Mark Rothko's painting 'Browns and Blacks in Red' was auctioned this Thursday at Sotheby's in New York.JOHN NACION (GETTY IMAGES)

The auction of two Rothkos and a De Kooning injects optimism into New York Art Week

The painting ‘Brown and Blacks in Reds’ sold for $86 million, close to the record for the Latvian-born American painter. Gallery owners at the Tefaf art fair highlighted the strong investor appetite despite the economic uncertainty surrounding the Iran war

Siri Hustvedt / New York: Big, bad and back to its ballsy best

 

This article is more than 24 years old

New York: Big, bad and back to its ballsy best

This article is more than 24 years old

The distinguished writer Siri Hustvedt lives with her husband, novelist Paul Auster, in Brooklyn, a few minutes over the East River from the site of the Twin Towers. Here she looks back on the terrible wound inflicted on her city and its power of survival 

When Valentino Garavani Took Andy Warhol Shopping on Fifth Avenue

Valentino with Marisa Berenson at the opening of his boutique in Paris.

When Valentino
Garavani Took
Andy Warhol
Shopping on
Fifth Avenue

By Andy Warhol and Bob Colacello

January 20, 2026

For our December 1975 issue, Valentino Garavani spent the day with Andy Warhol and Bob Colacello to ring in the opening of his boutique on Fifth Avenue. Between playing dress-up and spontaneous encounters with legends like Liza Minelli, Shirley Goldfarb, and Marisa Berenson, it was a day of culture, opulence, and gossip on Billionaire’s Row. Following the announcement of Valentino’s passing this week at the age of 93, we took a dip into the Interview archives to bring this iconic conversation between two titans of art and fashion to light.

The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin

 

 

The Swans of Fifth Avenue

January 25, 2016

The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin
Published by Delacorte Press
Publication date: January 26th 2016

Once upon a time there was a group of very special women who lived in New York City. They were icons of fashion and social arbiters of everything that was right about high society. It was the 1950s and they were Babe Paley, Slim Keith, Gloria Guinness, Pamela Churchill, and Marella Agnelli and they were The Swans of Fifth Avenue. So named by the small, witty, flamboyantly gay author who entered their midst and proceeded to enchant and amuse them. He was Truman Capote and they were his flock. In this deliciously dishy novel author Melanie Benjamin follows the outrageous Capote from the time he makes the acquaintance of this privileged group of socialites until he pulls back the curtain on the fantasy of their lives with the publication of a short story that detailed their not-so-pristine secrets.

Marilyn Monroe in New York

 

Marilyn Monroe in New York

Marilyn Monroe wear a sleeveless sheath white dress and gloves at the Plaza Hotel Fountain in New York City 1957. Photo by Sam Shaw.

Source:ELLE

Date Night by Julia Fox

 

Ye and Julia Fox do New York

Date Night

By Julia Fox

Photographed by Kevin Leyva

January 6, 2022

I met Ye in Miami on New Year’s Eve and it was an instant connection. His energy is so fun to be around. He had me and my friends laughing, dancing, and smiling all night. We decided to keep the energy going and fly back to New York City to see Slave Play. Ye’s flight landed at six and the play was at seven and he was there ON TIME. I was impressed. After the play we chose to do dinner at Carbone which is one of my favorite restaurants. Obviously.

 

How September 11 changed the fiction landscape in 13 novels

Ron Charles

September 10, 2021

The demonic choreography of al-Qaeda’s attack on the United States instantly rendered September 11, 2001 the most documented act of terrorism in human history. As the North Tower of the World Trade Centre burned, cameras already on the scene filmed the second plane soaring into the South Tower. Those appalling images, infinitely reproduced, colonised the minds and imaginations of a generation.

See New York and LA Through the Eyes of Lloyd Ziff

All images courtesy the artist.

See New York and LA Through the Eyes of Lloyd Ziff | Liberal Arts

The photographer and friend to Robert Mapplethorpe and Patti Smith publishes a black-and-white photo retrospective.

By Nathaniel Ainley
Sep 27 2016, 11:25am

It's Back to School season, so to honor your return to art class, we've compiled some personal stories and projects in our Liberal Arts series to help you rethink or reshape your educated perspective. 

With a keen eye for the urban landscape, renowned photographer Lloyd Ziff captures the essence of a city with unwavering frankness in New York/Los Angeles, Photographs: 1967-2015, a two-volume collection with over 40 years of pictures. His photographs are direct and unequivocal.

Coronavirus map of the US: latest cases state by state

Niko Kommenda, Pablo Gutiérrez and Juweek Adolphe
Thu 2 Apr 2020 05.52 BST

The number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 continues to grow in the US. Mike Pence, the vice-president, is overseeing the US response to the coronavirus.

So far, 80% of patients experience a mild form of the illness, which can include a fever and pneumonia, and many of these cases require little to no medical intervention. That being said, elderly people and those with underlying conditions such as diabetes or heart and lung issues are the most vulnerable. The coronavirus death rate in China for people 80 or over, in the government’s study of more than 72,000 cases, was 14.8%.

Confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the US

Confirmed cases216,357(Today: +2,985)

Deaths5,118(Today: +361)

State/territory	Confirmed cases	Deaths
New York	84,025	2,219
New Jersey	22,255	355
California	9,870	215
Michigan	9,315	335
Florida	7,773	87
Massachusetts	7,738	122
Illinois	6,980	145
Louisiana	6,424	273
Pennsylvania	6,063	74
Washington	5,923	254
Georgia	4,748	154
Texas	4,607	68
Connecticut	3,557	85
Colorado	3,342	79
Tennessee	2,933	24
Indiana	2,568	65
Ohio	2,547	65
Maryland	1,986	31
North Carolina	1,754	15
Missouri	1,671	22
Wisconsin	1,573	28
Arizona	1,530	29
Virginia	1,483	35
South Carolina	1,293	26
Nevada	1,279	32
Alabama	1,107	28
Mississippi	1,073	22
Utah	1,011	7
Oregon	736	19
Oklahoma	721	30
Minnesota	689	17
Kentucky	687	20
Idaho	668	9
District of Columbia	586	11
Arkansas	584	10
Rhode Island	566	10
Iowa	547	9
Kansas	494	10
New Hampshire	415	4
New Mexico	387	6
Delaware	368	11
Maine	344	7
Vermont	321	16
Puerto Rico	286	11
Hawaii	256	1
Montana	217	6
Nebraska	214	4
West Virginia	191	2
North Dakota	142	3
Alaska	137	3
Wyoming	137	0
South Dakota	129	2
Guam	77	3
Virgin Islands	30	0

How the US compares to other countries

Number of cases since the day of the 100th case (log scale)

Source: Johns Hopkins CSSE Note: The CSSE states that its numbers rely upon publicly available data from multiple sources, which do not always agree

THE GUARDIAN

New York 2020

 New York

2020

Ian Schrager / How we made Studio 54

 

Don’t stop the party … Bianca Jagger sits on a white horse at Studio 54 in 1977. Photograph: Images/Rex Shutterstock

Ian Schrager: how we made Studio 54 

‘We wanted a mix of rich, poor, gay, straight, old and young … somebody topless could dance with a woman in ballgown
and tiara’

Ian Schrager, founder

New York was on the verge of bankruptcy in the mid-1970s. Danger was in the air, people were getting mugged, but it was also a creative, bohemian time. You could really feel the energy in the gay clubs: there were frantic, intense, sweating bodies everywhere. Straight people hadn’t yet learned to let it all hang out.

I was a lawyer and my friend Steve Rubell was in the restaurant business. In bad times, people look for escapism, so I suggested starting a club. We saw an old TV studio in the west side of Manhattan, which was like Lebanon at the time – unsafe to walk. But it felt right. We persuaded a store owner called Jack Dushey to lend us $400,000 to convert the building and put lighting in, then we put a team together and it all instantly took off.

Right from the opening night, it was like holding on to a lightning bolt or walking into Disney World. The lighting and the sets were an assault on the senses. People danced with wild abandon. The door policy was controversial, but we wanted a mix of rich, poor, gay, straight, old and young, because when you have that alchemy, magic happens. Somebody topless could dance with a woman in a ballgown and a tiara.

Over the next few years, every celebrity or big shot came to Studio 54. But nobody pestered anyone for an autograph, so they could be themselves. Andy Warhol was shy and just liked to watch. Mick Jagger was the same as he was on stage and Diana Ross was an amazing dancer. I never saw Donald Trump dance, though. He was a serious guy.

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 ‘It was like holding on to a lightning bolt’ … Andy Warhol, Calvin Klein, Brooke Shields and Steve Rubell at Studio 54 c.1981. Photograph: Robin Platzer/Images Press/

We were always trying to wow our customers. We dumped four tons of glitter on the dancefloor. When Bianca Jagger jumped on a white horse, the photo went all over the world, but those moments only ever lasted a few minutes because we didn’t want to stop the party. There was a huge “man in the moon” hanging over the dancefloor, who lit up whenever a giant spoon rose up to his nose. But this was more about being arrogant and subversive than celebrating drugs. Studio 54 was no more hedonistic than any other place.

I’m lucky to have survived it. Success made us do stupid things, like fighting the US government. After Steve said, “Only the mafia make more money”, Internal Revenue were all over us. It’s a myth that we had cash hidden all over the club. It was in the back of cars.

Michael Overington, manager

I started as a $3-an-hour cleaner but I made myself invaluable and ended up manager. I kept the place going while Ian and Steve were in jail for 13 months [for tax evasion]. I’d visit them, take in dimes for their phone calls, tell them what was happening in the club.

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 ‘Visiting artists loved it’ … Grace Jones performs at a Studio 54 party in 1978. Photograph: Ron Galella/WireImage

I was the sensible guy who’d crack the whip and get the bartenders and cloakroom girls in position. Every night, we played Earth, Wind and Fire to get the staff in the zone. There was a lot of cocaine back then and the music was energising, so people would speed up and dance till 4am. Visiting artists loved it when we played their records. Madonna lip-synced to a tape. Diana Ross sang along to her songs in the DJ booth.

Because it was a big space with an opening out on to the street, we could bring cars, furniture or animals in, to create different environments every night. At $20 or $30 admission, the door take alone would pay for the scenery, actors and costumes for drag parties and such. The neighbours thought we were crazy. Once, for a Grease party, we brought a load of 1950s convertibles in and the fire department told me to take the gasoline out of them. So we pumped it into the sewers. You could smell it for two blocks. I said: “Well, you told me to get the gas out.”

I recently found an old letter from the health department that said: “You are in violation of the regulations by having a zebra in the club.” The animals would take dumps on the dancefloor.

And one New Year’s Eve, we had a 200ft ice wall which turned the club into a giant blue igloo. I piled the ice out on to the sidewalk the next morning – it was 6ft high and 20ft long. This drunk guy came along with his eyes wide open and said: “Man, they must serve some big drinks in there.”

• Ian Schrager’s book Studio 54 is published by Rizzoli International. Michael Overington is now president of the Ian Schrager Company hotel group.

THE GUARDIAN