May 24, 2012
Couresty InterContinental London Park Lane
The Summer Olympics in London are still two months away, but a preview of British-style pomp and circumstance arrives June 2 to 5 when the city—and the entire Commonwealth—celebrates the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Commemorating the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, the weekend includes a massive pageant on Sunday of a thousand historic boats on the River Thames, during which Elizabeth and Prince Phillip will sail in the royal barge; a concert at Buckingham Palace on Monday; and a special service at St. Paul’s Cathedral on Tuesday, followed by a pair of receptions and a procession by the entire royal family from Westminster to Buckingham Palace.
While access to most happenings is highly restricted, several top London hotels are offering exclusive opportunities to be part of the festivities.
The Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London’s four-day Diamond Jubilee Tour offers stellar access. Guests will watch the Thames pageant from aboard the HMS Belfast, docked opposite the Tower of London, where the queen will disembark from the Royal Barge. Two days later, guests will be on the roof terrace of Carlton House, overlooking the mall, for the Royal Procession. There’s also a jaunt to Henry VIII’s hunting lodge, Penshurst Place, and lunch at the home of Randolph and Catherine Churchill. $10,400 per person; 66 Knightsbridge; 44-20/7235-2000
The InterContinental London Park Lane—built on the site of the queen’s childhood home—has secured access (plus lunch and Champagne) for a lucky few on Shaken Not Stirred, a Sunseeker Superhawk yacht that was in the Bond film The World Is Not Enough. (The boat will be in the Thames pageant.) Sample the Royal Tea—the coffee, walnut cake and gin and Dubonnet cocktails are the queen’s favourites. From $9,700, double occupancy; One Hamilton Pl.; 44-20/7409-3131.
The Stafford London hosts a celebratory viewing party in its charming courtyard under a tent. The Westminster hotel will be decorated with Union Jacks and bunting to create an old-fashioned street festival like those that mark coronations and royal weddings. Live jazz will play, a jumbo screen will show the river pageant and canapés and Champagne will keep things festive. $160 per person; 16–18 St. James’s Pl.; 44-20/7493-0111.
The restaurant Indigo at One Aldwych, the turreted hotel on the Strand, is devoting an entire menu to the event. The dishes, including lobster ravioli, take inspiration from some of the queen’s preferred delicacies. Available at lunch and dinner through June 15; set menu, $67; à la carte, $15; 44-20/7300-1000.
And the The Dorchester and its recently arrived sibling 45 Park Lane offer a particularly practical perk for the Jubilee weekend: complementary use of Leica Silverline binoculars. We hear they fit quite nicely in a sensible handbag. The Dorchester; Park Ln.; 44-20/7629 8888. 45 Park Lane; 44-20/7493-4545.
May 24, 2012
Mary Cassatt. Tea, c. 1890 / Courtesy National Academy Museum
Showcasing roughly 100 pieces of art by women artists, “Women’s Work,” an exhibit opening at the National Academy Museum & School on May 23, samples a wide range of mediums and messages.
“Each part has its own reason for being,” says Bruce Weber, senior curator of 19th- and 20th-century art. Weber, along with his fellow curators, wanted to present a compelling mix of both popular and lesser-known artists. So while the five-part show highlights an impressive 12-piece set of drypoints by Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt in “Mary Cassatt—Graphic Artist” (a collection that artist/decorator Samuel Colman gave to the museum in 1903), it also showcases artist and activist May Stevens (“May Stevens—the Big Daddy Series”), whose pieces in the ’60s protested the Vietnam War and commented on issues like civil rights.
The museum’s dedication to women doesn’t stop with the exhibit. The National Academy School has a history of electing women, a commitment that has been particularly strong since the 1980s. “From Protest to Process: Recent Gifts by Women Academicians” furthers the point, displaying 30 gifts to the museum that cover 40 years of printmaking and painting.
Twenty pieces of sculpture and a collection of works by realist painter Colleen Browning round out the show, but the prevailing takeaway is clear: When it comes to art, a woman’s work is (wonderfully) never done. May 23–August 26; 1083 Fifth Ave.; 212-369-4880; nationalacademy.org.
May 24, 2012
Tom McWilliam
As we’ve mentioned before, the Philip Johnson Glass House, located in New Canaan, Connecticut, is one of those destinations just outside of New York that are truly worth the drive—and never more so than during Dine with Design, its annual epicurean festival. This year, on June 9, Dine with Design will host the Food Film Festival in its first appearance outside of New York and Chicago. The evening will begin with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres and then progress to an eight-course tasting menu in film form, starting with The Perfect Oyster, a short documentary about northwest Canadian oysterman Brent Petkau. As the films progress from appetizers to dessert, the audience will sample a course featuring the foods on screen. Expect local Fanny Bay oysters during the first screening, for example, or flavors featured in the film about Bruce Becker and his Max and Mina’s ice cream shop in Flushing, Queens, which makes more than 4,000 varieties (including grass and Pinot Noir).
As an added treat, the Glass House compound will open earlier in the day to a limited number of guests for a Modern Picnic, featuring local delicacies prepared by six star chefs, including Missy Robbins (A Voce Madison and Columbus) and Gabriel Rucker (Le Pigeon), who won last year’s James Beard Foundation Rising Star Chef of the Year Award. Picnic guests will have the opportunity to chat with the chefs and local food artisans and wander freely through the grounds’ historic buildings—a feast for the eyes as well as the appetite. 199 Elm St.; June 9; Food Film Festival, $100 per person; Modern Picnic, $250 per person; combined VIP tickets, $300; philipjohnsonglasshouse.org.
May 18, 2012
Photo courtesy of Chopard
When French actress Bérénice Béjo, who received an Oscar nod this year for her role in The Artist, took the stage Wednesday to host the opening ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival, her earrings nearly stole the show. Their one-of-a-kind diamond-drop design is part of a 65-piece Haute Joaillerie Red Carpet collection created by Chopard copresident and artistic director Caroline Scheufele—and it’s all to celebrate the festival’s 65th year.
Chopard, a Cannes partner for the past 15 years, has created new designs around the event before. But this is its most extensive effort by far: More than 70,000 hand-set stones went into the collection, and the entire process took Chopard artisans five-plus months to execute.
Introduced over the course of the 12-day festival—mostly on the necks, wrists and ears of leading ladies—the Red Carpet pieces range in mood. Some, like a tsavorite garnet statement ring shaped like a Granny Smith apple with a brown diamond stem, are pure whimsy; others, like the pink sapphire and amethyst long necklace (pictured above) and the detachable elderflower pendant made of ruby and pink sapphire clusters set on a diamond floral necklace, are classically elegant. All are gorgeously Chopard. Prices upon request; 709 Madison Ave.; 212-223-2304; chopard.com/cannes.
May 17, 2012
© Maira Kalman / Courtesy Julie Saul Gallery
A new exhibit featuring Maira Kalman called “37 Paintings” opens tonight at the Julie Saul Gallery in Chelsea (6 to 8 p.m.). The show, which runs through June 23, includes myriad paintings that Kalman has done over the last two years, including work for Michael Pollan’s book Food Rules and The New Yorker and from her time at the American Academy in Rome. Sitting at the circular, sunny-yellow table in her West Village kitchen, fresh off a plane from Tel Aviv, Kalman told Departures about Rome, the art of embroidery and her time spent as a maid in Ireland.
Q: Most of your work is for assignment, but when you went to Rome you were left to your own devices. Did you like it?
A: No. No, I didn’t. It gets into the tricky area of being an artist or being an illustrator. I like being an illustrator. I like being Lois Lane, sent on assignment. I feel so sorry for artists. When I was in Rome, I thought, Oh these poor, poor artists!
Q: In addition to your 37 paintings in the exhibit, you’ll actually be at the gallery during the show working on an embroidery piece that you started in Rome, right?
A: Right. So my work in Rome was just to walk around, with my beautiful empty brain, and look at things. The embroidery is ongoing—I’m embroidering every single thing that happened to me in Rome. Everything that I saw, heard or felt.
Q: I understand you recently did a stint as a maid in Ireland.
A: It was in a castle. It was a thousand-year-old castle. I was the best maid they’d ever had. If anybody reads this, they can hire me to work in their castle, or palace. Preferably in England, but I’ll go other places too.
Q: Is the instinct to go to Rome and be an artist and the instinct to go to Ireland and be a maid the same?
A: They’re flip sides of the same instinct. For me, being a maid and doing that work—putting things in order and having that sense of a task—is a great complement to creating art. People garden and paint. Something happens to the brain. It’s very calmed, and that’s when I have lots of ideas.
Q: Your work and your approach to life are so youthful. Do you ever think about aging?
A: I think about age all the time. It is inevitable—you’d have to be a complete idiot not to notice the time that you have is getting smaller. It’s hard to grapple with. So one works and stays occupied. Otherwise, you’ll go mad.
535 W. 22nd St., 6th fl.; 212-627-2410; saulgallery.com.
May 17, 2012
Roy Lichtenstein, American (1923-1997). Ohhh…Alright…, 1964. Oil and Magna on canvas. 91.4 x 96.5 cm (36 x 38 in). © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein. Private Collection.
Though Roy Lichtenstein’s comic strip–inspired compositions are some of the most immortal images of the Pop Art era, few realize the breadth and depth of his artistic career. “Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective,” opening at The Art Institute of Chicago on May 22, might just change that. The first all-inclusive exhibition of Lichtenstein’s work since he died in 1997, the show illustrates how he painted Asian landscapes, corporate logos and everything in between throughout his career. “The benefit of such a comprehensive approach is being able to see, in one place, the themes and subjects that occupied him for over 40 years,” says James Rondeau, one of the exhibit’s curators. “There is change, but also a staggering consistency in terms of both methodology and quality. Building connections among periods and works of art is only possible with an exhibition of this scope.” The retrospective comprises more than 130 works, including paintings, sculptures, sketches, mixed-media works and a few dozen pieces that have rarely been displayed for public view. If you won’t make it to Chicago in time, fear not: The show will visit Washington, D.C.’s National Gallery of Art, London’s Tate Modern and Paris’s Centre Pompidou between now and the end of 2013. Member previews, May 13–18; open to the public, May 22–September 3; 111 S. Michigan Ave.; 312-629-6100; artic.edu
May 17, 2012
Courtesy Goose & Gander
Goose & Gander, a Napa Valley restaurant from restaurateur Andrew Florsheim, is poised to make a statement in its newly repurposed location. The eatery took over the iconic Martini House restaurant space, which closed in 2010. Though eager to preserve key aspects of the 90-year-old Craftsman-style bungalow, Florsheim set out to transform it into a cross between a public house (a nod to executive chef Kelly McCown’s Irish roots) and a duck club (duck paraphernalia punctuates the comfortable dark-wood interior). “We want our guests to come in for a quick drink and maybe a snack, or stay a while dining in an environment that is fun and makes them feel good,” says Florsheim.
McCown’s rustic, ingredients-focused cuisine is an excellent reason to settle in and stay a while. Snack on duck and chicken wings with fried pickles and spring green goddess or crispy escargot with Castelvetrano olives and garlic anchovy butter. Then dig into pan-roasted California halibut, hot skillet-roasted white prawns or the G&G burger (grass-fed beef, Gruyère cheese, house-smoked bacon) served with duck-fat fries. For dessert, try coconut cake with banana pastry cream, coconut ice cream or crème anglaise.
The restaurant’s landscaped garden will open after Memorial Day, hosting outdoor dining around a charming koi pond. But be sure to visit the Basement Bar, which Florsheim calls “near perfect.” Bar manager Scott Beattie turns out an impressive selection of drinks focused primarily on bourbon, Scotch and brown spirits, though seasonal cocktails, like the refreshing Cucumber Collins, make frequent appearances. 1245 Spring St., St. Helena, CA; 707-967-8779; goosegander.com.
May 17, 2012
Courtesy “The Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows - The First 100 Years” by Robert S. Anderson, Official Historian for The Beverly Hills Hotel, publication date May 2012.
This week marks the centennial of The Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows. To celebrate the occasion, Robert S. Anderson, the hotel’s official historian, is releasing a 396-page biography of the hotel titled The Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows: The First 100 Years ($100). Anderson is the great-grandson of the hotel’s original owner, Margaret Anderson, and his unique perspective results in a stunning compendium of images and anecdotes.
The history of The Beverly Hills Hotel is the history of Beverly Hills itself. The resort opened in 1912; the city was founded in 1914. “Beverly Hills was built around the hotel,” says Anderson. “Only about 75 people lived on property and they needed 550 inhabitants to become a city, so [railroad magnate] Henry Huntington had his railroad crew camp out.” In 1926, Will Rogers was named the city’s honorary mayor, and the comedian cheekily accepted his new position on the front lawn of the hotel. “During his inauguration, Rogers said that Beverly Hills would do well because there are two swimming pools to every Bible,” says Anderson. “That comment got him thousands of letters addressed to ‘Will Rogers, Beverly Hills.’ That embarrassed the government into giving us our own post office.”
Anderson’s book captures other moments, too. Marlene Dietrich smokes a cigarette in the Polo Lounge. Marilyn Monroe reclines in a swimsuit on the lawn. Faye Dunaway poses poolside with her Oscar for Network (1976). If Old Hollywood had a clubhouse, the “Pink Palace” would be it—and that was true even before it was painted pink. (Designer Paul Williams, creator of the hotel’s iconic logo, introduced the color in 1948.) The transformation of Beverly Hills from barren desert to lush Xanadu is a running theme in the book, and Anderson’s favorite image out of the 540 he curated captures that metamorphosis. “It’s a photograph looking west,” he says. “Where the swimming pool is today, there’s a tennis court. The landscape is bare and the grounds are filled with scrub brush. You can see the ocean.” BeverlyHillsCollection.com.
May 16, 2012
© Jordan Kisner
The Kips Bay Decorator Show House, an interior design bonanza held each year to benefit the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club, opens its doors on May 16 with an eye-popping display of various styles and aesthetics. Thirty prominent designers have taken over two bi-level units at the Aldyn Residences on Riverside Boulevard, each choosing a room and making it his or her own.
For many participants, the experience is quite personal. “Normally when I design, it’s a collaboration between myself and clients,” says Lynne Scalo, whose white lacquered retreat features oversized portraits of Steve Jobs and Andy Warhol. “But here, my only collaborator is the architecture, and that’s a really wonderful opportunity to showcase my point of view as an artist.”
That connection is apparent throughout the house: Alexander Doherty’s version of an art collector’s inner sanctum features several pieces from his own art collection on the wall, and a mirror-paneled library by Jamie Drake is filled entirely with his own books.
For others, the 40th annual showcase is an opportunity to escape into fantasy. Raji Radhakrishnan composed her corner unit as though it were the private home office of the head curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, incorporating Art Deco and modernist elements, custom photo murals of the King’s Chapel at Versaille and a gilded plaster ceiling medallion designed by Radhakrishnan herself. Charlotte Moss turned her suite into a taste of the French countryside, layering trompe l’oeil wallpaper and garden photography, freestanding trees and an immense antique birdcage from her own collection.
Even without the lavish interiors, both units are impressive, with oversized pools and sweeping views of the Hudson River. But with the addition of each decorator’s dream pieces—witness the $115 million antique desk in David Scott’s sophisticated, richly textured gentleman’s study, or the massive 1820s Neoclassical secretary from Germany in a dining room by Patrik Lönn—the scene is fairly stunning. May 16–June 14; 60 Riverside Blvd.; kipsbaydecoratorshowhouse.org.
May 11, 2012
© Courtesy Leica Camera
Jean-Louis Dumas, the former president of Hermès and an avid photographer, passed away in May 2010, but his legacy is being preserved by another brand with which he had a special bond: Leica. The renowned cameramaker has announced the debut of the limited-edition M9-P Edition Hermès Série Limitée Jean-Louis Dumas camera set ($50,000; available in July), created to honor Dumas, who famously carried a Leica camera and a small red notebook everywhere he went. Only 100 of the cameras will be made. (The standard M9-P Edition Hermès camera, which sells for $25,000, will be available in June.)
The design of the M9-P Edition Hermès combines silver chrome and ochre Hermès calfskin and comes with three lenses: the Summicron-M 28mm, the Noctilux-M 50mm and the APO-Summicron-M 90mm. Owners of the special set will also receive a hand-finished Hermès camera bag, the first bag the company ever created for Leica cameras, and a portfolio of 200 black-and-white images taken by Dumas on his Leica M. Consider it a bit of inspiration—and good luck. Available in Leica stores and boutiques worldwide, including 977 F St., Washington, D.C.; 202-787-5900; leica.com.
