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#Andy Warhol’s ‘healing’ crystal to hit NYC auction block

“Andy Warhol’s ‘healing’ crystal to hit NYC auction block”

A “healing crystal” that was with Andy Warhol in his last days will go on the auction block this month, where it could bring upwards of $70,000.

The crystal was given to Warhol’s best pal, the artist Brigid Berlin, and found in a bedside table at her lavishly-decorated Kips Bay apartment after her death at 80 in 2020. It was in a well-worn shoe polish pouch from the infamous Watergate Hotel.

“I think she wanted whatever magic Andy felt would happen to him, would happen to her with the crystal,” said Rob Vaczy, Berlin’s neighbor and close friend, who is the co-executor of her estate. She had been bedridden for several years with a variety of health problems.

The sale of the 3.5-inch long crystal, and other items from Berlin’s estate, will be held on April 27 by the Doyle auction house on the Upper East Side.

Berlin had a privileged upbringing as the daughter of Richard Berlin, the head of the Hearst media empire, and his socialite wife, Honey. But she gravitated toward a more bohemian lifestyle, befriending Warhol in 1964.

Brigid Berlin
Brigid Berlin was Andy Warhol’s best friend.
Matthew McDermott
Berlin was given Warhol's crystal after his death.
Berlin was given Warhol’s crystal — which could fetch around $70K — after his death.
http://www.Doyle.com

She appeared in his film “Chelsea Girls;” was known for her “T-t Prints” which she made with her paint-covered breasts; and for administering amphetamines via syringe injections to the behind. The latter practice earned her the nickname “Brigid Polk.”

 “I was with him every single day and talked to him four or five times a day,” she once said of Warhol.

Warhol’s fascination with crystals was tied to gallbladder issues the artist suffered years after being shot in the abdomen in 1968 by writer Valerie Solanas. He had to wear a surgical corset to hold his organs in place.

Berlin
The crystal was found in Berlin’s Kips Bay apartment after her death in 2020.
Matthew McDermott

He mentions them frequently in “The Andy Warhol Diaries,” his posthumously published memoir that has recently been made into a Netflix series.

“I really do believe that all this hokum-pokum helps, though. It’s positive thinking,” he wrote in August 1984.

The auction of Berlin’s belongings will include other items tied to Warhol. There is a brick from the final Factory location and signed postcards of his endangered species series.

Andy Warhol's Crystal and Japanese Omamori were presented to Brigid Berlin upon his death.
Andy Warhol’s Crystal and Japanese Omamori were presented to Brigid Berlin upon his death.
http://www.Doyle.com

One of Berlin’s prints is up for sale, along with needlepoint pillows she created of two New York Post covers.

The public will be able to view the items from April 23 to April 25 at Doyle’s 87th Street headquarters.

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