The Tonkens Home has 397 windows and a red tile inscribed with Wright’s initials cemented above the front doorbell. In February, Beverly Tonkens-Vangrov listed the 3,123-square-foot-property for $1.788 million. Image via Associated Press/WSJ.

Make sure you read the fine print before purchasing a Frank Lloyd Wright home. There are currently 20 Frank Lloyd Wright homes on the market but before purchasing one, you have to accept the challenges that comes with owning and living in an “architectural treasure.” 

“Buyers tempted by the idea of owning a piece of architectural history should remember that it’s rarely as straightforward as winning a bidding war. Many of the homes by Mr. Wright pose challenges. The architect favored small kitchens and closets—at odds with current tastes—and usually omitted basements. And some of these homes need the maintenance and repairs required for any home built decades or even a century ago. It’s often tricky to renovate an architectural treasure while preserving Wright’s innovations, such as radiant-floor heating, carports, built-in furniture and soaring clerestory windows. Meanwhile, permanent easements held by the Wright conservancy on 16 private Wright residences limit exterior alterations.”[WSJ]

Accountant Janet Copeland and her husband, Peter, a retired corporate attorney, bought the 1949 Eric Brown House, a Wright home in Kalamazoo, Mich., for $500,000 in June. Image: Daniel Shea for WSJ.

Chicago architect John Eifler has restored two dozen Wright homes, including this 1915 Ross House in Glencoe, Ill., which he has occupied since February 2011. He says Wright homes can be good investments. Image: Daniel Shea for WSJ.

The three-bedroom home, whose two-story windows overlook a terrace stretching out of the living room, has been inundated by a nearby river seven times since the Tarantinos purchased it. Rather than wait for flood No. 8, they’re reluctantly selling. Image: Claudio Papapietro for WSJ.

Random International. Rain Room. 2012. Photo courtesy of the artist (via MoMA)

After a stint in London, the incredible multisensory installation, the Rain Room comes to the US. It opens at MoMA PS1 this Sunday and will be there through most of the summer. “Random International’s immersive environment Rain Room (2012), a major component of the MoMA PS1 exhibition EXPO 1: New York, is presented in the lot directly adjacent to The Museum of Modern Art. A field of falling water that pauses wherever a human body is detected, Rain Room offers visitors the experience of controlling the rain. Known for their distinctive approach to contemporary digital practice, Random International’s experimental projects come alive through audience interaction—and Rain Room is their largest and most ambitious to date.” [MoMA]

Image via BOA MISTURA / Architizer / URDesign.

Spanish art collective Boa Mistura painted the façade of a housing block with vibrant colors and the message “somos luz” (“we are light”) to revive the community and the drab exterior. “The recently completed Somos Luz project likewise celebrates the virtues of a diverse collective: Boa Mistura took the original color palette of the facade — derived from the colors that each inhabitant independently chose to paint his or her own unit — and used it to paint a new unified scheme with the help of the residents. Thus part of the beauty of the repainting is its preservation of the color selections that signify the eclecticism of the building’s tenants, as well as the actual participation of the tenants in the painting process.” [Architizer]

Image via BOA MISTURA / Architizer / URDesign.

Sambre work in progress. Photo Jérôme Coton (via Creative Review)

Les Bains nightclub in Paris, a one time favorite hang-out of Mick Jagger, Johnny Depp, and Andy Warhol, is now (temporarily) a 3,000 square meter gallery featuring works by over 50 renowned street artists. The current owner of the building, Jean-Pierre Marois, plans to reopen the venue in 2014 but in the meantime has decided to transform the derelict building into a “fleeting, creative buzz.” Along with gallery owner Magda Danysz, they “invited artists including Futura, Space Invader and Sambre to use material drawn from the building – electricity, ripped-up floorboards, rubble and spray paint – to capture its former energy. Smashed disco balls are a recurring motif.” [Creative Review]

By Julien Malland Seth. Photo: Jérôme Coton (via Creative Review)

QUICK INKING: Ukrainian-born Brooklyn artist Yuriy Modlikskiy sketches subway rider Chrissy Cohen, who gets a kick out of her likeness yesterday. (via New York Post)

Don’t be alarmed the next time you see a 65-year-old man staring at you during your morning commute on the F train. He’s just a former Russian book illustrator who sketches commuters’ portraits and then gives it to them as a gift.

“Born in Ukraine and raised in Belarus, Modlikskiy followed family members to New York 15 years ago from Moscow. He had spent his life working as a book illustrator, penning pictures for more than 200 books — including a translation of “Treasure Island” and novels by the Russian writer Mikhail Veller. But as his hearing deteriorated, it became impossible for him to get work drawing in America. Eventually,, he got a job restoring art and antique furniture in Manhattan, and his 45-minute commute from Sheepshead Bay gave him unexpected artistic inspiration. “Nobody wants to model,” he said. But on a train, there are models everywhere, often sandwiched together so tightly that they are motionless. What else do I [sic] with the time? I never saw a lot of faces like this — all different — in Russia.” [NY Post]

Mission Chinese’s Kung Pao Pastrami. (wallyg/Flickr via Gallerist NY)

Frieze New York 2013’s restaurant partners include: Blue Bottle Coffee,  Court Street Grocers, Frankies Spuntino, Marlow & Sons, Mission Chinese Food, Roberta’s, Sant Ambroeus, and The Fat Radish. This and the hidden speakeasy? We can’t wait to visit the fair!

From Frieze:

Frieze is pleased to announce the restaurants that will take part in Frieze New York 2013. The fair is located in the unique setting of Randall’s Island Park, Manhattan, overlooking the East River.

This year sees the addition of new partners for the fair as well as the return of many restaurants from 2012. Blue Bottle Coffee, Court Street Grocers, Frankies Spuntino, Marlow & Sons, Mission Chinese Food, Roberta’s, Sant Ambroeus, and The Fat Radish will all take part in Frieze New York 2013.

Frankies Spuntino will provide a full-service restaurant at the fair that is available for bookings. The menu highlights classic Italian recipes with
a seasonal touch, sourcing local, organic products. The wine list includes offerings from small producers in Italy and beyond. Accompanying Frankies Spuntino, sister restaurant Prime Meats will serve a picnic area with their hand-crafted sausages and burgers.

Andrew Tarlow’s Marlow and Sons will host the VIP room restaurant for the first time. Marlow and Sons will feature a menu of seasonal and locally sourced cuisine paired with natural, continental wines in a relaxed and thoughtfully designed environment.

A new addition to the fair this year Mission Chinese will serve their signature cuisine at the fair including Kung Pao Pastrami. Returning from 2012,
Sant Ambroeus will offer fair visitors exceptional Italian coffee, handmade cornetti and paninetti as well as a new signature gelato service on the outdoor deck, overlooking the Sculpture Park. Roberta’s also returns, bringing with them two pizza ovens from Bushwick, serving their much- loved pizzas and a specially selected beer and wine list on the outdoor café deck.

The Fat Radish will bring its simple, elegant cuisine created with well- sourced, seasonal ingredients. Blue Bottle Coffee will set up a coffee bar at the fair serving freshly roasted coffees and art-inspired deserts. Court Street Grocers is another new addition to the fair providing a characteristically artisanal approach to sandwiches and salads.

via Frieze New York

The wait is over! Nick Cave’s highly anticipated takeover of Grand Central Terminal in NYC is here.

A herd of 30 horses is grazing in the station. The colorful, life-size creatures were created by American artist Nick Cave, 54, and twice every day in Vanderbilt Hall, music plays and the steeds whirl.

Two dancers from the Ailey School inhabit each so-called soundsuit, and there is a moment in the show when the front and back parts of the animals separate and 30 horses turn into 60 performers.

The public project, which runs through March 31, was commissioned by MTA Arts for Transit and Creative Time to celebrate the centennial of Grand Central.

Cave told Bloomberg, “I’m looking at the station as a platform to get people back to that place where we dream. We’re in a world where we’re trying to do what we can to exist and hold on to our jobs. So I’d like to transmit this dream-state feeling, to get us out of our day-to-day routine for a moment.”

[Bloomberg]

Christo explains paintings and preparatory sketches for his latest large-scale artwork Big Air Package in Oberhausen, Germany. The massive fabric work is made from 20,000 square metres of light, translucent material and shaped with 4,500 m of cable. (Hannelore Foerster/Getty)=

Christo unveils his first work since the death of his wife and collaborator, Jeanne-Claude, in 2009. “Big Air Package — a massive, inflated fabric dome standing 90m high and 50m across — completely fills Germany’s Gasometer Oberhausen, a huge former natural gas holding tank that was converted into an event space and exhibition venue in 1988. Visitors entering through airlocks can move inside the voluminous sculpture, created from more than 20,000 square metres of light, translucent fabric. The effect is to leave visitors “virtually swimming in light,” the Bulgarian-born American artist said.” [cbcnews]

Contemporary artist Christo’s latest work Big Air Package is being billed as the largest ever indoor art installation. Reporters gathered in the western German city of Oberhausen for a preview on Friday, March 15, a day before its official opening. (Ina Fassbender/Reuters)

To see more images, please visit CBS News.

[Originally posted on Monday, March 18, 2013]

I am dating myself now, but in the 90s when I was in high school, going on Spring Break was a big deal. We would travel south from Ohio to the Florida panhandle for a week of sun and heavy underage drinking (sorry Mom).

When I walked into The Spring Break Art Show on Tuesday night’s collector’s preview, I was transported back to high school and spring break only this time without the sun. The atmosphere was lively, juvenile at times and most importantly, fun! Spring Break returns for the second year to the old school house at 233 Mott. Adding more fun to the trip down memory lane, was a run-in with Jesse Camp. Jesse is a funny guy and he had his 15 minutes of fame as MTV’s inaugural winner of the “I Wanna Be a VJ” contest right about the time I was getting out of high school. Accompanying me was a friend who also happened to be named Jesse, so from then on, the evening was christened, “When Jesse met Jesse”. The fair however, was so much more than a night of quasi celebrity run-ins. Springs Break’s second edition is complete with 3 full floors of art in nearly every nook and cranny of the school all curated by 22 different curators. Here are a few highlights:

MATT MIGNANELLI
Double Entendre, 2013
Gloss and Matte Black Enamel on Canvas
56 in x 48 in (142.24 cm x 121.92 cm)
Courtesy of The Artist
via Paddle8

Third Floor: Matt Miganelli’s, Double Entendre and Double Entendre II, 2013. The monochromatic black gloss and matte enamel on the canvas paintings are optically tantalizing. Geometric squares dominate the lower parts of the canvas and the hand painted pattern details a controlled command of the pigment, recalling Ad Reinhardt’s Black Paintings. Curated by Matt’s brother, Adam, these works are worth the trip to Spring Break alone.

SARAH BEREZA
The Throne I, 2012
Oil on Canvas | Frame – Wood, Resin, Foam
67 in x 60 in (170.18 cm x 152.4 cm)
Courtesy of The Artist
via Paddle8

Second Floor: Artist Sarah Bereza gets a room curated by Andrew Gori and Ambre Kelly who also happen to be the fair organizers. The room contains sculptures, paintings, and a multi-media installation. A highlight was the ethereal portrait of a modern day (denoted by the fashionable booties) fairy princess riding high on her throne placed on the back of a water buffalo. The painting reminded me of an anime character. The handling of the paint was light and airy and the atmospheric light she rendered brought to mind the work of the Venetian masters.

PETER DUDEK
The Beaver Did It, 2012-2013
Plaster, Metal, Paper, Paint, Wood
40 in x 34 in x 63 in (101.6 cm x 86.36 cm x 160.02 cm)
Unique
Courtesy of The Artist
via Paddle8

Ground Floor: Peter Dudek’s assemblaged sculptural landscapes placed on the floor. Curated be fellow artist Eve Sussman, these works could almost be missed as one attempts to navigate the hustle and bustle of the fair in this narrow hallway. The sculptures conjure up references to Mondrian, Sarah Sze, and represent a curious mix of cultural innuendoes and Pop Art. I loved the use of the primary color blocks to build the scaffoldings that made up the bases of these landscapes. The bases have biomorphic wire objects woven into the wooden planks that only add to their intrigue.

Ground Floor: Michael Joaquin Grey’s computational cinematic work entitled, Umwelt Belt, 2012. This live streaming digital work is a constantly moving parade of white recognizable objects mixed with anthropological objects described by the artist as “cultural fossil records”. These records contain items like chess pieces and sewing machines and the subtle audio component brings a sense of platitude and meditation. Curated by Grey Area’s, Kyle DeWoody, this work brings a much needed respite and peacefulness to the often times intrusive punctum of works pelting this fair-goer and author.

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Spring Break Art Show is open March 7 – 10, 2013 | Noon – 9pm

Admission Fee: $5 at door or Suggested Donation with VIP Pass. Proceeds go to support future programming at Old School.

Old School, 233 Mott Street, NYC (corner of Prince/Mott Sts.)

www.springbreakartshow.com

SPRING/BREAK Art Show has partnered with virtual auction house Paddle8, in an effort to compartmentalize the commercial element of the exhibition to an online space and to galvanize sales of the work by making it accessible to Paddle8’s global collector community.

Paddle8.com will handle all fair sales via a benefit auction of a majority of the 70+ works of art on display in the school – with a portion of sales going to the NYFA Emergency Relief Fund for individual artists affected by Hurricane Sandy. In addition, the auction will allocate a percentage of sales from artwork to Arts in the Armed Forces (AITAF) as well – whose founders, Joanne Tucker and Adam Driver, will be hosting a panel discussion in the school building during the New Museum’s IDEAS CITY Festival in May.

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Matthew D. Knight is a Fine Art Expert at AXA Art Insurance Corporation. He studied art history at Kingston University-London and completed his graduate studies in Modern/Contemporary and The History of the Art Market at Christie’s Education-New York. He was formerly an assistant curator of the permanent collection at Rockhurst University and has completed several independent curatorial projects. He is a founding member of The Young Printshop Patrons for The Lower Eastside Print Shop. Matthew is primarily interested in the protection and management of collections-both established and emerging and is currently working towards his certification in Risk Management and will be a co-author on a conservation project concerning an African Nok artifact.

The Bachman Wilson House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Image via bachmanwilsonhouse.com.

[Originally posted on Tuesday, February 26]

A New Jersey couple is putting their Frank Lloyd Wright designed house up for sale with some interesting provisions for the potential new owner. The current owners are mandating that whoever purchases the house must move it somewhere else. This is due to the fact the house is built by a river with a tendency to flood, so the mandate serves as a conservation effort, but still an odd request none-the-less.

Read more on The Guardian.

Image via bachmanwilsonhouse.com