Save Our Libraries and Bookstores

The back side of the library from Bryant Park on a summer night at dusk.  

The main branch of the New York Public Library, now called the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, at 5th Avenue and 42nd Street, is one of my favorite places in the city. I have written about it before on the blog - please go and read all about it here! I also recently attended a lecture at the library on Edith Wharton which you can read about here.
Opened in 1911, it is a beautiful and timeless Beaux Arts building

where anyone can go to read or research or write.

In the monumental Rose Reading room, I love the carved and painted ceiling overhead

and the heavy wood tables and chairs and the elegant bronze reading lamps.

The corridors are lined with marble

and other iconic New York buildings are visible through its lofty windows.

The library really is uplifting and inspirational, like a church.
Across the street is the Mid-Manhattan Library which was founded in 1970 and houses the largest circulating collections of The New York Public Library. I was there recently in the building doing some research, and it is in terrible shape. Inside, it was dirty and shabby with neglect. One floor which used to be filled with shelves of books was practically empty except for tables where it seems homeless people have found a place to sit. I wasn't getting very far with my research and I asked a librarian for help, who apologized saying, "We used to have more books." I asked her about the floor vacated of shelves. She said, "The management likes a 'light and airy look.'" Huh? Less books in the library for a light and airy look? That doesn't make any sense. It's a library. Which by definition requires books.

You see, there is a plan afoot. The Library has already sold off the popular Donnell Library on West 53rd Street in a controversial sale to a real estate developer. Now the Library has proposed a plan to vacate the Mid-Manhattan Library and sell the building to a real estate developer. It also wants to sell the Science, Industry and Business Library at 34th Street and Madison Avenue. These circulating libraries would move into the main Schwarzman building which would be gutted. Its historic seven story book stacks would be demolished and 1.5 million books would be moved to a site in New Jersey. Again, there is that confounding idea of a library with less books. This plan was created through a closed door process with no public input, has been condemned by architecture critics, and will cost New York City taxpayers $150 million.

During Mayor de Blasio's campaign, he promised to halt this plan, though time is now running out. You can learn more about the plan here, and write to Mayor de Blasio here to tell him to stop this plan.

At the same time comes the news that the renowned 109-year-old building that houses the famed Rizzoli bookstore on 57th Street will demolished. (This photo from The New York Times)

The limestone mansion will undoubtedly be replaced by another superluxury supertall residential building, as if New York City needs one more Bloomberg-era billionaire apartment tower stretching its long shadow over Central Park. Please go here to sign a petition to have the Rizzoli building designated a landmark which could save it from demolition.

The cultural life and intellectual life of a city are just as important as real estate development but things have gotten a little out of whack here on the island of Manhattan. It's disturbing for someone who loves books and beautiful things.

House Beautiful Magazine's Next Wave of American Designers

The Next Wave of American interior designers with House Beautiful's Shax Riegler, Kate Kelly Smith and Newell Turner.  

I had the pleasure last week of attending a luncheon hosted by House Beautiful magazine at the Hearst Tower on 8th Avenue at 57th Street. The event was held to celebrate the interior designers who have been spotlighted on the magazine's popular "Next Wave" page which identifies emerging talent all over the country. In this month's issue, for example, young designer Patrick Mele is profiled –

House Beautiful, which is 118 years old this year, has been celebrating emerging talent since 1998 when then-editor Lou Gropp started a feature with a round-up which included, among others, Thomas Jayne, William Sofield and Barbara Barry, who, of course, have gone on to become well-recognized American designers. At the luncheon on the 44th floor of the Hearst Tower, 19 recent New Wave designers were in attendance along with a congenial crowd of the magazine's friends.

A trip to the Hearst Tower is always a treat. The views of the city from the 44th floor dining room are truly breathtaking.
Looking north with Central Park below –

Guests sat down to a lovely lunch of pumpkin and goat cheese croquettes with roasted baby beets and ruby grapefruit –

followed by pan-seared cod with spaghetti squash and roasted brussel sprouts –

Delicious!
Hearst Design Group Editorial Director Newell Turner took to the podium to welcome guests and introduce the Next Wave designers who had traveled from across the country to attend. He spoke about his passion for American decorating and the history of American decorating, and how House Beautiful was committed to nurturing rising talent. "And always bring your new projects to us first!" he said to laughter across the room.
Yours truly with Design Group Publishing Director Kate Kelly Smith –

When the luncheon was over, on the way out I marveled again at the Hearst Tower which is a stunning building. The original six floor building was constructed in 1928 by William Randolph Hearst. Architect Norman Foster added a 46 floor tower on top which was completed in 2006. Here you can see, in this picture of the company cafeteria, how the tower ingeniously rises over the original six story facade. An escalator goes down to the street level –

Here is the escalator going up. It's surrounded on both sides by a waterfall, which offers a quiet, peaceful way to enter a corporate office building –

It's great design. And here's to the future of American decorating!

A Visit to the Yale University Art Gallery

(this photo courtesy of Yale)
Over the holidays TD and I visited my father in Guilford and we had an outing to nearby New Haven to take in the newly renovated and expanded Yale University Art Gallery. We love the museums at Yale, which are beautiful and free! The Yale Art Gallery is the oldest university art museum in America, and houses 200,000 works of art from ancient times to the present day. For years, the Art Gallery was been undergoing a major renovation, and it reopened in 2012 so this was our first visit back in awhile. The renovation cost $135 million which was raised by the Gallery's indefatigable director, Jock Reynolds, who gathered that amount during a recession, no less. The expansion linked three buildings together, and the architects in charge, Ennead Architects in New York, did a brilliant job fusing the disparate buildings and departments seamlessly. "Gallery" is a misleading misnomer for this institution because it really is a major American art museum.

Within the three buildings, there is a lot to see including Asian, African, and Ancient art plus temporary exhibits. Throughout the exploration, there are wonderful things to discover around every corner. There also is a constant mix of old and new – old buildings, new renovation, old art, new design.
For example: A view down stairs to a nineteenth century John LaFarge stained glass window adjacent to a new elevator - going up!

There are secret nooks around every bend –

I am always drawn to nineteenth century European paintings, like this Vuillard – 

Tropical Gauguin always makes me happy

as does joyful Monet.

All of the galleries are painted different colors, but they all go together. Early Italian art is housed is rooms that are a deep midnight blue with light grey molding.

It really was quite striking. I've never seen gallery walls that color before.

The Yale Art Gallery is renowned for its collection of American art and decorative arts. The big windows in this decorative arts gallery reveal the buildings of Yale beyond.

Ancient art is found in a light-filled Gothic gallery. 

More treasures around every turn – 

A peak into a classroom – a nice place to go to school.

You can really wander for hours in this museum and not see everything. By the time we were done we were hungry so we repaired to Christie's Irish pub (thank you, Google search) for a proper pint and a hamburger lunch at the bar. It was a lovely afternoon in New Haven.

Christmas in New York

(click on photos to enlarge)
We have been celebrating the season here in NYC with lots of get-togethers with family and friends. I enjoy this time of year because we get to see so many loved ones – it fills up the well for the year. New York City has been donning the lights so that everything sparkles with color like Radio City Music Hall, above, and the Empire State Building, below.

Up at Rockefeller Center, the big tree had a slow start. Here it is before it was lit –

and then lit on a rainy night –

Finally recently on a balmy night it shone with golden flags waving overhead.

Our friends Katherine and Jim invited us to go with them to hear Chanticleer, the renowned male chorus. The concert was held at St. Ignatius Loyola, the majestic Catholic church on Park Avenue at 84th Street, which was built in 1886 and was the site of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis's funeral in 1994.

The Chanticleer concert was beautiful and moving. It is the sound of angels singing. I recommend it!
The chorus takes af final bow: 

We went to get our Christmas tree on Jane Street from Billy Romp, where we have been getting our tree since, yes, 1988 –

Billy put our tree on his delivery bicycle/cart and brought the tree to our apartment through the streets of the Village –

The next night, we got it decorated –

Uptown, the stores windows were dressed for the season. I love this crazy scene at Prada with the wild floral luggage and the mannequin wearing grey socks and turquoise sandals.

At Bergdorf Goodman, the theme is "Holidays on Ice" which is a good way to celebrate fashion and luxury year 'round.
Pictured here is Valentine's Day, a glistening boudoir dripping with icicles.

A close-up of madame –

With all the activities of the holidays, I needed to lay down for a nap at home

which was quiet and still.
I am wishing you the love and joy of the season, and peace and stillness too –

Kevin Paulsen's Mural Magic in Greenwich Village

(click on photos to enlarge)
I had the great pleasure recently of getting an exclusive preview look at an exquisite new residence in an iconic building in Greenwich Village. My friend artist Kevin Paulsen invited me to see an impressive mural that he has created for the the dining room of the residence. You might remember that I visited an exhibition of Kevin's at Bergdorf Goodman a few years ago here on the blog. Kevin is inspired by itinerant artists who traveled the countryside creating work for customers. I really like his artwork which to me evokes a blend of folk art and nineteenth century seafaring art and Italian landscapes and the Hudson River School. He thought I might like to see his latest project.

The century-old Greenwich Village building was recently converted into luxury condos. Interior designer Glenn Gissler contacted Kevin about creating murals for the four walls of the dining room for his clients, a couple with two young children. So the itinerant artist who is based up the Hudson in Kingston, New York, came down to Manhattan. The couple, two women, suggested some themes. Back in his studio Kevin worked on muslin and synthetic plaster with soy and powdered pigment, creating a world of fantasy and charm.

When the works were complete, the four large panels were rolled up and brought down to Manhattan where they were installed in the dining room. The panels were glued to the wall and then lightly sanded, antiqued, and touched up. Now, in the dining room, which also features vintage Moroccan lamps and a dining table designed by Glenn Gissler, the murals look as if they had been there forever. They have a quality that is both monumental and light at the same time.

I love the palette of greens and browns, and the whimsical nature of the scenery –



Kevin used the motif of pearls throughout the tableau, as seen in this detail shot  –

The white pearls add an incandescent touch to the darker, more melancholy colors –

Two women at play –

The itinerant artist, Kevin himself, returning home from work –

A lone figure flies away in a balloon –

Yours truly with the artist –

A view from the dining room out to the front hall and the front door –

What a beautiful way to live.