Neighborhoods
Leo Castelli Gallery
The late Leo Castelli opened his first gallery here on February 10th, 1957. A year later, Jasper Johns had his first show here, which launched the gallery’s role as the catalyst for Pop, Minimal and Conceptual Art. Everybody who is anybody showed here- Rauschenberg, Twombly, Stella, Lichtenstein, Warhol, Rosenquist, Judd, Flavin, Nauman and countless other [...]
Warhol’s High Security Factory
After the whole Valerie Solanas shooting Warhol incident, the Factory was packed up and moved up the block to a higher security building. Bullet proof doors, closed-circuit surveillance, and secret rear exits ensured that Warhol felt safe, and could “escape” fans if necessary. Warhol also tried to deter the obsessed fans who would call over [...]
Kettle of Fish
What is now Esperanto Café was once the original home of Kettle of Fish bar. In the 1960s the Beat writers and Warhol crowd hung here. Edie Sedgwick met Bob Dylan here, during the time she was pulling away from Warhol and just before she killed herself. She also met Bobby Neuwirth here, and starred [...]
Triad Bronze
This bronze, which has been under scaffolding for as long as I can remember, shows three Cubist figures in embrace. The work, created by little-known artist Irving Marantz in 1969, was actually inspired by Picassos “Three Musicians” which is on display nearby at MoMA.
A Bit of the Berlin Wall
This out of place street art in Midtown is actually an important part of history. In the little pedestrian plaza where the area corporate drones have their lunch, is this 20 foot piece of the Berlin Wall. With paintings by artists Thierry Noir and Kiddy Citny, the five sections separated East and West Berlin. Thierry [...]
Cotton Candy Machine
Fans of the incredible illustrator, artist, teacher and rock-n-roll mama Tara McPherson will be in eye-candy heaven at her aptly named Williamsburg outpost, Cotton Candy Machine. Stocked full of the artist’s t-shirts, rock posters, pillows, prints and books, the pink and turquoise hued store is a fun way to spend an afternoon. Formerly a gallery, [...]
Gainsborough Studios
Central Park South today is more associated with tourists and horse carriages than artists. But in 1908, an entire building was built, just so a group of artists could have uninterrupted Northern light. In 1903, a whiney artist named V.V. Sewell complained that no one understands how hard it is to find a decent studio [...]
Christie’s Auction House
Many people don’t realize that Auction houses are essentially free museums. So much important work from art history gets passed from private hands to private hands, occasionally lent to a museum, but not a necessary requirement of the private owners. You don’t have to let them check your bank account in order to see the [...]
Apartment of Alfred Stieglitz and Georgia O’Keefe
O’Keefe and Stieglitz lived on the 30th floor when the Marriott was known as the Shelton Hotel in 1925. Stieglitz, 23 years O’Keefe’s senior, met the young artist when he put 16 of her charcoal drawings in an exhibition at his 291 gallery in 1916- unbeknownst to her. Her friend Anita Pollitzer had given then [...]
Socrates Sculpture Park
Until 1986, the site of the Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City, Queens, was an illegal riverside landfill, abandoned and ugly. A group of local artists got together and decided to turn the area into a park and outdoor museum. In the summer, Socrates hosts a free outdoor cinema featuring international films and sometimes [...]
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