An Interview with: GERSON (GUS) LEIBER

In high school, what was your earliest creative experience(s)?

I can’t recall. There was no instruction.

You don’t remember doing anything creative prior to high school?

No, I don’t.

Your art career really found its rudder when you began training at the Royal Academy of Art in 1945. Can you talk about that time?

Not really. No, the only art experience I had was the examination for entrance when I was in Budapest when Judy [ wife, Judith Leiber] dragged me to the Royal Academy. But that was quite the alien experience; I’d never been to an art school before.

So that was your first experience finding your mode into the art world?

Everything was very…so unusual. I had no experience in an art school before because any artwork done in high school was completely unschooled. It was very strange. I just took this examination, which was a very scripted one. All of the applicants for entrance were given the exact same piece of paper and [they had us]   draw from the model.  I had never done that before.

Then how come you went there?

Judy wanted me to become a student there. But I thought it was completely impractical because this was right after the battle of Budapest-in wartime mode, and I didn’t speak any Hungarian except for a few words I’d picked up. I had no instruction.

You were an American GI in Budapest when you met your wife, Judith Leiber, the well-known handbag designer. That marriage has been strong for almost 70 years and it has been successful for both of you in business. Having had roots in Brooklyn from a poor family, your life was transformed with happiness, wealth and a solid direction in art. You’ve studied with famous artists and explored different mediums. How did that journey develop your vision in art?

I can’t explain it. I can’t, at all. I got to the Arts Students League and became aware of the trends in art and what was going on. The instructors were very good but their experiences were completely different. And my reaction was different. I did as I thought I should do, just worked, and made drawings. And actually, instruction was more from the fellow students. They were better than I, of course, and they were all ages and came from all different backgrounds and had different skills, talents. It was amazing.

There was one particular artist at the Art Students League whom you were very close to for decades, who recently passed away…?
Will Barnett.

4.     You draw, paint, produce prints and sculpt. Is there a medium that you enjoy most and why?

Enjoyment is a…is not the word for it. The mediums are just there to be used. Tools. They’re all tools. It’s sort of a search for self-realization. What’s going to happen? What’s going to…you know?

How would you characterize the search for self-realization in your art?

Well, I’m an intense reader, and the thing with New York is, it’s all a polyglot of people,  everything from the subway to the streets. In most of my early years, painting as art was very highly regarded. But no longer. It’s all changed now. Everyone is searching for a medium that is outside of painting. Painting brings you no publicity, no fame. Painting brings you no inclusion in museums and galleries and so on. Everything is looking for the odd thing, whatever it is. And those that find it are wonderful. So fortunate.

Of course, painting goes on. I’m a member of the National Academy, and I was elected as a Graphics member. At the Art Students League I studied with Will Barnett. But now that he’s gone I can say, we had absolutely no graphics instruction. The Art Students League had a very loose way of working.

And there were no grades in the Art Students League, right? You just worked.

No, there were no grades. You…the arts, in the G.I. bill, you were well-payed to go there and spend your time. And some of the people just came in for the roll call and left after that. There were no ideological struggles or fights between, say, a realist or an abstract painter. No, everyone did their thing.

Going back to when I asked what mediums you use…how do you move between them? Choose to do one medium over another?

It’s more of a feeling. For instance, I love the watercolors of Turner, and I would have given anything to paint that way. So I found a watercolor instructor, took classes, and I learned techniques and what-have-you. Some of those have remained with me, and some of those have not. Right now I’m not doing any graphic work because it’s hard work and requires dexterity and physical activity which I find myself at a loss with because of my age. I haven’t done any etching for years now.

What are you doing now, Gus? What kind of art?

Paintings and drawings.  Mainly paintings.

You’re a colorist, really such beautiful color. Color is very intuitive.

I’ve found that to be true. My work is very intuitive. I start out with just a few marks on a panel, and build and build. I’m pleased and astonished that it’s working.

Your work is in the collection of many museums, and you have won numerous awards and continue to exhibit. Do you maintain the challenge of creating art every day?

No. I can’t. My energy level is much, much lower than it used to be. I’m 94 years old. I’m astonished that I’m 94! Whatever happens, everything is astonishment.

You and your wife have built an extraordinary museum, The Leiber Collection, in Springs, New York. That was a huge project and is certainly a legacy for both of you. Do you have other philanthropic causes that engage you?

Yes. When I had money, we spent it quite freely on charities. But now that the place [Museum] has been built, the prospects for the elements of charity and so on are much lower.

 At 94 years old, what more could you have done or still want to do?

At this age, time is much more important than it used to be. You don’t know what’s going to happen the next minute, the next day.  I’ve discovered that I’m not a genius, but I think I’m a good artist.

LONG MARRIAGES: ARTISTS MARRIED TO ARTISTS

                                        JUDITH AND GUS LEIBER
                               Married 70 years as of February 2016

Marriages are often difficult to sustain, long marriages are a triumph and long marriages where the spouses are both artists are an exceptional union. 

Artists have a reputation for being temperamental and difficult but they also come with a sharp focus and passion for the visual. I believe that their creative drive suffused with their thirst for art in all directions is the critical bond that artists have in common and that personal energy and commitment are what keeps a marital bond strong. Also since they share the profession of being an artist, there is a mutual interest and respect for each other's art that keeps their love alive year after year.

Here are couples who defy odds of the gravity of aging and the vicissitudes of love:

Judith and Gerson (Gus) Leiber:
Both Leibers are approximately 94 years old; she is a world renowned handbag designer and he is a modern expressionist painter.They met in Budapest when he was a GI after World War II and she was living with her family. Now married about 70 years, they are an extraordinary example of adoring love and devotion to each other.

Iris and Carl Apfel:
Iris is a self professed "geriatric starlet" and her fame and good fortune has grown tremendously in recent years. Iris, 93, and Carl, 101, met at a resort hotel in Lake George when they were young; their first date was on Columbus Day and they were married on Washington's birthday.He says it's been "one trip, beautiful trip”. Both were in the arts and launched Old World Weavers, a textile company for which they sourced and designed for globally to satisfy their famous clients.I would candidly estimate that they are married, extremely happily, for about 70 years.

Alice and Richard Maitzkin:
Now in their 70s and joint authors of the award winning book "The Art of Aging", they are both engaged in portraying art through the lens of the aging process. Married about 32 years, Alice is a portrait painter and he is a figurative sculptor using clay.They met at a friend's home, immediately became inseparable and months later were married in India.

Leona and Nelson Shanks:
Leonia was introduced to Nelson in 1984 by the then curators of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Married in 1989, they are both very active painters and in 2002 they co founded Studio Incamminati in Philadelphia which provides advanced instruction in classical realism painting. As realist painters and Studio Incamminati teachers, their daily lives are completely intertwined.

Susan Rothenberg and Bruce Nauman  
Also married since 1989, Susan is a contemporary painter and Bruce's work crosses a range of mediums including sculpture, photography, neon, video, drawing, printmaking, and performance

Aline Kominsky-Crumb and Robert Crumb:

Aline and Robert met in 1971, they were married in 1973 and are happily ensconced in a large estate in the south of France. Robert, an underground comic artist is the originator of Fritz the Cat, Mr. Natural and Devil Girl and says of Aline: “She was the first woman I met whose emotions didn’t scare me". With Aline, also a comic artist and the business woman behind their art, they have a daughter Sophie who is, yes, also a comic artist living in France. Aline and Robert have an open marriage that has given them freedom to maintain other spousal type relationships.

April Gornik and Eric Fischl 

They were two painters who met at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 1975. Their first interaction was a flirtatious move with food by Fischl who now is a believer that “Art and food are intimately tied together.” Eric is known for his work as a painter, sculptor and print maker and April is a landscape painter. They enjoy healthful gourmet eating and frequently host dinner parties in their Sag Harbor home.

Yvonne and Joe Bobrowicz
Now married almost 65 years, they met at Cranbrook Academy of Art where she was studying textiles and he was working in design. Yvonne began her studies with traditional functional textiles and over the years her art evolved to etheral fiber pieces using monofilament. Joe worked in architecture as well as design and taught at the University of Pennsylvania. His seldom seen design work such as the jewelry he created for Yvonne is quite extraordinary.

Roberta and David Williamson –An early meeting as teenagers almost 50 years ago has catapulted to a successful joined career as artists. They create jewelry and sculpture and have uniquely adorned their home with their own work as well as other choice pieces of art and ephemera. They are both advocates of change and their home reflects their sense of continuous renewal.

Marriages, like careers, need constant nurturing... the secret of having it all is loving it all.

Joyce Brothers

An Interview with JUDITH LEIBER: From Survivor to Artisan to Fashion Icon

As a young Hungarian immigrant, Judith brought her skills, tools and passion for making handbags. Now over a half century later, her extraordinary handbags are in the  collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Smithsonian Institution, The Victoria and Albert Museum and also in their own unique museum on Long Island.

In Hungary, as a young adult during World War II, you and your family struggled to stay alive. Now many decades later, you have achieved remarkable success both professionally through your business and personally with a marriage to Gus (Gerson)spanning more than 60 years.  Do you reflect on those very difficult years and your life journey?

 I try not to think about those days because it was really very difficult. We went through so much in five years of war but we are happy that we got over that and achieved success in the handbag business.  I was very lucky that Gus brought me here.
 

Since Jews were forbidden to study in a Hungarian university and you could not return to King’s college in London where you had just begun matriculation, you stayed in Budapest to be with your family and learn a trade.  You said “Hitler put me in the handbag business” and so your career started in Hungary. Can you imagine that your creativity, drive and technical acumen could have been channeled successfully at that time in a different profession?

Yes, Jews were forbidden to study in Hungarian University. And so my parents sent me to King’s College in London to learn chemistry with the thought that I would work in cosmetics because I had an aunt and uncle in Romania who made an enormous success with a cream called Flora Cream. 

But funnily enough, I never got to really study at King’s College.  I just passed the matriculation and then returned to Hungary in the summer so that I wouldn’t waste my father’s money for the time that I wasn’t there.  I never returned to England because of the war.


You created a vast collection of the most exceptional artful handbags over many decades. Growing up did you realize that you had a creative flair? An entrepreneurial soul? Were you interested in fashion?

Well, I had a creative flair I suppose, but I didn’t really know anything about business although my dad had been in business all his life. He worked for a big bank and was very successful there. And he taught me how to handle things when you get into business; what you have to do in order to make a profit.  I learned that from him. 

I always liked fashion but in Hungary there weren’t that many things that you could worry about with that.  My sister and I had two Lenci dolls that my parents got us in Italy.  And, when we were little, we even had paintings of each one of the dolls.  They were both girl dolls, and they were just wonderful.  But after what happened during the war, either they got lost, or we never worried about it after that.  You didn’t have the time to worry about things like that.
 
When I came to the States, I was, of course, very interested in what people were doing in the clothing business.  In the very beginning, I made bags right away that I thought would be successful to wear with clothes.  That was very fortunate. 


You worked for different handbag companies until your husband, Gus, persuaded you to open your own business in 1963. First ladies and royalty have enjoyed wearing your bags as a fashion statement of status.

I worked for the most expensive handbag company.  When I went there, I went to the head of the pocketbook makers’ union, and I said to the guy “Whatever, you’ll send me up there, you’ll see.”  He said, “You’re not going to make it.”  But, you know, I thought, well, if they send me there, I’m going to stick there.  I’ll be all right.  And they had a pattern maker, a sample maker, who was the head of it.  And I was his assistant when I got there.  But after a while, he got very sick and couldn’t work anymore and they gave me the job. So I was doing everything.  First, I was just making all the patterns and the pieces.  And then, I even ran the floor at the end.  

I worked there 14 years until 1960.  Then I went to work for Morris Moskowitz for a couple of years.  And my husband said, “You’re not going to work for these schnooks anymore.  You are, we are, going into business.”  Of course, I was scared to death, and we were scared to death about every problem that we ever had.  But, on the other hand, we made some wonderful bags, so we were a big success.  It was a small business, but we were very fortunate.  It took a lot of work, but we did it.  We worked very hard. 

I also used a lot of antique frames that I copied and made animal bags: dogs, cats, bears and many shapes that were just somewhat classical.  And I made a very wonderful Tiffany style bag from one of the Tiffany windows in the Met and some other little bags that were also based on Tiffany which were very nice looking. One of the original Tiffany bags that I made was for Laura Bush for her second inaugural. The Pop Art I did was very successful; we sold a lot of them. 


Which handbags or styles are you particularly happy with and do you wear them?

One of my favorite bags is a chatelaine, its a little purse shape which started me on making bags with rhinestones in 1967.  It’s still my favorite because it put me into the rhinestone business. 

I have a very small collection at this point but you know if I ever wanted to wear a bag, we have a lot of bags upstairs.  We keep bags in cases very nicely put away, and I could always borrow one of my bags from the collection if I wanted to wear it. 

I designed over 3500 bags and own about 1600 of them.

Your bags span a vast range of extraordinary styles in elegant materials from leather to satin to metal (and rhinestone based) and a unique range of styles from classic to formal to Pop Art. Which designs have been the most challenging to implement?

All the designs I ever made started with an idea and then I made all the patterns for them.  I used all leathers: alligator, lizard, snakes, calves, suede, satin, oriental, obis, Indian ribbons from Mumbai. The Indians had these black robes that had colorful borders and we bought those borders.  And we put the silk or leather in between each ribbon and made it up like that.  They were absolutely wonderful after we finished them.

When I started out, we had four people.  Then we got a little bigger and had 32 workers in the factory.  After 1967 we started to make fully beaded bags, not just the one that was originally done.  I had a man who used to do the rhinestones for us and when that company went out of business, I took the best girl they had and she taught a lot of the other girls how to work on things like that.  We taught them how to do the beading and it worked out very well.  We had 100 girls just doing beadwork. 

Were you ever interested in designing for men?

I never tried to do designs for men.  I had my hands were full with the handbags and the belts and the jewelry that I made. 

 
Did you design costume jewelry or precious jewelry?

Yes, I had a small costume jewelry business when we started out but I said to my husband that we don’t earn any real money on it.  We stopped making it, even though he felt we should have kept it up, but we didn’t.  Then Harry Winston’s son, Ron Winston, came to see me and said I should design real jewelry.  So we did quite a bit in that, but once I sold the business, the man who bought it wanted the license.  So we told him “Fine, you use the license.  It’s yours.” 


Before selling your business and retiring in 1998, you received numerous prestigious awards and the Smithsonian, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and other museums have your bags in their collections. Do you still design for your own pleasure?

I got a tremendous number of awards.  My first award was the Swarovski Award, which was a little glass piece, very pretty.  The Metropolitan Museum has 88 of my bags, not all of them are from me.  Some ladies gave them bags too.  And then I got the Coty Award in 1973, ten years after we were in business.  And then in the last year that we owned the business, I had the CFDA Lifetime Achievement Award.  And I also got a Lifetime Achievement Award a few years before from the Accessories Business.  And I had all kinds of other awards including a very beautiful award from the Moore College. 

I don’t do any more work. You cannot make handbags without the factory.  You need people to put the stuff together right.  So you decide what you do and you can make the patterns wonderful, and then you have to have a shop to work on it. 


You established The Leiber Museum in the East Hampton hamlet of Springs, New York to primarily showcase your work and the art work of your husband. Has this new venture been an exciting chapter for you?

Six or seven years ago, my husband built a museum.  He had a little help from an architect, but the bulk of the work, the ideas were all his.  The building is sort of Palladian and looks very nice. 

We are showing not just my handbags.  There is a part of my work that is displayed permanently, but this year we also had a very large display of different kinds of bags, about 500, in the big room that usually is used for paintings. 

It’s really a great little building and Gus is going to show some of his work next summer.  He’s working very hard this winter, making lots of paintings. He’s also going to have a show at the Carter Burden Gallery which only shows older artists who didn’t have large success with their work in the market.   


Now at age 92, having had a remarkably long career, long marriage, long life and having built a large estate, what dreams do you still have?

As far as the future is concerned, we are now hoping to live long enough to have a 70-year marriage anniversary; on February 5th we will be married 68 years. We want to be able to enjoy our life and carry on for many more years.  And once we go, this museum is going to be endowed enough so that it will go on for a long, long time after we are gone.