Insights with a Visionary in the Fields of Art & Design

Vyna St. Phard admiring a Pablo Picasso plate from Leah Gordon, New York

A few of my Favorite Things

These are the long awaited photographs from my tour of the Armory earlier this month. So much have happen since then... And again, I'd like to thank everyone who came to the tour and stuck it out for more than one hour and a half. Yes, that's right. The tour was at 3 in the afternoon, but we finished close to 4:45pm. Everyone had so much fun, we all learned so much, and the time just flew by. I hope you'll enjoy the images as much as I have. Have an excellent week, and a tres bientot!

When Art meets Design: The 2013 Kips Bay Designer Showhouse

The 41st Annual Kips Bay Decorator Show House

“We are honored to have such an accomplished team of designers and architects and look forward to seeing how each chooses to transform their assigned room. With this impressive team, we hope to surpass this year’s fund-raising goal for the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club which has a tremendous impact on both our region and the nation’s youth.” 

     Bunny Williams

     Celebrated interior designer and this year’s Show House Chair.

A true New York tradition, the 41st Annual Kips Bay Decorator Show House opened its door last Tuesday, May 7th and will remain open to the public until Tuesday, June 4th. Eighteen of the nation’s most celebrated interior designers and architects participated in this year’s show house. Each designer spent weeks transforming an assigned space of the impressive Sharp Townhouse, located at 161 East 64th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues in one of New York City’s most picturesque neighborhoods.

The 2013 Spring Show

Bernard Goldberg Fine Arts

The 3rd Annual Spring Show came and went and it was glorious. I remembered attending the first show and thought how powerful that bold splash of red looked in the entrance of the lobby as soon as I walked in. The energy, the atmosphere, the content of the space with its outstanding decorative and fine arts were thrilling then, as it was from May 1-5. My tour on Friday, May 4th, was a huge success, and I'm hoping to share the images with you as soon as possible, and I'd like to say a special thank you to everyone who attended and the many others for their support. I'd like to apologize for the lack of posts these last few days, but I've been been ill, and following my doctors orders by resting to regain my strength. Right now is an exciting time in New York, and Paris and I wish I had enough time to recount them all. My following posts will highlight my favorite decorative and fine art pieces from the fair, The Kips Bay Designer Showhouse, the much talked about Collective.1 Design Fair, various interviews, and much more.

Highlights of NYSID's 2013 Spring Gala

From Top: Laurie D. Olin and Geoffrey Bradfield, Barbara Regna, 
Chiu-Ti Jansen, Di Mondo, Tia Walker

On April 30th, The New York School of Interior Design, a private, not-for-profit college devoted exclusively to interior design education and related disciplines honored two industry luminaries, Geoffrey Bradfield and Laurie D. Olin. The event was well attended by notables in the industry, guests and supporters of the college. Geoffrey Bradfield, an Architectural Digest Dean of American Design, was the recipient of the Albert Hadley Lifetime Achievement Award. One of the most international acclaimed designers of our time, he is known for creating elegant and luxurious interiors for private residences, offices, embassies, and resorts on virtually every continent as well as those of many yachts and jets that travel among them.

Shopping In London For A Spring Wedding!

Ladurée Cakes

Burlington Arcade: London's Ultimate Shopping Destination

This post is dedicated to our London readers, and all the fashionable crowd, who wish to shop at one of England's chicest address - Burlington Arcade. Whether it is planning your wedding list, selecting your engagement ring or buying a present for hte bridal party, Burligton Arcade, Britain's first shopping arcade, has the answer. I like the fact that it's away from the mainstream, and elegant brides and grooms, and anyone who is shopping for a posh and special wedding, can see bespoke pieces to match British boutique wedding - something which the Burlington Arcade offers with unrivalled aplom!

Out On The Town: This Month's Hottest Events

Clockwise: David Patrick Columbia and Vyna St. Phard (Doyle New York), Felicia Zwebner, Bryant Keller, Jennifer Duneier (Irene Mamiye Gallery), Thom Filicia (Mandarin Hotel), Solstiss Lace showroom, Nicky Haslam and Vyna St. Phard (Baroncelli), Irene Mamiye 

and Stephen Dweck (Irene Mamiye Gallery).

Kips Bay President’s Dinner

One week ago at The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, the annual Kips Bay President’s Dinner raised over $500,000 for the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club. It was a great evening that gathered New York’s influencers and design elite including Dennis Basso, Somers and Jonathan Farkas, Tony Ingrao, Randy Kemper, Vicente Wolf, Thom Filica, Bunny Williams, Margaret Russell, Mario Buatta, Richard and Marcia Mishaan, Jim Lebenthal, and James Huniford, among many others. The Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club choir also treated guests to two performances throughout the evening, the first was ’96,000’ from the Broadway hit In The Heights, the second was ‘The Prayer’, originally performed by Andrea Bocelli.

1stdibs and Serge Castella Gallery Presents Jacob Semiatin

Jacob Semiatin Untitled #31 ca. 1952

On View May 2 through 31. 

1stdibs Gallery

 JACOB SEMIATIN Watercolors: 1950-1962

1stdibs and the Serge Castella Gallery are set to present an exciting exhibition of Jacob Semiatin's Watercolors. This is the first selling exhibition of works by this noted and reclusive Brooklyn Abstract Expressionist artist in over half a century. Opening May 2nd at the 1stdibs Gallery at the New York Design Center and simultaneously online at 1stdibs.com, the show will reintroduce Semiatin’s work to today’s art and decorative world with a colorful exhibition featuring over 20 of his dreamlike abstract watercolors created between 1950 and 1962. It runs until May 31st and is open to the public from 10 am to 5 pm. Serge Castella, owner of the eponymous gallery and noted interior designer based in Girona, Spain, recently discovered this trove of Semiatin’s work in Europe. Castella along with 1stidbs has curated the collection and he states how lucky he was to discover Semiatin who until today has been almost forgotten.