Vladimir Kagan's Blog

WHAT TO DO ON A BALMY FALL SUNDAY IN NEW YORK

Copyright Vladimir Kagan 2010

 

Take a boat ride…of course!

 

I have lived most of my life in New York…. and almost of it with a river view, alternately of the Hudson or the East River. I have watched the Circle Line boats glide past our windows for over 60 years and always had the urge to take a ride. Today was the day!

 

It was a snap decision. My old intern for the past year and a half and his beautiful girlfriend, were in town from his Post-graduate studies of Architecture at Cornell. Having just seen a tourist-laden boat glide up the East River, I suggested an afternoon cruise. There was no hesitation on the decision and off we trotted down to Pier 83 (on 42^nd Street and the Hudson). Naturally, on a lovely sunny day, the line of tourists was substantial…. I am certain that we were the only New Yorkers other than the tour-guide…a robust Irishman and native New Yorker. His patter was brief and informative.

 

We started with a spectacular view of the Aircraft Carrier Intrepid, (now a must-see museum). Backing out of our birth, we had a full view of the colossus Norwegian Cruise ship; The Norwegian Jewel, about to set sail on her weekly tour to warmer waters. The empty and mostly derelict and demolished piers on the waterfront gave mute testimony to the once bustling shipping that New York hosted. More than a hundred ships in the harbor at a time…. I remember well, rejoicing at the rare sight of the Queen Elisabeth, the Queen Mary next to her, the Mauritania, and the Il De France all in their berths at the same time.

 

The magnificent World War ll Aircraft Carrier, Intrepid, now a must-see museum

 
The last Concord at the Intrepid Museum...towering over it, the colossal cruise ship Norwegian Jewel
 

I even remember during the war, the tragic sinking of the SS Normandie, the most beautiful ship afloat. “Shortly after 2:30 in the afternoon on February 9, a cold, clear Monday in 1942 at Pier 88 on West 49th Street in New York City, Clement Derrick was removing the last of four stanchions in the Grand Salon of the Normandie, a lavish ocean liner that was being converted into a troopship as the USS Lafayette. As his welder's torch penetrated the metal, sparks suddenly spat out onto nearby bales of burlap that had been wrapped around the ship's highly flammable life preservers. The resulting shower of fire could not be quenched, and by 3 p.m. much of the luxury liner, the pride of a once-free France, was engulfed in flames”. Over-zealous fire fighters pumped her full of water until she finally capsized. I bicycled down to Pier 88 the next day to see the burned out remains of the proud ship, lying on her side like a beached whale… Though there were many rumors of sabotage, that was not the case.

 

The French luxury Liner SS Normandie burning at her pier in 1942

 

Like a beached Whale, the SS Normandie lies on her side ready to be scrapped

 

Starting our cruise down the Hudson, we enjoyed a prolonged view of the majestic Empire State building. A few miles down were the only two restored Piers in full exuberant use: Chelsea Piers; once the proud home of the America Lines, where coincidentally, I landed back in 1938!

 

Lower Manhattan, devoid of her Twin Towers, presented a more prosaic sky-line…. new building have sprouted along the waterfront, many are residential…(unheard of before 9/11) Ten yeas after that fateful day, the cavity that was the Trade Centers is still there, though finally being filled in and replaced with the World Tower, soon to be the tallest building in New York.

 

The new skyline without the Twin Towers....the crane in the background, finally is the start of the new Tower being build ten years after the tragedy

Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty are a must on any water tour…. and I will say, they are magnificent monuments of America’s past. Ellis Island as an architecture is a glorious edifice, though in its hay day, it was a dreaded experience. Its restoration, by grateful descendants of the thousands of refugees that passed through its doors, donated the funds to restore and preserve it. (A project accomplished without spending any public money!)

 

Dreaded Ellis Island, the scourge of all immigrants, is a Victorian architectural treasure

The Statue of Liberty, a gift from the French, as a tribute to America’s 100^th anniversary. is a glorious lady. Her copper glowing an apple-green color in the afternoon sun. Did you know that Gustave Eiffel designed the stone base of the statue? (I didn’t).

 

The Statue of Liberty, a gift from France for America's 100th anniversary

In the distance loomed the impressive Verrazano Bridge connecting Staten Island and Brooklyn. We were told that it is longer than the Golden Gate Bridge…. certainly, a heroic welcome to any ship plying the waters underneath. (However, it is best known as the start of the New York Marathon).

 

Circumnavigating the south tip of Manhattan, we were treated to a generous dose of History: Indian, Dutch, British and American. On our right was the Ghost of Governor’s Island. In colonial days, a powerful fortress occupied the leading edge of the island, guarding the entrance to New York harbor. More recently, it was the domain of the Army, then the Coast Guard and finally reverting back to New York. A glorious piece of real estate, except NO ONE lives there! The hundreds of visitors, who come to enjoy its parks, gardens and singular views, depart on the last ferry. In the distance, the Brooklyn waterfront and Red Hook, an isolated and neglected section of town, once thriving with piers and warehouses, about to become the latest refuge for artists and eccentrics looking for the new undiscovered SoHo, NoHo, Williamsburg and the other gentrified corners of New York.

 

Fortress on Guvnors Island that protected New York

The Staten Island ferry connecting Manhattan with remote Staten Island...the only free ride in New York!

A contrast in nautical transportation

Audacious sailboats racing in the upper harbor

Tip of Manhattan skyline with ferry slips

Turning north up the East River (which is really NOT a river, but a fast running, tidal body of water connecting Long Island Sound with upper New York Bay). Until a hundred years ago it successfully isolated Brooklyn, Queens and all of Long Island from Manhattan and the mainland beyond. Its only connection were the hundreds of small ferries and sailing ships. But that was all changed by an enterprising German bridge engineer, John Augustus Roebling, who conceived and built the first suspension bridge over this ferocious body of water in 1883: The Brooklyn Bridge…. Amazingly it thrives today, carrying more traffic than Roebling could ever have imagined. It is a brilliant sight to behold from a small boat looking upwards.

 

 

The Brooklyn Bridge, over 100 years old and going strong

Rapidly expanding New York was not satisfied with one bridge. By the early 1900s, three more were built in rapid succession, each an amazing achievement of engineering for its time.  All have been converted from their horse and cart days to accommodate modern transportation: subways, cars, trucks and pedestrians. They are monuments of beauty serving our modern day city.

 

The elegant Williamsburg Bridge, doing its job for over 100 years

Exquisite iron work on the Williamsburg bridge

Another oldie, the Manhattan bridge taking you to Brooklyn

Along the New York waterfront, we pass by Wall Street: the financial center of the world, (It is chic to rail against the bankers, and our guide did his duty). Just beyond lies South Street Seaport, a historic remnants of the past with restored early Dutch and Colonial buildings dating from the late 18^th Century. On the waterfront, Pier 17, a lavish tourist attraction with refurbished proud Clipper Ships of the 19^th Century.

19th Century Clipper ships moored at South Street Sea Port with Wall Street in the background

 

Pier 17 with the Shear Water schooner tied up on her pier

Frank Ghery's latest contribution to the New York skyline (it's almost tame by comparison to what it might have been)

The ribbon of traffic flowing up the East River Drive moves along like an endless chain. On the Brooklyn side are remnants of its industrial past such as the Domino Sugar plant soon to be converted into luxury residences…. glittering glass high-rises dotting the waterfront that once housed piers, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, ferry stations, train terminals and more. Years ago, this was derelict country…smart people bought the land for nothing…(I saw it’s potential but didn’t act.)

 

The abandoned Domino Sugar Plant soon to be recycled into condominiums....hurrah!

Midtown Manhattan is an impressive nest of elegant tall buildings…. the Chrysler building stands out in its full glory, but so do the somewhat dwarfed Met Life and New York Life Buildings with their gilded spires, built in a more romantic era of New York’s development.

 

The Empire State Building seen from the East River

The UN Building with the Chrysler Building in the background

The UN  with Donald Trump's World Tower overshadowing it (it's much more intrusive than this perspective photo might suggest)

In the middle of the river, underneath the Queensboro Bridge, lies Roosevelt Island. Once a dilapidated depressing eye sore called Welfare Island, it housed insane asylums, infectious disease hospitals, leper’s quarantine and all that needed to be hidden from the wealthy Manhattanite’s eyes. Today Roosevelt Island a bustling self-contained community of luxury apartments for people seeking the suburban life within sight of the city.

 

The Queensboro Bridge connecting mid-town Manhattan with Queens and Long Island

The Queensboro Bridge with one foot on Roosevelt Island

New York "eats" power and ConEd's massive power plant on the East River faithfully provides it

An oil barge plying the East River, one of the busiest waterways in the USA...in the background is the Cornell NY Medical Center, one of New York's treasures.

 Upper Manhattan, where our dream trip germinated, is chukka-block full of residential high-rises. I tried in vain to find our building amongst these…. but was reminded that while once, we had a commanding view of the East River from the Queensboro Bridge right up to the Tri-borough, Hell Gate, Throgs Neck, Whitestone bridges and beyond, we now only have a sliver view of the River as new construction over the past forty years has virtually made ours a land-locked apartment.

 

Asphalt Green, now a wonderful sports center (where my granddaughter swims competitively two hour a day!) was converted from an old asphalt plant.

Ward Island Footbridge is NY's the newest river crossing (though it is easily over 25 years old)

Regrettably, our cruise, billed as a tour around Manhattan (three hours) was curtailed, as there had been a trestle fire on one of the rail bridges crossing the Harlem River, rendering it inoperative for our boat to continue. (Again the Harlem River is not a River, but a natural channel connecting the East River with the Hudson). We would have enjoyed this portion of the trip as it takes you past some of the most picturesque and bucolic landscape of Manhattan and back under the Washington Bridge…. Instead we turned south and caught magnificent views of the sunset and its afterglow on the Manhattan skyline…. We could not have asked for a more magnificent afternoon… Got nothing better to do?... Then try it!

Our return trip with sunset on the horizon

Afterglow on the Manhattan skyline

Finally back to our pier in the early evening

My wonderful intern for the past year. Will and his lovely girlfriend, Christy

Finally...your hosts on this cruise - Erica and Vladi

AN IRISH CRAFT EXHIBIT IN NEW YORK

Copyright Vladimir Kagan 2010

 

Have you ever heard of the AIHS (American Irish Historical Society)…I certainly never had until last Saturday. The AIHS is a historical society devoted to Irish American history, founded in Boston in 1897. The Society’s 50 founding members included Theodore Roosevelt, who was part Irish (on his mother’s side). In 1940, the Society moved to their Beaux-Arts townhouse at 991 Fifth Avenue, opposite the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

 

The elegant Beaux-Arts mansion of the American Irish Historical Society on Fifth Avenue

On any weekend, uptown Fifth Avenue, known as Museum Mile, is the most crowded street in New York. The Guggenheim, The Met, The Jewish Museum, The Cooper Hewitt, The Neue Gallery all vying for their adoring friends. The steps of the Met are chockablock full of sunning visitors. (To get culture in New York, sitting on these steps is almost tantamount to a visit and you get brownie points for the effort.)

The AIHS is a safe-haven from the milling mass of people…My friend, Mark Bench, a Trustee of the Furniture Society, enticed us to visit an exhibit called MATERIALpoetry. Ten bucks buys you peace and tranquility for the afternoon. On exhibit were works produced by young Irish artisans: silversmiths, ceramists, woodworkers, jewelers and a dozen other disciplines. The show, as the title indicates, reflected the poetry of materials. There was an overwhelming sense of tranquility in this show…. a binding connection that I would describe as introspective, cerebral art; detailed to the finite degree. Honed skills expressed in a diversity of mediums. There were delicate porcelains, exquisite silver, fine cabinetry bordering on pure art, basketry, origami and white Japanese paper formed jewelry, corrugated cardboard, rock crystal, Irish bog-oak, bulls eye reactive glass, olive ash wood and gold.…. all exuding a serene aura….. Does this reflect the spirit of a country….. or is it the curator’s choice?

The names of the artists were as romantic as their work: Rachel McKnight, Kevin O’Dwyer, Liam Flynn, Angela O’Kelly, Laura Mays, Joseph Walsh, Nuala O’Donovan (even my spell check was baffled by their names).  The beautifully produced catalogue comes with images and detail of the pieces interspersed with a small anthology of contemporary Irish poetry by poets such as Seamus Heaney, Brain Coffey, Eiléan Ní Chuilleánain…..

 

MATERIALpoetry will also be presented at the Galway Arts Festival next July 11^th to 24^th 2011, but you can see it NOW here in New York. The show continues until the 18^th of November….Give yourself a serene experience and visit it.

A delicate porcelain sculpture by Nuala O'Donovan, titled" Radiolaria 5 Repeated" consists of hundreds of interlacing rods to form a whole.

(Scanned from the catalog) A Coffee set by Kevin O'dwyer, in silver with Ebony wood handle

Detail of corrugated cardboard chair by Laura Mays

Detail of floor to ceiling wall panel by Joseph Walsh of County Cork

A delicate helix of folded plastic sheets (forgive this reporter for not taking notes on the artist's name)

Perforated Form No. 3 by Frances Lambe, A porcelain bean-pod, with intricate perforations 

A low Table of laminated and sculpted Ash wood by Joseph Walsh - see detail below from catalog

(Again I must apologize to the artist, as I did not take notes) Delicate porcelain leaves from a flower

A pair of reciprocal walnut chairs

Aleya and Mark Bench (NO...he was not wearing funny glasses...I tried to eliminate the "red-eye" and ended with this funny photo!) The young lady with him is Rebecca Yaffa, a fine woodworker in her own rights, who works half of her time in Ireland and the other half in upstate Massachusetts....please not the elegant interior of the mansion.

 

STAMFORD WHITE’S DESCENDANTS

Five Generations of creative artists

Copyright Vladimir Kagan 2010

 

Sunday a week ago, we enjoyed still another opening…. (This time, its location is quite remote from the Manhattan scene.)

 

Tucked away in the little town of Dix Hills, Long Island, (my GPS couldn’t even locate the town…. try Huntington) in a community art center, we were enchanted to see an exhibit of the creative works of five generations of Stanford White’s descendants. 

His son Lawrence Grant White, who continued in his father's architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, and his wife, a painter, produced a prodigious number of children, most with artistic inclination. Eight are practicing or studying architects today! The exhibit spanned five generations, whose works were exhibited on two floors at The Jeanie Tengelsen Gallery at the Art League of Long Island, as well as The Bryant Library in Roslyn*. The show consisted of paintings in oil, watercolors, gouache, charcoal and pencil drawings, stained glass, collages, bronze sculptures, furniture and jovial assemblages of mixed media found objects. It was amazing to see such consistency of talent running through the family genes.

 

Our longtime friend, Cynthia Jay (Stanford White’s Granddaughter) was the co-curator for this remarkable exhibit and wrote an informative foreword describing her talented family far better than I can. (See copy below). Cynthia, following in good family tradition also has eight children: four of them were present at the opening; the others live in far off places. Paul, one of the eight, is a multi-talented artist, photographer and a professional musician. He entertained us with his great jazz compositions on the grand piano in the gallery…. he also provided me with some of the photos in this article.

 

Cynthia Jay, the co-curator of the show, with Erica Kagan at the opening

The sketch books of Sanford White's descendants

Paul Jay with one of his whimsical collages.

 

Don’t miss this show if you are anywhere near Long Island; but hurry, it closes Sunday, Oct. 24th.

 

 

 

Stamford White - Architect - artist - patron of the arts

THE LIVELY EYE:  A FAMILY IN THE ARTS

by Cynthia Jay

 

            Stanford White's parents were involved with words, and music: his father, Richard Grant White, edited an edition of Shakespeare, was the theatre and music critic for the New York World, and started a string quartet that kept going well into the 20^th Century.  Their son, however, wished to paint, but was persuaded by John LaFarge that that was a perilous way to support oneself, he should choose architecture instead.  In Henry Hobson Richardson's office where he apprenticed, his lively eye and great gift for design became quickly apparent, and as a partner with Charles McKim and William Rutherford Mead, he helped change the face of New York City and much of the country as it exploded in the aftermath of the Civil War.

            Traveling with McKim and Augustus St. Gaudens on his first trip through Europe, he sketched and painted everything that caught his trained and observant eye:  a trait that he handed down to generations of his descendents.  He had only one surviving child, Lawrence Grant White (1887-1956), who following Harvard and formal training at the Beaux Arts in Paris, would eventually take over the by then venerable firm.

            Larry White, as he was widely known, carried on his father's gift for judicious ornament, if with a less explosive, more disciplined approach.  It is evident in his fine designs for the Hotel Nacional in Havana, still a major landmark in that now dismal city, for the Pennsylvania Station in Newark, NJ, for the now-destroyed Savoy Plaza Hotel on New York's Fifth Avenue, and in the work he did at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington DC.. 

McKim, Mead & White was a large firm, where most of the well-known architects of the first half of the 20^th Century started their careers.  But the large projects that came its way after the depression were often constrained in budgets and limited in design possibilities:  his clients were Bethlehem Steel, Bowdon College,..   Construction methods had changed, in the interests of speed and economy, reinforced and precast concrete replaced masonry, and right angles and flat surfaces replaced the cornices and descending orders of the classical traditions.  His last commission was for the Smithsonian in Washington DC, the present Museum of American History, which was finished by his successors at a newly formed firm. (His sudden death in 1956 dissolved McKim Mead & White, as the charter under which it had been incorporated required a male descendant of one of the original partners.)

            Architecture was Larry White’s profession and his livelihood; but he was a man of enormous energies, who used every hour of his waking day in a dizzying array of activities.  His daily commute took over four hours, but he played bridge between his home in St. James, L.I. & Jamaica, and translated Dante between there and Penn Station. 

The Book of the Month Club published his rendering in verse, with Gustave Dore's illustrations, in a fine large edition.  Like his father before him, he traveled always with paint box and sketchbook, and his drawings and watercolors allow one to share his delight in the buildings and landscapes he came across; his prodigious visual memory allowed him to do exact renderings of rooms he had observed at a remove of time and place.  His wife, Laura C. White was a serious painter, trained at the Academie Julien in Paris.  When they toured museums together, she would be horrified at the fast pace he took on his way through the galleries she was lingering in; challenged, he would get out a sketchbook and do thumbnails of all that he had walked by so quickly.

            Box Hill, the house upon which his father had lavished so much imagination, was endlessly in need of his loving efforts, indoors and out.  A large structure, wonderfully situated with a view of Long Island Sound, built for summer house parties of his parents' interesting friends, it ended up housing his brood of eight children, three boys and five girls.  Four spent time in art schools, but only Robert White made it a profession, a gifted and prolific sculptor in bronze, wood and clay, a master at depicting classical and religious figures in an age where the palms went to the abstractionists.  He was a fellow of the American Academy in Rome, where his four children absorbed the life of the ancient stones; his son Christian, with the genes of four grandparents in the arts, has made his name as a painter of the Long Island landscapes he knows so well.  Robert White had married Claire Nicolas, a poet, novelist, playwright and translator from Dutch and French; her parents, Joep Nicolas, had moved to New York from Holland ahead of Hitler's invasion.  He was a painter and fourth generation designer of stained glass, who did some of his finest work on his return to the Netherlands, replacing the windows of the Cathedral at Delft, destroyed in bombing; his wife, Suzanne Nys, was a sculptor working chiefly in clay.   (Claire's sister Sylvia Nicolas has with her son continued with her family's tradition, they have produced splendid stained glass windows in their studio in Vermont).

            One of Larry White's daughters, the youngest, Anne Octavia, became an architect and married one, Harry Buttrick.  A son and daughter, Jerome Buttrick and Mary Burnham Buttrick are architects, practicing in Oakland CA. & NYC.  In that generation, Samuel White, also an architect in New York, has with his wife Elizabeth produced splendid books on the work of McKim, Mead & White and also of Stanford White; Cynthia Jay has two sons in the field, in St. Louis and New Zealand, and a third son who is a landscape architect.  Alida White Hare's daughter Griselda Healy is a professional painter, featured in both the Art League of Long Island's Gallery and at the Bryant Library in Roslyn; her sister Hester Lessard painted for many years before becoming a lawyer and law professor in British Columbia. Her sister, Suzannah Lessard, is a writer (Architect of Desire) who paints on the side.  Another of Alida's daughters, Jenny Lessard, is a known goldsmith and jewelry designer, and a granddaughter is currently an architectural student, as is a grandson of Robert White's, Duncan White.   Also in that fifth generation, two of Christian's sons, Zachary and Schuyler White, show great promise, as designers and artists.

            Samuel White is one of the eleven children of Peter, Larry White's oldest son; they grew up in Box Hill, which their father inherited, and it is still in the family.  The oldest son, Benjamin, is a doctor; he married Madeleine Lord, a sculptor in cut metal, and their daughter Genevieve Carter is now a painter in California.  Her very young daughter is of the seventh generation to be part of Box Hill's influence:  a mixture of genes and the power of a loaded, strongly visual environment to pass on a lively eye. 

It remains a family tradition to travel with a sketchbook, whether one would identify oneself as an artist or not, and as Stanford White's accumulations of treasures are passed down, they end up in rooms in which they are comfortable, in good company.  And often, descendants who are not particularly visual will find spouses who are.... 

 

 

 

 

 
THE RALPH PUCCI OPENING

Copyright Vladimir Kagan 2010

 

What a difference a day makes: Wednesday, the glamorous event at Sotheby’s, Thursday the hip event of the season…. Ralph Pucci’s expanded 9^th Floor Gallery. I kid you not, when I say that the lines extended to 8^th Avenue just to get a glimpse of the space, drink some cheap white wine or bubbly water and rub shoulders with all the downtown hipsters. You could not distinguish the potential clients, (of which there were hopefully many) from the artsy set that inhabits these parties. Everyone is incognito. Here I go comparing the girls of yesterday to today: Mini-skirts, black tights – inappropriate shoes – rangy tops – straggly hair dyed in all color of the rainbow. This time the men wore their tight blue jeans and sweater tops. (The three day beard is valid both downtown and uptown.) If you arrived in a suit and tie you were suspect of being an under-cover agent from the IRS or an accountant. (Of course, the Pucci staff, as always, was impeccably dressed and working the crowd.)

 

Ralph has the knack of combining all media into his gallery and make it work. The walls were dedicated to poster-size photos by renowned photo-artist Diego Uchitel, the gallery was dappled with spectacular mobile lighting floating in space and exotic floor lamps by David Weeks. New furniture designs ranging from monolithic rustic wood by Jerome Abel Seguin, to delicate steel by Jim Zivic to bent wood pieces by William Emmerson. There was a refreshing collection of my sculptural pieces from the 50s, interspersed with my Plexiglas chairs and mixed media roll-top desk from the 70s plus the new limited edition Fiberglas chairs and sculptures and finally my stainless steel reclining chair, a re-introduction of the original 1950s model, in mirror finished sparkling stainless steel - covered in a butter-soft Red leather (this was my favorite piece in my collection)

 

The new expanded 9^th floor gallery was only half the story. Ralph told me at the end of the party that the shoulder to shoulder crowd was equally thick in the original Penthouse Gallery….(I was too busy greeting fans on the ninth to venture upstairs.)

 

Ralph’s gift for picking and editing is spectacular…he does not impose himself into the design process but inspires the best in all his artists.

If you can get past the closely guarded reception area….this is a worthy trip comparable to any museum!

Opening night at Pucci's...the line extended to 8th Avenue!

The 9th floor gallery before the crowds arrived...Jim Zivic's exiting steel swing lounge with commissioned mural by Malcolm Hill

Blown glass by West Coast artist Lianne Gold. foiled against a mural by Peter Astrom

A look from 18th Street to 17th Street in the new 9th floor gallery...note the Kagan Fiberglas Chair in the right foreground.

....And now for the people watching: Transvestite performer Larissa and Joey Arias

P.M. McDonald strutting it out.

Porn star Robin Byrd with Marcus Leatherdale, photographer whose works were on exhibit in the Penthouse gallery.

How did little ol' fogies like us get into the party???

A glimps of my Freeform sofa along with other Kagan pieces and the fashion photos of Diego Uchitel

 l

 

 

DESIGN FILM FESTIVAL

Copyright Vladimir Kagan 2010

 

If I’m coming at you fast and furious, that’s because it’s October, when everything is happening!

 

For you, who are design enthusiasts, my friend Kyle Bergman, AIA, has assembled the first ever Architecture and Deign Film Festival in New York. www.adfilmfest.com  It will take place from Oct 14 -17 at the Tribeca Cinemas at 54 Varick Street. Kyle will be showing over 40 films from 11 countries all about the creative spirit. He also promises to have a 5 panel discussion after some of the showings. If this tickles you fancy, check it out and contacting Kyle at 

[email protected]

 

  

Kyle Bergman –AIA

Founder and Festival Director

Architecture and Design Film Festival

180 Varick Street

Suite 410

New York, NY 10014

917-374-7099

 

 

 

Hi VLadi,

 

If you can make it to the opening please come to the films during Friday or Saturday or Sunday – We have lots of great films all listed on the web site or there is a printiable list also on the web site I hope to see you over the weekend.

 

Kyle

From: "Kyle Bergman ADFF" <[email protected]>

Date: October 6, 2010 10:42:15 PM EDT

To: <[email protected]>

Subject: Architecture and Design Film Festival Oct 14th -17

Reply-To: <[email protected]>

 

Hi Vladimir and Erica,

 

It was nice to see you last night. The Architecture and Deign Film Festival www.adfilmfest.com  will take place from Oct 14 -17 at the Tribeca Cinemas at 54 Varick Street. We are showing over 4o films from 11 countries all about the creative spirit. We are also having some 5 panel discussions. I want to invite you to a special invitation only opening night screening and party.

 

Reception is from 6:00 -6:45

6:45 Screening of opening night films featuring “Eye over Prague” about Jan Kaplický

Followed by a reception

 

Please RSVP – and if you like the idea of the festival please let people on your blog know about it

 

Hope to see you Thursday the 14^th

 

Kyle

 

 

 

Kyle Bergman -AIA

Architecture and Design Film Festival

Founder and Festival Director

180 Varick Street

Suite 410

New York, NY 10014

[email protected]

917-374-7099

 

 

 

 

MODERN VIEWS AT SOTHEBY’S

Copyright Vladimir Kagan 2010

 

As expected, Sotheby’s event was a huge success…(amazing how many people will pay $500 admission for free booze and food). But more so, they opened their wallets with generous bids for the artwork donated to this worthy cause*. Beside the glamorous ladies in their high heeled shoes and boots, revealing well defined bottoms below the belt and cleavage above, wearing their flimsy mini-skirts, (haven’t seen so much glamour in three months on Nantucket!)  For those who prefer looking at boys, the galleries were filled with handsome men in stovepipe trousers, tight buttoned up jackets, sexy scarves and robust three day beards. The event brought out a spectrum of design celebrities and flash bulbs were going off all night, giving everyone the good feeling of being in the company of paparazzi and celebs.

 

*The occasion was an auction of specially created "Art and Objet" for the benefit of Mies Van Der Rohe’s Farnsworth House near Chicago and Philip Johnson’s Glass House in New Canaan: properties of The National Trust, both in dire need of maintenance and repairs. The event raised an estimated $500,000. Even my three little renderings fetched $2,000. (If you own any of my napkin doodles…better hang on!) For those interested in seeing these works, Sotheby’s published an impressive 000 page book of all the art created for this event.

 

In a darkened gallery, there was the premier viewing of an amazing film by Sarah Morris giving both the nuance and flavor of both houses accompanied by a rather annoying sound track that I could have done without….but I guess that is modern sensibility.

 

The project was the brainchild of my friend, Christie McLear, who took on the herculean task of turning the Glass House into a public museum, then navigating the Zig Zag roads to Landmark recognition and finally to the acquisition by The National Trust, where it is assured its place in American history. Christie and the Glass House to me were one and the same….until I received this news:

 

“Thank you to everyone who came to our Modern Views event last night - a celebration and success of NTHP's vision for both the Philip Johnson Glass House and the Farnsworth House.  As you know from the evening's program, that event marked the wrap of my tenure as the Glass House's first Executive Director and as it is on steady footing, I move to another amazing opportunity - to serve as the Inaugural Executive Director of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation….”

 

To most Architecture aficionados, it was no secret that Mies and Philip were as much at loggerheads as they were friends. Architect Kyle Bergman Produced and his Brother Evan Bergman directed, an amazing off-Broadway show called, “The Glass House” - depicting the peccadilloes that that passed between these two giants. Unfortunately, it had only a limited run but hopefully will be shown in other venues…. I will try to keep you posted.

 

One postscript note: Edith Farnsworth, who commissioned Mies to design her iconic glass house was NOT a happy camper. She and Mies fought incessantly finally ending in a law suit where the verdict went against him. The famous quote that came out of this debacle was “You don’t know what it’s like living in a glass house, looking out and having eyes look back at you.”……And she was right! All those avant garde modernists who are choosing to live in the glass high rises that are sprouting all over New York have mostly view’s of their neighbor’s living or bedroom room across the street….even those wealthy enough to have purchased a view of the Hudson or East River, face the eternal problem of the fierce morning or afternoon sun…. (Still, I wouldn’t mind trying it…what a change of pace!)

 

 I wanted to include photos....and will do so later.....thought you'd like to catch up while it is fresh news!

 

The full house audience at Sotheby's

An elegant duo at the event

Bidder at the auction

Erica and I, looking terribly un-chick for this elegant event

Christie McClear with author, Paul Goldberger, signing in for a silent bid on the art work

A serious bidder for the silent auction

 Enraptured viewers of Sarah Morris' film 

 Sorry....no one took photos of my famous high heels and mini-skirts...obviously the photographers were too shy and I forgot to bring my own camera!
 
  For more photos go to The Glass House Link : www.philipjohnsonglasshouse.org

UPDATE

Copyright Vladimir Kagan 2010

 

We have finally come out of the doldrums and immersed ourselves into the hustle and bustle of New York.

 

This will give me much material to report shortly.

 

Tonight is the MODERN VIEWS event at Sotheby’s. This is a project to benefit Farnsworth House and The Glass House.

 

Tomorrow: Ralph Pucci is celebrating his vastly expanded gallery. In his own words: “If you are back in NYC.... Thursday is the BIG opening....EXPANSION....we now have 30,000 square feet of showroom....it looks amazing....Hope you and Erica can join us.. Your section is POWERFUL.........Ralph”

 

Saturday, 9^th, we are invited to a ‘THE LIVELY EYE – Five generations if family art presenting a vast range of work in all media by the extended descendants and family of Stanford White”….(some of them our close friends). Should be fascinating.

 

Wednesday, 13^TH, is KIPS BAY opening…. always a showy event.

 

 

In the meantime, please log in on http://theselby.com/6_310_10_VladEricaKagen/

(disregard the misspelling of my name)

THE SELBY is the coolest thing in cyber space (according to our children)

 

…That’s it for starts.

 

Keep checking me out…there’ll be more to come!

 

Vladi