Displaying items by tag: Hamptons

Andy Warhol's former Hampton's estate was recently listed by its current owner for an astounding $85 million. Warhol and his business partner/friend Paul Morrissey purchased the estate back in 1972 for a modest amount of $225,000.

The Montauk compound is currently owned by J. Crew CEO, Mickey Drexler. Drexler purchased the place for $27 million in 2007. According to Chron, the place was also formerly used as a fishing camp by its former owners. The 30 acres of land covers a beachside main house and also six cottages, which total to about 14,968 square feet.

The home where Abstract Expressionist giant Willem de Kooning had his first East Hampton’s studio in the leafy hamlet of Springs back in 1961 has opened its doors as part of an artist-in-residence program. A community of skilled creative types will live and create on the estate.

But the retreat, which began its fledgling residency this past May, is not exactly what you might expect when you hear the name de Kooning. The newest artist-in-residence program is not a visual-artists’ residency like the ones at UCLA’s Hammer Museum, the Walker Art Center, or Artpace.

 The Hamptons region of Long Island, New York, has long been a popular destination for the stylish, wealthy, and influential. Thanks to its astonishing natural beauty, it has also been a popular retreat for creative types, including pioneering artists like Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, and Willem de Kooning. A new book by architectural publisher and art critic Anthony Iannacci showcases nineteen private houses in the fabled enclave, giving readers an unprecedented glimpse of some of the most beautiful architecture, interiors, and gardens in the country.

“Design in the Hamptons” features works by celebrated designers, including Jonathan Adler, Simon Doonan, John Barman, Fox-Nahem, Thad Hayes, Tony Ingrao, Todd Merrill, Roman & Williams, and Joe d’Urso.

Alec Baldwin made his art-buying intentions clear Friday night at the Summer Gala Benefit Auction for Guild Hall, the East Hampton art and entertainment complex.

“Just get the hell out of my way when Clifford Ross comes up,” he said under a tent on the grounds of a Long Island estate near Guild Hall. “I really want it and I’m going to get it.”

When Ross’s 2008 “Hurricane LI,” a scene of crashing waves, came up for auction, Baldwin playfully glared and glowered at competing bidder Donald Mullen, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s global head of credit.

Ultimately, the “30 Rock” star, who says he is thinking about a New York City mayoral run, made the winning $70,000 bid.

“I have a room in my apartment that I’m decorating all in black-and-white photography,” Baldwin said, moments after Simon de Pury, chairman of Phillips de Pury & Co., gaveled the sale. “I have another by Sally Mann of the Virginia countryside -- southern roads and mansions -- which I bought at a Guild Hall auction a few years ago. This will be a great bookend.”

Baldwin said reactions to his possible mayoral run have varied: “Either people are supportive or they think I’m crazy.”

As guests dined on hangar steak and shaved beets, De Pury auctioned six items, including a 2011 Eric Fischl watercolor nude that went for $100,000.

Mullen, who wore his sunglasses most of the night, paid $100,000 for a Barbara Kruger print of a man wearing a blindfold over which appears the sentence, in red lettering, “He entered shop after shop, priced nothing, spoke no word, and looked at all objects with a wild and vacant stare.”

Richard Prince, the artist, paid $30,000 for Bryan Hunt’s 2002 bronze sculpture “Maenad II.”

With years of music experience under his belt, Tommy Mottola, the former head of Sony Music Entertainment and a mentor to such talent as Carly Simon, Mariah Carey (his second wife) and Jennifer Lopez, has ventured into new terrain.

This weekend he opened an art gallery on Main Street in a space that formerly housed an Hermès boutique. Gallery Valentine, named after a supposedly prestigious Manhattan gallery, is a joint venture with Mr. Mottola's friend, Ryan Ross, who has run Arcature Fine Art on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach for a decade or so.

At its opening Saturday, Valentine had a slightly unfocused cross section of new work and blue-chip art on its walls, priced $5,500 to $3.5 million. Several paintings belonged to Mr. Mottola, including a Warhol he isn't sure he's ready to sell, given to him by the artist. There were pieces by de Kooning, Alex Katz, Leger, Rauschenberg and Sam Francis as well as a few prominently hung paintings by Mel Bochner. One read "Blah, blah, blah," another read "Kvetch, kvetch, kvetch." These are two things that people like to say and/or do in the Hamptons, but, in a conversation just before the opening Saturday, Mr. Mottola wasn't complaining.

This is an exciting time. Mr. Mottola's wife, the Latin pop star Thalia, gave birth to a son last weekend, and he was eagerly showing off an Anne Geddes-like photo on his iPhone of 7-day-old Matthew wrapped in a blue bow. "I saw the picture and I said to her, 'What are you doing to my son?'" Mr. Mottola laughed.

Mr. Mottola said that the idea for the gallery came together in late spring when he and Mr. Ross were "hanging out in Palm Beach."

"There's never been a serious gallery out here in the Hamptons," said Mr. Mottola, who explained that in the past several years he's grown "more serious about art collecting." "It's funny, because all the dealers live out here. I know all of them and I'm a people person. I thought, with my knowledge and experience, I'd like to try my hand at it."

The pair hope the gallery will be a year-round institution with branches in Miami and Manhattan, though initially, when Mr. Mottola found the location, he signed a six-month lease. "I won't say it was a whim, but I think it's a seed for something great." The gallery director is Alexandra Fairweather, the stepdaughter of artist John Chamberlain, a friend of Mr. Mottola's. Several pieces by Mr. Chamberlain are for sale at Valentine.

Mr. Mottola said his background in music will help him in the new arena. "The music business, as far as the sale of physical music, is at the end," he said. "People's appetite for music, however, is probably more insatiable than ever before, but they just don't want to pay for it." The art business, "will never be at the end. That's the beauty of this," he continued, gesturing to the walls. "You can't download this." He said that the skills he learned as a mentor can only help.