It's no doubt the new HBO's Liberace is creating renewed interest in his life and loves. The TV movie “Behind the Candelabra" garnered a record-breaking 2.4 million viewers and has received great reviews in the press.
Born Walter Valentino Liberace, he was celebrated in his time as both exotic and lovable. But he also lived a life of excess with elaborately decorated homes, jewel-encrusted clothing and lavish gifts to friends and family. The world now in 2013, is in a different place and time. Could you imagine such celebrated excesses as wearing $3million dollars worth of stage jewels and a $200,000 mink coat worn being prominently announced from a stage?
Growing up with very little money, Liberace grew into (with much
hard work and success) a life of luxury. He played piano gigs as a
teenager to help his parents pay family bills, and ended up making an
average of $5million dollars per year in his Las Vegas shows for the 30
years preceding his death in 1987.
Liberace had a highly personal and unique knack for design. Among
all the furs, all the cars, jewelry and extravagance, Liberace loved to
collect knick knacks. Many would say his collections turned to clutter as his
loneliness grew and grew. He frequently mixed periods such as Asian, Neoclassical, Baroque, Louis XV, Hollywood Regency, and
Art Nouveau styles, according to Architectural Digest.
In a People Magazine article from 1982, Liberace's older sister Angelina Farrell talked about her younger brother's lavish unused gifts and cluttered collections.
"[Liberace's] older sister, Angelina Farrell, who has come to visit him from her home in Stockton, Calif., sits in his living room and shakes her head at "this glitter gulch, all these dust collectors." She waves dismissively at a clutter of what Liberace calls his "happy-nappies" on an elaborate Venetian coffee table; the gesture is reflected in a wall of mirrors etched with Beardsley drawings.
"This is his dream world," Angie observes. "All these things. It's because we were so poor. You wouldn't believe all the stuff he bought mother and me, all the minks and rocks and dresses hanging in the closet with the tags still on them. He even bought our shoes, for God's sake. We didn't shop for ourselves for years. He wanted us all to live together, like Mother Hubbard. He wanted to make a world of the past. He's so unlike the rest of us, really. I think he belongs in another century. He doesn't much care for the real world, you know.""
Images from BuzzSugar, Architectural Digest, Bibliolore and Serious Eats.
Now is your chance to sound off:
What do you think of Liberace's passion for collection? Is one man's junk another man's treasures? If it's your money, do you have a right to spend it the way you want, without prejudice? Let us know here in the comment section or you can tweet us @johntrosko on Twitter. You can also check me out on Instagram.
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