Mick Jagger, Jackie O, Liz Taylor, Halston, Truman Capote and MANY other bold faced names hauled out all the way to the end of Long Island back in the 1970s and 80s to hang out here. Who was their host? Andy Warhol. Paul Morrissey put the spread up for sale back in 2001 for $50 million and finally sold it for $27 million back in 2007 to J. Crew CEO Mickey Drexler. The compound was a fishing camp back in the 1930s by the Church family who made the Arm & Hammer baking soda fortune. What do you get for that hefty price tag? 30 acres of prime oceanfront high on the bluffs, that includes 24 acres of horse pasture and two 1920s barns with 29 stalls. There are also a number of vintage cottages that have been beautifully restored by Mr. Drexler. Altogether there are nine bedrooms, 11.5 baths, and about 15,000 square feet of living space. Or you could buy one or two prime Warhols at auction. Drexler has said he prefers to collect real estate to art.
REAL ESTATE PORN–GLASS HOUSE EDITION: A PHILIP JOHNSON ART BOX IN NEW CANAAN FOR $14 MILLION
Another student of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the late elder statesman of modernism, designed this stunner. Philip Johnson‘s own famous Glass House is nearby, but this one, as the Sotheby’s listing says, is much more livable –and it’s for sale;
Considered the most “livable” of Philip Johnson’s work, Wiley House, has been restored and maintained to the highest standard, without regard to cost. As much Art as it is Home, Wiley House represents the finest example of Philip Johnson’s work, and perhaps the ultimate Mid-Century Modern home available in the world.
It’s 4 bedrooms, 5 baths on 6 acres but otherwise Sotheby’s doesn’t tell you much else about it –but if you want a glass house, with a round pool and an art gallery on your property –and you’ve got $14 million– this is your place.
REAL ESTATE PORN–GLASS HOUSE EDITION: A 60s CLASSIC OUTSIDE CHICAGO FOR $600K
Designed and built by H.P. Davis “Deever” Rockwell as the architect’s personal residence in 1964, this glass house is a real gem. Like the designer of THE most famous glass house, Philip Johnson, Rockwell was student of Mies van der Rohe too. The student put to work what he learned from the famed grandfather of modernism in creating this glass and concrete home. The “House on a Bluff,” as it was called, sits on two and a half acres and is a pretty roomy 3,600-square-fee with four bedrooms and three baths. The listing agent Joe Kunkel told Curbed;
“Many of the famous glass homes are now museums. But this is one of the few that someone can buy and actually live in.”
For $619,000, that’s gotta be a steal, right? Have a look at the next glass house post and you tell me.
SOUTH BEACH WAS LA DOLCE VITA FOR PHOTOGRAPHER ANDY SWEET
Andy Sweet documented the personalities of Miami in 1977 after completing his studies at the University of Colorado and set out to document South Beach’s old-world (Jewish) culture. His subjects–predominantly the quirky, stylish, eclectic elderly residents, many of them grew up in the Miami area or were the snow birds who flocked there. Sadly, Sweet was murdered in 1982 at the age of 29, but his archive is a great flashback. The Andy Sweet Photo Legacy was established in his memory and continues to exhibit his work with the intent of publishing a monograph of Sweet’s work in the near future. Have a look. It’s a vanished world.
DON McCLEAN SELLS "AMERICAN PIE" LYRICS FOR $1.2 MILLION & REVEALS THEIR MEANING –SORT OF
You know the song. It’s iconic. But according to the author and singer of American Pie, the music really died because Buddy Holly just wanted some clean clothes. Touring the country on unheated buses in 1959, singer Buddy Holly was tired of his dirty laundry, so he chartered a plane on to fly from Clear Lake, Iowa, to Fargo, N.D., where he hoped he could make a date with a washing machine. On the plane were also singer Ritchie Valens and, Waylon Jennings fatefully gave up his seat to J.P. Richardson, a.k.a. “the Big Bopper.” Bad weather and a pilot not certified to fly in. The plane crashed, killing everyone. Holly was just 22, Valens was just 17.
Thirteen years later, Don McLean wrote a song about the tragedy: American Pie. Now, the original 16-page working manuscript of the lyrics has been sold at auction for $1.2 million. At more than 800 words, the full meaning of the lyrics. McLean said in a Christie’scatalogue ahead of the sale;
“I thought it would be interesting as I reach age 70 to release this work product on the song American Pie so that anyone who might be interested will learn that this song was not a parlor game. It was an indescribable photograph of America that I tried to capture in words and music.
People ask me if I left the lyrics open to ambiguity. Of course I did. I wanted to make a whole series of complex statements. The lyrics had to do with the state of society at the time.”
Basically in ‘American Pie,’ things are heading in the wrong direction. It is becoming less idyllic. I don’t know whether you consider that wrong or right but it is a morality song in a sense.”
The chorus is perfect. It lets you wallow in the confusion and be comforted at the same time. Forty-four years after its McLean isn’t much more positive about the state of the world;
“I was around in 1970 and now I am around in 2015. There is no poetry and very little romance in anything anymore, so it is really like the last phase of ‘American Pie.’”
The reason for selling the manuscript now?
“I’m going to be 70 this year. I have two children and a wife, and none of them seem to have the mercantile instinct. I want to get the best deal that I can for them. It’s time.
I would say to young songwriters who are starting out to immerse yourself in beautiful music and beautiful lyrics and think about every word you say in a song.”
Kanye, are you listening?
Here are the lyrics. If you are of a certain age, you already know them by heart.
American Pie
[Intro]
A long, long time ago
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they’d be happy for a whileBut February made me shiver
With every paper I’d deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn’t take one more stepI can’t remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died[Chorus]
So bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
And them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and Rye
Singin’ “This’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die”[Verse 1]
Did you write the book of love
And do you have faith in God above
If the Bible tells you so?
Now do you believe in rock and roll?
Can music save your mortal soul?
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?Well, I know that you’re in love with him
‘Cause I saw you dancin’ in the gym
You both kicked off your shoes
Man, I dig those rhythm and bluesI was a lonely teenage broncin’ buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died[Chorus]
I started singin’ bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and Rye
Singin’ “This’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die”[Verse 2]
Now for 10 years we’ve been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rollin’ stone
But that’s not how it used to be
When the jester sang for the king and queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
And a voice that came from you and meOh, and while the king was looking down
The jester stole his thorny crown
The courtroom was adjourned
No verdict was returnedAnd while Lenin read a book on Marx
The quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died[Chorus]
We were singin’ bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and Rye
Singin’ “This’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die”[Verse 3]
Helter skelter in a summer swelter
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and falling fast
It landed foul on the grass
The players tried for a forward pass
With the jester on the sidelines in a castNow the halftime air was sweet perfume
While the sergeants played a marching tune
We all got up to dance
Oh, but we never got the chance‘Cause the players tried to take the field
The marching band refused to yield
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?[Chorus]
We started singin’ bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and Rye
And singin’ “This’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die”[Verse 4]
Oh, and there we were all in one place
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again
So come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
‘Cause fire is the devil’s only friendOh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in Hell
Could break that Satan’s spellAnd as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music diedHe was singin’ bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and Rye
And singin’ “This’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die”[Outro]
I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store
Where I’d heard the music years before
But the man there said the music wouldn’t playAnd in the streets, the children screamed
The lovers cried and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were brokenAnd the three men I admire most
The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music diedAnd they were singin’ bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
And them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and Rye
Singin’ “This’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die”[Chorus]
They were singin’ bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and Rye
And singin’ “This’ll be the day that I die”
NOW TOM OF FINLAND CAN START AND PUT OUT FIRES
The Finnish fire safety company Jalo Helsinki collaborated with the Tom of Finland Foundation to create a new line of red-hot fire safety products. The blankets can extinguish a small fire in your home or office, but in the interim Tom’s art is on display, within easy reach and in case of red-hot emergency. S.R. Sharp, Curator at Tom of Finland Foundation says
“This collection of fire blankets is a wonderful hybrid between art and design, and further elevates Tom’s work to heroic proportions. We are honored to partner with Jalo Helsinki in making Tom’s drawings and message easily reachable and always available.”
Smokey the Bear has a buddy now. Hot!
CALVIN KLEIN SELLS HIS MIAMI ESTATE (FOR $16 MILLION) & BUYS IN L.A. (FOR $25 MILLION)
Miami
Since purchasing the house in 1999, Calvin Klein was always pretty private about publicity and photos of his Miami Beach house. Bruce Weberphotographed it for Vanity Fair in 2008 and now that he has listed the 1929 home for sale for $16 million, we can finally get a good look inside. The 5,800 square foot isn’t gigantic, but it comes with a few thousand more square feet of indoor-outdoor living space, 113 feet of bay frontage, an infinity pool, courtyard. It has five bedrooms, five ensuite baths with an additional two half baths too. CK has the big bucks, so I’m not sure why he’s selling this place… until you get a look at his NEW place in L.A. Just scroll down.
Los Angeles
This new house of Calvin’s is in the Bird Streets of the Hollywood Hills, two doors down from the Facebook Winklevoss twins. Like many big-budget dwellings built on spec, the 9,300-square-foot mansion, designed by Paul-McClean, has a wealth of over-the-top features meant to impress. Done. It has a fully retractable glass walls, 13-foot ceilings, a home theater that seats a dozen hot guys, an entryway with “a bridge over a waterfall and reflecting pool,” a 65-foot infinity pool, and a garage with space for eight very expensive cars. It has five bedrooms and seven bathrooms and the master has its own private terrace with outdoor living area complete with a flat screen and a fireplace. It was first listed in January for just shy of $30 million, Klein just plunked down $25 million for it. As amazing as it is, the decoration will be THAT MUCH better once Calvin moves in. You can sure it’ll be minimalist perfection.
CASA BRUTALE IS A 21ST CENTURY BOND VILLIAN PAD
Intended as a sideways wink to the infamous Casa Malaparte on the eastern side of the Italian island of Capri, Casa Brutale is an unbuilt and innovative wood, glass, and concrete design that converges with the surrounding earth offering amazing views of the Aegean from its cliffside perch. A glass-bottom swimming pool on the roof is a poetic continuation of the blue sky and sea. This liquid design element also functions as a skylight that illuminates the minimalist interiors below which feature a massive glass facade that will someday frame the beauty of the ocean views, if it ever gets built. Fifty steps lead down to the entrance — an rotating door of vintage wood — while the bare concrete and wooden planks of the interior are a nod to the the brutalist movement. It’s 21st century Bond. Just add helicopter and a Tesla, a Rothko, Dom and a sexy companion. I know, you can already see the demise of our villain as Bond flies away in the helicopter with the girl, and fires a parting shot into the pool…
20 ARTISTS TAKE ON THE OLD STARS & STRIPES
Some people were up in arms last week about rainbow flags, but we are all under one red, white and blue banner, regardless of our beliefs. Artists have been riffing on the American flag to make protest statements, rally political ideologies and show their patriotism for most of the 20th century and into the 21st. According to Wikipedia;
The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the American flag, consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton (referred to specifically as the “union”) bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars (top and bottom) alternating with rows of five stars. The 50 stars on the flag represent the 50 states of the United States of America, and the 13 stripes represent the thirteen British colonies that declared independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, and became the first states in the Union. Nicknames for the flag include the Stars and Stripes, Old Glory, and the Star-Spangled Banner. The design of the flag has been modified 26 times officially since 1777. The 48-star flag was in effect for 47 years until the 49-star version became official on July 4, 1959. The 50-star flag was ordered by President Eisenhower on August 21, 1959 and was adopted in July 1960. It is the longest-used version of the U.S. flag and has been in use for over 55 years.
So, here’s my little Fourth of July online exhibit by some of my favorite artists. It's a wide range, so like America, there's something for everyone. Happy Fourth!
WARHOL SUPERSTAR HOLLY WOODLAWN NEEDS OUR HELP...
Holly Woodlawn IS a Superstar. Her work in seminal queer films like Trash and Women in Revolt, made her one. And she’s immortalized by the late Lou Reed who pays homage to the trans pioneer, in his anthem Walk on the Wild Side:
Holly came from Miami, F.L.A.
Hitch-hiked her way across the U.S.A.
Plucked her eyebrows on the way
Shaved her legs and then he was a she
Woodlawn, 68, is now in very poor health in an L.A. hospital and the outcome for her recovery isn’t good. A GoFundMe campaign has been set up by her friend, Penny Arcade, will to help cover medical and even eventual funeral and burial costs for the ailing performer. Penny’s note reads:
Holly Woodlawn, the beloved, iconic Transgender LBGT pioneer and Warhol superstar is very ill. She is currently in the hospital in Los Angeles in a private room.The hospital has asked that we not give out the name because they are aleady fielding many phonecalls about Holly and are not set up to handle it. Holly cannot speak on the telephone now and her condition is dire. She is undergoing investigative measures to determine exactly the nature of the lesions discovered on her brain and lungs. There are also other physical conditions challenging her recovery. Holly’s has made it clear that she wants to return home, surrounded by friends and if she must die, she doesn’t want to die in a nursing home.
We who love Holly, hope to raise enough funds to continue her care and hopefully bring Holly home with 24-hour nursing care, after she recouperates in a nursing home. Currently, we have no means to achieve these goals, which also include provisions for her funeral and to secure her final resting place. Holly gave visability long before it was comfortable to do so and also gave thousands of people both hope and pleasure.
You can contribute here and help Penny and friends bring Holly home. Since it was posted two days ago, half the goal, $25,000 has been raised. Share this widely, please. T/Y.