Thank you!

I want to thank everyone who reads my blog for your wonderful support and kind words today. I'm sorry I have been out of touch and not responding but I lost my internet connection while in the middle of writing a really great post about a fabulous designer you've never heard of. I hope I'm not being sabotaged after what happened! Just kidding! I hope to finish my post tonight but right now, I'm off to meet Ronda from All the Best at her friend Courtney Cochran's book launch party for Hip Tastes: The Fresh Guide to Wine at the Hollywould store in Nolita. Bye for now!

Oh No They Didn't!

So, a certain magazine made me take down a certain post about a certain video. I guess I'm never working there. Oh well. I guess there's always ELLE Decor and Domino.

The Art of Josie Natori

Last night, Pamela Fiori of Town and Country magazine hosted a cocktail party at Bergdorf Goodman to celebrate the release of The Art of Natori by fashion designer Josie Natori. I know there are a million books coming out this month but if you like Asian art, this might be one for you or perhaps a great gift to give at the holidays. I could see Courtney over at Style Court loving this book too.

"Natori stands for luxury, high fashion and femininity. Since Josie Natori started out thirty years ago, her company has become a powerful international force. Now The Art of Natori lets us see the ancient paintings, antique shoes, beautiful porcelain, and more that inspire Natori's east meets west ethos. By juxtaposing Natori's gorgeous creations with the priceless Eastern objects that inspire her, The Art of Natori is sure to bring out the inner artist in everyone. "

You can also check out her recently renovated apartment in the October 2007 issue of Elle Decor magazine and at my old post Chic Chinoiserie.

Living with Art: Part Deux

Marc Jacobs is a testament to what kind of art collection you can amass in a short amount of time. You would never know it from his front row that he was intimidated by the art world and didn't even start collecting until five years ago. I have a friend who works for the designer and I can atest that not only has the collecting bug bit him hard but he really has become a true patron of the arts.

It began innocently enough, with a little oil painting by Karen Kilimnik which he saw in a Christie's catalog and bought for $31,000. "Within weeks he also acquired three Mike Kelly prints from Skarstedt gallery in New York, rationalizing the purchase because it was his birthday. Soon he was traveling to international art fairs, befriending dealers and artists, and in some instances asking his LVMH bosses for salary advances to cover paintings he couldn't really afford, such as Ed Ruscha's Birds, Pencils (1965), which he spotted at Art Basel."

The November 2007 Art Issue of W magazine takes a moody look inside his apartment in Paris that was designed by Paul Fortune. In the top photo, Jacobs sits in his library with Ed Ruscha's Heaven, 1986, and a Sixties Dominique table. While in the living room, Ed Ruscha's Peach, 1964, John Currin's The Go-See, 1999, hang near a Lalanne sheep sculpture.

Of course it's W magazine so there are the ubiquitous shirtless designer photos, a la Tom Ford and Dolce and Gabanna. Or perhaps, the newly svelte designer just wanted to show off his rock hard abs. Either way, he's sitting in the den on a leather Arne Jacobsen Egg chair next to a credenza on which sits Sean Landers's Mr. Rabbit, 2003.

Damien Hirst's Paracetamol, 2004-05, and Richard Prince's Island Nurse, 2002, dominate the upstairs landing.

One of my favorite contemporary artists is Elizabeth Peyton and Marc Jacobs has been a huge supporter of her work. Among his paintings by her in the sitting room is a portrait of Jacobs. He also commissioned her to paint Sophia Coppola for his fragrance advertising. John Currin's Bra Shop, 1997, is one of several portraits in the master bedroom. John and his wife, Rachel Feinstein, also an artist, have become very good friends with the designer and often sit in the front row of his fashion shows. She also happens to look a lot like the women in his paintings which was why there were introduced.

Above the bed in the downstairs guest room, hangs Richard Prince's Richard and Linda, 2005. Richard Prince also designed the multiple covers for W's Art Issue. You also have to wonder who that is under the covers. His new boyfriend perhaps? Below, Jacobs plays in the courtyard off the garden-level office with his two dogs, Alfred and Daisy, and two Lalanne frog chairs.

"Jacobs doesn't fancy himself a major art collector and is not gunning for some future wing at MoMA. He says he buys what he likes—work that tends toward the figurative, the graphic—and hangs it where he can see it."

In Paris, Jacobs enjoys spending time at home with his art, which is partly what inspired the W photo portfolio. The designer liked the idea of a series that captured his home as a sort of surreal dollhouse, offering a look into "the little compartments of people's lives." When he talks about his existence in Paris, which he used to fantasize about as a teenager, he compares it to a bizarre dream. And whether you like his art or not, I hope you can appreciate his passion for collecting.

Photos by Philip-Lorca diCorcia

Living with Art

I have art on the brain this week. Fall in New York is filled to the brim with gallery openings, new exhibitions and huge auctions and since I can't get away from it, I thought I would embrace it with a few more art related posts.

I was checking out The New York Times Magazine online and came across a great article about New York gallery owner Marianne Boesky entitled Living Over the Store. Turns out Ms. Boesky lives above her new gallery on West 22nd Street in a building she commissioned from architect Deborah Berke. While the gallery space is what you would expect, white and modern, the upstairs living quarters are rather ornate and homey. The gallery space is about looking at art, while the apartment is about living with art.

Above the giant honey onyx fireplace, a painting by Yoshitomo Nara hangs on a wall of what looks like striped wallpaper but is really an installation by the artist Daniel Buren.

Adam Helms’s ‘‘4 Untitled Portraits’’ hang above the doorway in the living room while a pink Yves Klein coffee table anchors the seating area.

In her husband's library off the living room, sculptures by Nara and Robert Gober adorn the dark wood bookcases, while Gober’s cast, silk-screened “Rat Bait” stands guard just outside the door. It also reminds me of a great article in the new November Art Issue of W magazine about how sometimes the maids of art collectors mistake art for trash and accidentally throw away priceless objects.

There are traditional chairs in the dining room, but they are two different types that alternate along the custom-made table, which sits under a large butterfly painting by Damien Hirst.

In the powder room, what looks like art, drawings of bare trees, is actually wallpaper from the venerable British firm Cole & Son. I love the way the mirror picks up the tree theme with it's branch frame. While below, a Nara dog guards the roof terrace which also has a garden designed by Paula Hayes.

I have to say that I am impressed and delighted that Marianne Boesky decided to create an apartment that feels like a home and not a gallery. It also just goes to show that living with art can be fun and exciting in a traditional setting not just a big white gallery space.

Photo by Jason Schmidt

Let's Buy Art!

I stopped by the Domino Bazaar on Saturday and I have to say that I was underwhelmed. I'm not sure what I was expecting but I didn't find anything I wanted to buy and it was set up so that you kept running into people even though it wasn't that crowded.

There was one high point of the Bazaar however, the Art Gallery! I mentioned in an earlier post that I recently met Scott Drovnig, a fundraiser for ACRIA (AIDS Community Research Initiative of America) so I made it a point to stop by and I'm so glad I did! Many famous and emerging artists donated unframed works of art to be sold at a great price to benefit ACRIA and the selection was amazing! I had trouble deciding what to buy and I must thank Scott for being so patient and helpful while I made my selection. I finally settled on a great little Stephen Ellis piece. But I'm still thinking about another print that I didn't buy! I may have to see if it's still available!

The funny thing is that after I made my purchase Saturday, I noticed a great post on Decorno about women who collect art that she saw in the New York Times Magazine. She also made the point that maybe we should save some of the money we buy on shoes and spend it on art instead. Great idea! I have a small buy growing collection and you really don't have to spend a lot to buy great art. I found a few great piece on eBay and at charity events. The best rule of thumb is to buy what you like!

And the good news for you is that some of the art that didn't sell during the Domino Bazaar is available from ACRIA Store online and much of it is in the $100 - 500 range with only a few piece in the $1000 range! They might have a few of the Ross Bleckner special edition above for sale but I didn't see it on the website, so you could call them to check.

***UPDATE***
The Bleeding Hearts piece by Ross Bleckner above is now only $750! What a bargain for yourself or for a holiday gift!

All works come unframed but for display during the sale, they had a selection framed by City Frames in Chelsea so you could take your art to them for framing. They even have on file how each piece was framed for ACRIA so if you live in New York, you could drop it off and ask them to frame it in the same manner. Below is a sampling of what I saw online in case you want to buy some art instead of shoes this week!

Ross Bleckner, Color Field

C-print on Hahnemuhle paper, 12” x 18”, edition: 25, signed, numbered, dated on verso
$1500



Barbara Takenga, Takenaga1 Blue Paisley (section), 2007
Digital print with archival ink on archival paperImage size: 8 x 6
Paper size 13 x 9.5 inchesEdition of 15,Unframed
$350

Jay Zuckerkorn, Zukerkorn1

Gelatin silver photographs, 8" x 10", edition: 25

(There are 3 photographs in this series. Buy all 3 for $300!)
$100

Johnson Hartig Revisited

I have a lot of fun things I want to write about this week but until the caffeine kicks in this morning and I can get my thoughts together (it was a long weekend), I thought I would post some more fun shots of Johnson Hartig's home. These photos were published in the LA Times and give you a less "styled" look into his life. It's fun thought to compare back to the Domino photos I posted a while back and check out the difference. Enjoy!

Photos by Ricardo DeAratanha for The LA Times