Sculptor highlights Tiffany diamonds

By Richard Friedman

Toronto Star special

NEW YORK, N.Y. -
"It's orgasmic!"

North Toronto sculp-
tor lan Leventhal peer-
ed' breathlessly into the
ground-foor display
windows of Tiffany &
Co. and embarked on
another chapter of a
story-book success
story.

Behind the shatter-
proof glass was one of
five of Leventhal's own
papier-mache sculptures
which are installed in
the Tiffany windows for
a three-week run.

From the starfish in
the hand of a mermaid
dangled a star-shaped
diamond pendant Fash-
ioned by tiffany design-
er Angela Cummings, it
retails for $12,500 US;
smaller ones, at the base
of the seashell from
which the mermaid
emerged, sell for $5,950
and $1,995.

How Leventhal made
his way to Fifth Ave. is a
classic case of an artist
beating the pavement;
portfolio in hand; the
impact of such exposure
on bis career is some-
thing he is almost afraid
to discuss. But all the
right signs are. there.

"We're very pleased,"
said Tiffany display
director, Gene Moore, a
genial man who com-
missioned the window
display last December,
the first time he and the
28-year-old Torontonian
ever met.

That meeting came at
the tail-end of Leven-
thal's two-week expedi-
tion here in which he
visited publishers, gal-
leries and agents with a
sample of his sculpture
in a shopping bag on one
arm, and his portfolio on
the other. Their meeting
took place at thesugges-
tion of Moore's counter-
part at another New
York department store.

"I liked him from the
start, and I deal with
many artists," Moore
told The Star. "He is
very sincere about his
work."

The theme they set-
tied on was the elements

- with one hitch. There
are four elements -
earth, air. 'fire and
water - but five Tiffa-
ny windows Leventhal
suggested The Unknown
as the fifth, and plans
for the display were
finalized when Leven-
thal returned to New
York last March for Art
Expo New York, an
international art exposi-
tion.

He and his wife,
Renee, who is a
silkscreen-artist, drove
down with the 25-pound
pieces early last week on
virtually no sleep after
putting the finishing
touches on them - glaz-
ing and the touching up
imperfections. He re-
ceives a token payment
from Tiffany.

'Whafsnext?'

"Doing a show like
this is like giving birth,"
said an exhausted
Leventhal over dinner
at his hotel, across
Columbus Ave. from
Lincoln Centre.

"After it's over, you
say 'what's next?' The
highest high is the initial
spark of the idea, which
took place in Gene's of-
fice - and then you
work.

"He is known as a re-
sponsive man who helps
unknown artists and as
a guy with a heart. He
really didn't know me
from Adam but he trust-
ed me implicitly."

Leventhal is Moore's
first Canadian in 25
years of Tiffany win-
dows, which will be com-
memorated in his forth-
coming book. The Win-
dows At Tiffany's -
The Art Of Gene Moore.
Meanwhile, Leventhal
has the exposure of his
career, around the cor-
ner from the Museum
Of Modern Art's Picasso
exhibit not to mention
the posh 57th St. and
Madison Ave. galleries.

Just north of the mer-
maid figure is the earth-
element a lady on a
pink elephant The jewel
that window is jar-
ring in its simplicity -
a brilliant pink rubelite
ring which retails for
$16,000.

Air is represented by
a girl on a swan. In front
of it is a string of pink
pearls - $9,995. and the
backdrop is a brilliant
blue that is especially
striking at night

A bargain

"The Unknown is the
one I love the most"
said Moore of the figure
on a horse straddling the
planet Saturn. "So I
chose the most brilliant
turquoise beads. They'll
knock your eyes out."

If the beads don't
their price will - a cool
$9,300. Such a tag is
hardly intimidating to
many of the customers
in this exclusive empori-
um, but there is a bar-
gain to be found in the
fifth window - a $395
bracelet at the foot of
the Fire sculpture, two
striking dancing figures
with jagged arms.

Leventhal and his
wife, both of whom are
28 and life-long Toronto-
nians, met during fine-
arts courses at York
University and have
been married for six
years. They left their
five-month-old baby
girl, Elyssa, with both
their parents for their
one-week jaunt to New
York, which included
business meetings as
well as a Broadway
show or two and some
well-deserved rest.

His bread-and-butter
has been advertising
agency work, and real
estate and industrial de-
sign. A 22-foot mural,
Pickle On Parade, was
executed for the Pickle
Barrel Restaurant in
1978 and his other big
commission was for
McDonalds of Canada -
a flamboyant tribute to
McDonalds founder Ray
Kroc. There also have
been one-man shows at
Creeds and Holt Ren-
frew department stores.

Garage/studio

A virtual workaholic,
Leventhal creates in a
converted garage/
studio on the grounds of
his house. His work re-
flects his own ever
present humor and is
sensual, and erotic - "I
like sex in my pieces" -
which is bound to find
more acceptance south
rather than north, of the
border. He has mounted
one-man shows this
month at Merrill Chase
Galleries in Chicago and
the Galerie Michael in
Los Angeles.

He also has maintain-
ed contact with Toron-
to's Salon Des Artistes
and acknowledges the
inspiration - not to
mention the contacts -
provided by the Salon's
founder, Maurice Fish
er.

But there is an opti-
mism that is devoid of
pretension in Leventhal,
who is in the midst of
the most productive
year of his life and it
standing at a crossroads
he cannot define.

"I'm on the verge of
something and I don't
quite know what it is,"
he said.

"We like where we
live, but there is a whole
big world out there -
for a long time, I was
told I'd love it in New
York - and if this does
not help my career, I'm
not sure what will.

"Sure, I'm ambitious,
and I'd love to be known
all over. After all, fame
is more fun than for-
tune."