The exhibit, The Glamour and Romance of Oscar de la Renta opened this weekend at Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts, and according to the New York Post, its main curator, former Vogue editor-at-large André Leon Talley is being a HUGE bitch!
“André is being a diva to everyone. He has been at odds with curator Cindi Strauss, telling her what to do — while he rides around the entire museum in his motorized wheelchair. It got so bad he even made her cry . . . yes, CRY.
He’s behaving like a diva, and let’s just say he’s not making any friends at the museum. He’s impossible. It’s embarrassing.
He instructed the museum staff not to look him in the eyes. Even the people working alongside him . . . The funny thing was that most people at the museum had no clue who he was.”
The show was brought to the museum in part by the museum’s life trustee, socialite and couture Dame, Lynn Wyatt, who saw it at San Francisco’s de Young museum last year.
Talley worked on that show and was been given the title of “curator” in Houston, but his manner isn’t making any allies in Houston, in the museum world anyway.
Left to right: Oscar de la Renta, Custom Evening Coat, 2012, silk taffeta, the Collection of Annette de la Renta; Evening Dress, fall 1996, silk crepe with bead and sequin embroidery, the Collection of Annette de la Renta; Evening Cape, fall/winter 1993–94, silk satin, the Collection of Annette de la Renta. © Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
“It’s about beauty — a celebration of this great man’s life and I think it’s quite inspiring and wonderful.”
Museum director Gary Tinterow defended Tally and too the Post,
“It is unfortunate that a single source has attempted to tarnish the magnificent work that André Leon Talley has done for our museum. From our initial conversations about bringing this exhibition to Houston, to the finishing touches at the very last moment of the show’s preview, Mr. Talley has been a consummate professional, working tirelessly to honor the spirit and legacy of his friend Oscar de la Renta and challenging himself and all of us to imagine what could be achieved here. That is what a great curator does, and that is why we are so happy with his work in Houston.”
OK. But what else is he going to say?
You think the source made this up? Maybe, but I doubt it. I’ll give you my two cents, even though I have no involvement in this. André knew Diana Vreeland and says that his grandmother was very much like her, so it’s built in from the start. He STUDIED “Mrs. Vreeland” as he calls her, down to her proclamations and attitude and he’s since attached himself to Anna Wintour, Vogue‘s current long serving editor, the Artistic Director of Condé Nast AND the director of the Met’s Anna Wintour Costume Center.
He IS a diva and fancies himself as THE arbiter of fashion. Period. Full stop. And he knows his stuff, don’t get me wrong. Hello!? The new documentary on him is called The Gospel According to André. He can be as sweet as pie, if he likes you (or you’re famous and/or rich –or a hot guy) but if he doesn’t, WATCH OUT! It’s ALL the gospel according to André! And DON’T YOU DARE ARGUE!
(Photo, YouTube screen grab; via NY Post)
