A Trip to Miami South Beach

(click on photos to enlarge)
TD and I last week took a fun five-day trip down to Miami South Beach for some much needed r and r. We have been down several times before, and we always enjoy wide sandy beach and the surf of the Atlantic Ocean while being close to a lot of great restaurants and stores. It's an easy getaway. The flight is less than three hours and once we get there we don't need to rent a car because everything is within walking distance. We were on a 7am flight out of LaGuardia and swimming in the warm ocean by 11:30.
We checked into the charming Villa Paradiso which in one block from the beach, and were looked after by the helpful Anna.

At night we strolled around in shorts. A colorful Cadillac was parked in front of the Marlin Hotel; the car and the building go back in time.

South Beach was developed in the 1930's, and claims to have the largest collection of buildings featuring Streamline Moderne Art Deco architecture. I love the pastel colors and cubic lines of the apartment houses. It looks to me like Old Hollywood. I said to TD, "Can we move here?"

Voluptuous bougainvillea smothered a dusty pink apartment building at dusk.

At night we walked along Lincoln Road, a long pedestrian row lined with stores, restaurants, galleries and bars. In the 1960's Miami Beach architect Morris Lapidus designed Lincoln Road as it appears today, and I think it must be one of the great public spaces in the world. It is always crowded with visitors from all over the world, and offers great people-watching when you sit down to eat dinner. One night we had authentic Northern Italian pizza at Spris, and another night we ate at the lively Sushi Samba. On Collins Avenue we had a delicious Italian dinner at Spiga (sit on the porch) but the best dinner we had was at the newish Yardbird Southern Table and Bar (thanks Beth). Oh, I can still taste that fried chicken.

But mostly in Miami, we sit on the sandy beach and swim in the warm water. It feels like a relief to the body and spirit to be enveloped by tropical nature after a winter in the city. Even the clouds cooperate.

At the beach I am happy.

The Steins Collect at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

I went with my fourteen-year-old niece and godchild Jane up to the Metropolitan Museum on Sunday for a serious infusion of art. We saw the new American Wing (beautiful, don't miss it) and the new Galleries for Arab Lands (daunting and worth a visit) but the centerpiece of the trip was the current exhibition called The Steins Collect which is about the Stein siblings who were important collectors of modern art in Paris in the early part of the twentieth century.
The Steins – Leo, Michael and his wife Sarah, and Gertrude the writer who made an appearance in Woody Allen's movie Midnight in Paris – were Americans from Pittsburgh who lived in Paris and befriended unknown artists including Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. They bought paintings inexpensively and amassed a spectacular collection of modern art which is now on view at the Met. The exhibit states that artists, writers and musicians convened at the Steins' Saturday salons. "By opening their houses and making art accessible the Steins did more to support art than any other collector or institution during the first decades of the twentieth century."
The art is colorful and ravishing, including Matisse's Portrait of a Woman from 1908

and his joyful Landscape at Collioure from 1905.

Here are the Steins at home – with Matisse seated in the center, and his paintings hung high on the wall. What a fantastic time to live in Paris.

Afterward Jane and I headed downtown and sat in Union Square for a bit while she had an ice cream cone. I said, "What was your favorite thing today?" She said, "The self portrait by Matisse."

Jane has a good eye.
I said one of my favorite things were the photographs that showed the Steins' homes. Here is a picture by Man Ray of Alice B. Toklas standing and Gertrude Stein seated in their apartment at 27, Rue de Fleuris from 1922. I love the art covering the walls and the simple heavy wooden furniture and the light coming through the interior windows.

What a wonderful way to live.

20th Century Art and Design at Lincoln Center

Sheer banners decorate the front of the The Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center. (click on photos to enlarge)
TD and I were invited this week to the opening of the inaugural New York 20th Century Art and Design Fair organized by 1stdibs up in the tent at Lincoln Center. I haven't been up to Lincoln Center in a while – don't ask me why, time flies! Lincoln Center looked great, all spiffed up and polished. It was nice to be there again on its wide quiet plaza.
Mounted in a spacious, comfortable tent adjacent to the The Metropolitan Opera , the show includes 36 dealers from 1stdibs offering 20th century furniture, art, design, clothing and jewelry. It's up this weekend and admission is $20 – check it out if you can.
I liked this chic combination of furnishings, framed art and very dark walls at Dragonette Ltd. from Los Angeles.

Vintage and estate jewelry dealer Neil Marrs offered some enticing baubles. Elizabeth Taylor-worthy.

Dealer Jayne Baum and Good Design teamed up to present a combination of furniture and art. TD knows Jayne from Bailey House where they have both been involved for many years with the annual auction. I liked this big photograph of a water glass by Amanda Means – very Mad Men.
An art work by John Noestheden featuring Swarovksi crystals was hung next to his acrylic painting.

You know how I like a little sparkle.

There were good things to eat and drink in the tent as dusk fell.

Outside, it was a nice spring night as TD exited the tent.

We walked through the plaza and passed the central fountain.

Here is a view of Lincoln Center as we left.

It was a civilized and congenial night in New York, as it should be.

Happy Easter

Flowers ablaze at the Union Square Farmer's Market (click on photos to enlarge)
It's Easter Weekend here in NYC and the weather is beautiful. I am a person who is definitely affected by the lack of light in the winter time, and I can feel myself "wake up" around this time in the spring when the sunlight returns and flowers are blooming in NYC.
A magnolia tree blossoms against a brick wall on Hudson Street -

Waves of tulips in Abingdon Square which used to be covered in asphalt -

A deli on Sixth Avenue offers a spring selection -

On West 20th Street, forsythia, lilacs and wisteria co-mingle -

At the Union Square Farmer's Market, Cyclamen $5 -

Flowering branches at the Durr's truck at the Farmer's Market -
Parrot tulips in a metal firehouse bucket at the Upper Rust, one of my favorite shops, on East 9th Street -

A pale hydrangrea and tulips from the Farmer's Market in the living room -

I hope you are enjoying flowers too and the spring season and having a lovely holiday weekend.

A Dangerous Method

Keira Knightley as Sabina Spielrein.

I had the pleasure of going last night to see the movie A Dangerous Method directed by David Cronenberg, which is based on a true story about Carl Jung, his mentor Sigmund Freud, and Sabina Spielrein, a psychiatric patient who came into their lives. The movie has been out for a while, and there were about six people in the little theater, but what can I say; this movie about interesting historical people at the turn of the last century is more my speed over something like Hunger Games which the rest of the world is seeing right now.

Viggo Mortensen (left) plays Sigmund Freud and Michael Fassbender (of Shame fame) is his protege Carl Jung. Set from 1904-1913, the move captures the Edwardian era which I love. The men wear black jackets, vests and ties, and white shirts, striped grey and black morning trousers, and black gloves. Elegant.

The interiors are quite beautiful - this is Dr. Freud's office where the men meet and talk.

Michael Fassbender makes for a handsome Carl Jung

and Keira Knightley, of whom I have been a fan since Pride & Prejudice, is quite a gorgeous mental hospital patient.

There are some compelling scenes in this movie, including a trans-Atlantic voyage for Freud and Jung on an ocean liner. In New York Harbor they sail past the Statue of Liberty, and the six of us in the movie theater nodded in the dark, "Yes, New York is the place to be."
Jung lives on a Swiss lake, which reminded me of Otsego Lake up at Cooperstown, and his wife buys him a sleek sailboat where he entertains Freud

and his mistress Sabina.

It's a cerebral movie, as Freud and Jung discuss the ideas that give birth to modern psychoanalysis, and then fall out over their differences. And it's sad too, as the love affair between Jung and Sabina ends unhappily. So this is not a fun, date night "rom-com" but, like the movie Coco & Igor, I did enjoy a visit to an elegant and civilized time gone by, and learning more about important figures in history.
Blog bonus: movie trailer

A Visit to the Yale Center for British Art

Miss Mary Hickey painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds (click on paintings to see them better)
I recently had the chance to visit the Yale Center for British Art, in New Haven, which is one of my favorite museums. I hadn't been in a while, so it was pleasure to return. The museum building, its collection of British Art, and its endowment was given to Yale by Paul Mellon, the only son of financier and industrialist Andrew Mellon. It was Andrew himself who started the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., donating his collection of 115 paintings including works by Raphael, Titian and Vermeer. Paul Mellon died in 1999, and his wife Bunny, the renowned tastemaker, collector and gardener who was a mentor to Jackie Kennedy in the White House, still lives at the Mellon Virginia estate.

The museum was designed by renowned architect Louis Kahn, and manages to be both modern and monumental, and serene and reverential at the same time. The top floor of the museum where the permanent collection is housed is airy and quiet. I love the portrait of Mary Hickey, above, from 1770. The fashions of the time were ornate, but the style of the painting is simple – a white hat, a black frock and dove grey suede gloves. I would love some dove suede grey gloves but I can never find them. Out from under the shadow of the hat peers Mary Hickey's beautiful face.

Below is a picture of a fox hunt from 1817 by James Ward. The countryside and the glistening horse contrast dramatically with the red hunting coat. In England, hunt members still wear "colours," these traditional scarlett coats which are called pinks.

This is "The Life of Buckingham" by Augustus Leopold Egg, painted in 1853. It depicts a controversial friend of King Charles II who is seated at the center. My favorite part of this painting is the moon peaking around the window frame – very poetic.

Here we have part of a painting of Wollatan Hall, built in 1588 (1588!) for the family of Sir Francis Willoughby, who made a fortune in coal. Surrounded by ornate gardens, the house itself reminds me of Downton Abbey.




After I left the British Museum, I went across the street to the Yale University Art Gallery where I searched in vain for the floor which housed a collection of antique furniture. I just couldn't find it. Finally I asked a security guard. He said, "Um, when was the last time you were here? The museum has been under renovation for three years." Time flies! Most of that museum was closed for renovation, but I look forward to visiting it again when it is reopened.

Dries Van Noten for Virginia Woolf

A jacket over a long dress with pockets.

You know I am a huge fan of the Belgian fashion Dries Van Noten – I've written about him here, here, and here. The fall 2012 collection which he just presented in Paris looked just beautiful. He told journalists that he recently researched ancient costumes from China, Japan and Korea at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, which is one of my favorite places. He photographed the pieces and was inspired by their prints. What resulted was perfect clothes for 2012 but also designs that remind me a lot of Virginia Woolf and what the Bloomsbury crowd would had worn in the 20's and 30's in England. These clothes are modern and romantic at the same time.
I would love to see a girl wear this to work –

Here a striking coat is worn over a simple black blouse and pants – easy.

A wonderful mix of asymetrical prints -

A mix of proportions – a silky tunic flows over narrow white pants.

This spectacular print reminds me of the glamorous exotic style of the Ballets Russes.

This dress is very Bloomsbury –

A customer could easily buy one of these pieces and mix it into a wardrobe. These clothes would never go out of style because they are above the trends. Dries doesn't follow trends; he does what he wants to do. He's an artist and his medium is clothes. I personally love something like this that transcends time – which evokes the past but is also modern for today. And is such a pleasure for the eye.
(photos from Vogue.com, see the entire collection here)