiatkowski Dies Aged 69". independent.co.uk. United Kingdom. p. 1. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
- ^ a b c
"Barbara Allen, journalist, Warhol acolyte and leading light of the New York scene – obituary". The Telegraph (UK). July 1, 2020. Archived from the original on July 1, 2020. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
Presently Barbara gave birth to her only son, Nicholas. Soon afterwards, in May 1989, she married her Polish millionaire in Greenwich, Connecticut, in a dress designed by Victor Edelstein.
- ^ a b c d e f George Gurley (March 26, 2007). "Barbara of Beekman Place". The New York Observer. Archived from the original on August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
The palatial apartment we were sitting in was bought by her late husband, Henryk de Kwiatkowski, in the 1960s. Since his death in 2003, she's had it to herself and a handful of servants, except when her son Nicholas comes home from college. I glanced out the window at the East River swirling. A servant appeared with a tray of green tea and tiny sandwiches with the crusts cut off.
- ^ Philip Sherwell, New York3:37PM BST April 25, 2014 (April 25, 2014). "Mark Shand died after 'night of triumph', says socialite friend". The Telegraph. New York City. Archived from the original on August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
Mr Shand had been staying with his long-time friend for about six months at her apartment in Beekman Place, one of Manhattan's most prestigious addresses, as he worked to set up his Elephant Family group in America.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b
Vivian Marino (August 2, 2019). "The East Side Home of a Muse to Andy Warhol Comes on the Market". The New York Times. p. RE6. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
But now she's looking to downsize into a smaller East Side residence. 'This apartment is way too big for me,' said Ms. de Kwiatkowski, who worked at Warhol's Interview magazine and was dubbed its 'Girl of the Year' in 1977. Her well-documented days of clubbing and of socializing with the likes of Mick Jagger, Roman Polanski and countless other boldface names have long given way to a simpler, more subdued lifestyle.
- ^ André Leon Talley (December 14, 1976). "Three Girls in a Tub: Party Marathon". Women's Wear Daily. New York City. p. 1. Archived from the original on August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
There were plenty of cozy sofas in Francesco Scavullo's East Side Manhattan town house where he threw a party for Loulou de La Falaise Saturday night. But Countess Marina Cicogna, Barbara Allen and de La Falaise opted for the jacuzzi tub.
- ^ Judy Klemesrudnov (November 9, 1975). "The Self‐Described 'Pathetic Person'". The New York Times. p. 72. Archived from the original on August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
In recent years, Mr. Beard has been linked romantically with Lee Radziwill and Candice Bergen, both of whom he calls "very close friends." His current girlfriend, he said, is Barbara Allen, an assistant to Andy Warhol.
- ^ Katherine Kapnick (June 18, 2010). "70's Hamptons Glamor: The Eothen Estate And The Superstars Who Summered There". Guest of a guest. Archived from the original on August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
According to author Bob Colacello, Bianca wasn't the only girl on Mick's mind in the summer of 1975. Barbara Allen was the gorgeous and charismatic wife of one of Warhol's friends, and a former-fling of Peter Beard's. Apparently, in the middle of one summer night as Colacello lay in bed at Beard's house, Mick Jagger came falling in through his open bedroom window. He had mistaken Colacello's room for Allen's.
- ^ Andy Warhol; Pat Hackett (2009). The Andy Warhol Diaries. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 9780446571241. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
- ^ "Barbara de Kwiatkowski". Italian Vogue magazine. Archived from the original on August 4, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
Of presences in other people's diaries of others Barbara de Kwiatkowski has collected many: from those engulfed and exotic ones of Peter Beard, to the more insidious of Andy Warhol, where she is almost omnipresent.
- ^ Andy Warhol (May 8, 1989). "RESTRICTED: Diary of a Mad Decade". People magazine. Archived from the original on August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
- ^
Tina Sanders (July 8, 2020). "Andy Warhol muse Barbara Allen de Kwiatkowski dead at 69". Grunt Stuff. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
"She handed away peacefully in her sleep," her household confirmed to us.
- ^
Lauren Wicks (November 2, 2020). "Inside the Glamorous Life and Style of Barbara Allen de Kwiatkowski, Andy Warhol's Greatest Muse". Yahoo News. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
Nearly six months after her death, Christie's has announced The Collection of Barbara Allen de Kwiatkowski will be auctioned over eight sales in the coming months, the first in-person auction beginning with Post-War & Contemporary Art on December 3 in New York and Old Master Paintings & Sculpture Online from November 13 to December 4.