When we arrived at Christie's in Rockefeller Center, there was a bit of a line. The crowd was quite full of very chic women and men, furs and talking about, of all things...bad hair color!
The windows of Christie's were adorned with gorgeous photos of Ms. Taylor which I photographed since the exhibit inside was off limits to photography.
She was quite a beautiful woman and wore jewelry very well. We entered at exactly 12:04 for the Noon ticket and everything went along very smoothly. When you first walked in, they showed a video, and I was thrilled to see a scene from Giant as I am a big fan of James Dean. We didn't stay too long for the video, because we wanted to get to the exhibit.
It was amazing to me that one's life can just be auctioned off as this. All the memories and all the glory of a life very well lived.
The first piece of jewelry was the Tiara from Mike Todd. It was quite glorious. It did look like it could be a bit heavy to wear, but I am sure she didn't mind too much.
The lady in the fur coat with lots of hair was the first in line and first to get in the door to the exhibit.
Mike Todd's jewelry was just amazing. I cannot imagine the insurance she must have held on all these items. We kept pointing at everything saying "did you see this? did you see that? " Every gem family is just about represented in her mass collection.
The purple and coral jewelry was really quite a lovely site. The famous Burton diamond was breathtaking and rather large. It must have been wonderful to own such a piece of jewelry, they said she wore it very often. After we got thru the jewelry, there were the clothes. We then thought we were done but we had to go upstairs. On the second floor, more clothes/accessories/shoes displayed in an elegant and timeless manner.
Christie's really organized this very well as it was not that crowded at all while viewing. You were able to look closely at the items and not feel rushed at all, so different from the McQueen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, earlier this year.
So after the large display of clothes, we figured that was it. Then we were told by a Christie's employee....oh keep going there is more to see. It seemed to go on forever. But it was a glorious experience.
We saw her Oscars for Butterfield 8 and Virginia Wolf....the earlier one was in beautiful shape, really shiny. The later one actually was starting to oxidize which I thought was a bit shocking. I am surprised they are selling these, as I would think her family would have wanted to keep them. From what I have read, these were her wishes to sell these items, so I am not sure they had a choice. They had her personal script from National Velvet, which the book cover was a gorgeous purple color.
We also noticed her shoes looked rather large. She was a size 10 shoe which is interesting since she was only about 5'1 in height! I wondered after the end of the exhibit if anything had been left at all that wasn't being sold? We were finished at 2pm.......the price is well worth this exhibit. When we were leaving, I asked a Christie's employee if they had this much on view in L.A. ....they advised no only about 80 pieces of jewelry.....this collection here is the total collection......which is the reason for the $30.00 entrance fee.
The dress in this photo is in the exhibit...just gorgeous! I love the way she wears the jewels around her face for this amazing shot. She was a one of a kind, never to be duplicated in our lifetime. I felt very privileged to be able to view these items from her personal collection.
There are still tickets available and can be purchased online HERE and I would suggest if you have a love of fashion, jewelry and glamour, it is worth every penny. Run to see this if you can. You will be thoroughly glad you did.
ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987)
Liz (Feldman and Schellmann II.7) offset lithograph in colors, 1964, on wove paper, signed in felt-tip pen, dedicated 'to elizabeth with much love', from the edition of approximately 300, published by Leo Castelli Gallery, New York, framed
Image: 21 7/8 x 21 7/8 in. (556 x 556 mm.)
Sheet: 23½ x 23¼ in. (595 x 590 mm.)
Estimate $30,000 to $50,000 US Dollars
Today's Words of Wisdom: "I'm a survivor - a living example of what people can go through and survive." - Dame Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011)
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7 comments
Looks like it was a wonderful exhibit. Your photos are wonderful. Thanks for sharing.
It sound's like a great time and am glad that you went. It is hard to believe that she wore size 10 shoes like I do. It made my day to hear that!!
I think some were hesitating because of the price, but believe me, it was so worth it. The shoes were gorgeous of course, tons of them...chanel were in full force as well as many cowboy boots! It was quite a memorable visit.
Hi, can you please tell me how long it took you to see the full exhibit? We're visiting NYC this Sat., 12/10 and Sun., 12/11. But it's gonna be a rush to see & do a lot of the tourist stuff! thanks in advance for your time!
I would give yourself a good 3 hours. We had tickets at noon and get in right at 12:04 but I am not sure how the rest of the folks got in time wise. You are at your leisure to view everything and there are benches if you wish to take a break as well. We did not break and it took a full 2 hours to see everything. Enjoy as you will love, love it !! Soak up all that class and history of Ms. Taylor!
Elizabeth Taylor was truly gorgeous in her youth. This seems like it would be have been quite fun to see.
I was really glad I went to see it and would have gone again if it was longer than a week! Welcome to the blog, glad to have you!!
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