Episode 31 ft. Rory Trifon of the Estate of Richard Bernstein

Sighs and Whispers

After a little hiatus, fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms meets with the president of the Estate of Richard Bernstein, Rory Trifon. 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. 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. In the late 1970s, Richard Bernstein became friends with Grace Jones, helping to mold her visual identity as she first emerged as a singer. The duo continued to work together for many years. Richard was also an early innovator in digital art. Rory is Richard's nephew and the one entrusted with maintaining and carrying forward his legacy. In our conversation, he provides a short biography of Richard, his artistic career and relationship with Andy Warhol. We then 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; he has also loaned Richard’s work to numerous museum exhibitions and collaborated with a number of fashion and interiors brands. To sign up for our newsletter, visit https://laurakitty.substack.com/ For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/ episode-31-richard-bernstein-estate Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Rory Trifon