Warhol ‘It Girl’ makes every Norton student artist a winner

Art contest judge and Palm Beach resident ‘Baby Jane’ Holzer can’t pick just three finalists, writes $1,000 checks for all 66 students.

Tapped to be a judge for a student exhibition at the Norton Museum of Art, Palm Beach resident Jane Holzer refused to decide which of the budding Picassos deserved cash prizes for their work.

Instead, the former model, famed for being an Andy Warhol superstar and a well-known “It Girl” in the 1960s, made a split-second decision. 

“I’d like to give each of them $1,000,” said Holzer, an art collector, Worth Avenue real estate tycoon and a trustee for the West Palm Beach museum.

Two days later, on Feb. 1, a collective gasp — then whoops, applause and cheers — filled the museum’s Great Hall when the 66 young artists, their families, friends and teachers learned of Holzer’s largesse.

Instead of only three cash winners, all would be awarded $1,000, museum Director Ghislain d’Humieres told the stunned crowd. The first-, second- and third-place winners (picked by the other five judges) would get the extra money on top of the $1,500, $1,000 and $500 they each received, respectively. 

Video shows audience reaction Feb. 1 to the announcement. (Video courtesy of the Norton Museum of Art)

Righting a wrong

“It was unprecedented,” Glenn Tomlinson, the Norton’s chief community engagement officer, said of Holzer’s $66,000 gift.

No big deal, responded the 85-year-old Holzer, who grew up in Palm Beach.

“It was from the heart,” she said. “Call it primal pain.”

After looking at the paintings, collages, sculptures and digital photography produced by middle and high schoolers from across Palm Beach County, she said she didn’t think it was fair that only three be rewarded for their work. So, she simply decided to right what she believed would be a wrong.

“You think about these kids. You think about where they came from. You think about whatever makes them express what they express. It deserves recognition,” she said. “They’re so young and they worked so hard.” 

“So why not give them a pat on the back and not a slap in the face?” she continued. “It just hit me that I should do it.”

Holzer said she didn’t attend the awards ceremony because she wasn’t paying attention when the date was announced. “I screwed up,” she said.

A life in the spotlight

But d’Humieres made sure the roughly 300 people who attended knew the name of the benefactor and her link to Warhol.

“Some of you may remember Andy Warhol,” he said. “Do you remember Baby Jane? That is the same lady.”

Holzer was dubbed Baby Jane by a New York newspaper columnist after a chance meeting with Warhol on a Manhattan street turned her into one of the pioneering artist’s so-called superstars. The nickname was a reference to the popular 1962 horror movie, “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane.”

Known for her high-teased bouffant blond hair, and stunning good looks, she appeared on the cover of Vogue magazine and other publications and in several of Warhol’s underground movies before becoming a film producer herself. 

She was named one of the fashion revolutionaries by Women’s Wear Daily in 1966, and author Tom Wolfe in 1964 dubbed her the “Girl of the Year” in what became a collection of essays that defined the “It Girl” concept.

“That girl on the aisle, Baby Jane, is a fabulous girl. She comprehends what the Rolling Stones mean,” Wolfe wrote, alluding to her friendship with Mick Jagger. “Jane Holzer is This Year’s Girl, at least, the New celebrity, none of your old idea of sexpots, prima donnas, romantic tragediennes, she is the girl who knows … The Stones, East End vitality …”

Holzer ultimately moved on from the zaniness of Warhol, whom she credited with spurring her lifelong interest in art. But they remained friends until his death in 1987. In 2014, their friendship was chronicled in an exhibition at the Norton titled, “To Jane, Love Andy.”

It featured Warhol paintings from her personal collection and clothes she wore and donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art along with photographs and letters, documenting her 25-year friendship with the iconic artist.

Holzer, who remains heavily involved in her far-flung real estate business, readily admits she has lived a full life. Giving back is a big part of it, she said.

“I do a lot of things anonymously around this town,” she said.

And, she said, offering a boost to 66 young people she’d never met was important.

“I was worried that the other 63 would be really dejected and not feel good about themselves,” Holzer said. “I didn’t want them to feel bad about themselves.”