Interview, Fireside Chat
Bob Colacello, Journalist: Talks at GS Session Highlights
- Bob Colacello, a former special correspondent for Vanity Fair with approximately 100 interviews to his credit, discusses his books Holy Terror (about Andy Warhol) and a work on the Reagans during a Goldman Sachs "Talks at GS" session.
- Colacello met Andy Warhol in 1970 after graduating from Georgetown and attending Columbia School of the Arts, where his film reviews were published in The Village Voice by critic Andrew Sarris.
- Warhol and director Paul Morrissey discovered Colacello through these reviews and offered him a writing position at the newly launched Interview magazine.
- Colacello's father initially reacted with horror to the prospect of meeting Warhol, threatening to break Colacello's movie camera and legs if he associated with Warhol's "underground" films.
- Colacello joined Warhol at The Factory, countering the "assembly line" myth by noting Warhol's skill in constructing personal narratives to maintain public interest.
- The title Holy Terror derives from a neighbor's description of Warhol as an out-of-control child aged two or three.
- Warhol's artistic style was heavily influenced by Orthodox religious services, specifically the eight hours a week spent observing Byzantine iconostasis, which shaped his aesthetic for celebrity portraits.
- Colacello posits that Warhol viewed secular icons like Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, and Jackie Kennedy as "saints of a secular modern society," effectively creating religious art for a non-religious era.
- Warhol was consciously ambitious, privately stating a desire to be as famous as Pablo Picasso while publicly feigning ignorance or clumsiness regarding his work.
- Warhol possessed deep art historical knowledge, having studied fine art and history at the Carnegie Museum starting at age 11, despite hiding this sophistication from the general public.
- Warhol competed directly with Picasso, interrogating Paloma Picasso about her father's productivity and commercial success before his own death.
- Warhol's commercial background included success as a 1950s fashion illustrator and a degree in commercial art from Carnegie Mellon, leading to his philosophy of "business art."
- During his lifetime, Warhol could commission a 40x40 portrait for $25,000; today, his work commands over $100 million, with recent auction records reaching $105 million.
- Colacello secured a non-interview with Nancy Reagan by agreeing to attribute her comments to casual conversations rather than a formal interview setting.
- Nancy Reagan initially denied involvement in policy matters with Ronald Reagan but whispered that she played a critical role in his shift toward engaging with the Soviet Union ("the whole Russian thing").
- Nancy Reagan worked closely with George Shultz, James Baker, and Michael Deaver to persuade Ronald Reagan to engage with Soviet leadership.
- Nancy Reagan scripted the Geneva summit environment by arranging a private pool house meeting with flowers and a fire, which allowed Reagan and Gorbachev to spend 45 minutes building personal rapport before official proceedings.
- Nancy Reagan's influence on Ronald Reagan's political career was pivotal, occurring despite her desire to remain in the traditional "old-fashioned" role of a supportive wife.
- Colacello characterizes the Reagan marriage as intense, romantic, physical, political, and social, noting that Nancy was the only person Ronald Reagan truly trusted alongside his mother.
- Colacello ranks Nancy Reagan as one of the most influential first ladies in history, comparable to Eleanor Roosevelt and Edith Wilson, based on her behind-the-scenes management of her husband's agenda and inner circle.