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 The best upper sets do it
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| Deli flowers in bloom. 4:45 PM. Photo: JH. |
| Friday, March 30, 2012. Sunny, partly cloudy, bright and breezy Spring day in New York yesterday, with temperatures hovering in the 60s. |
| Upper East Side pear trees on 95th Street between Madison and Fifth. |
| Upper West Side pear trees on 83rd and Broadway. |
Last night at Archivia, the great art and culture bookstore on Lexington between 72nd and 71st, they hosted a book signing for interior designer and architect Steven Gambrel.
The book, Steven Gambrel: Time and Place, is a dream presentation of a man’s work and point of view. As well as the intriguing look into the way people live, what they live with (especially when they can afford almost anything).
Mr. Gambrel, who graduated from UVA with a degree in architecture, is known, not surprisingly for his architectural details and custom interiors and exteriors. Off-camera the man has a sunny demeanor and a refreshing honesty about himself as a professional. It’s a sensibility and Gambrel’s book defines it abundantly and creatively. With a lot of color (thankfully the beige was left in the closet). |
| Peter Lyden, Steven Gambrel, James Anderson, and Lisa Bowles last night at Archivia. |
Click to order Steven Gambrel: Time and Place, or buy immediately at Archivia on 72nd and Lex. |
I got there late but the house was still busy. The Archivia book signings are like little neighborhood cocktail parties. Casual, off-hand, relaxed, and in a room full of interest and interesting.
Meanwhile at that same hour, at Margaret Thatcher Projects gallery down on 539 West 23rd Street, there was an opening of a show “surface tension” -- an exhibition of the works of Freddy Chandra, Cathy Choi, Tad Mike, Winston Roeth, Nan Swid, Bill Thompson. You guessed it, I didn’t make it, nor did I make another commitment I had, to see a collection of rare books.
Coincidentally, however, Nan Swid is a friend and her work is with books. And the book collection I missed last night belongs to a collector named Susan Tane. I love books. I love books as objects and I love them to read. And to possess. |
| Nan Swid, State, 2011. Encaustic, hard bound books, 16" x 21.5." |
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In Spain, the best upper sets do it.
Lithuanians and Letts do it.
Let’s Do It;
Let’s fall in love…
– Cole Porter’s “Let’s Do It.”
It was running through my head probably because several readers have asked why I hadn’t written anything about the Royal family in Spain these days. This might have been provoked originally by the Diary where I covered HRH Queen Sofia’s visit to Spanish Institute a couple of months ago.
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| Their Royal Highnesses, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain. |
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At the time I wrote about the receiving line at that evening and how Javier Bardem was present although dressed at this black tie affair in a grey suit and open shirt. An NYSD reader in Spain wrote to tell me that Bardem may have done that as a kind of “protest” against the Queen because of her attitude about the legality of gay marriage. Evidently she’s not impressed and it’s no secret, at least among the gay population who are also not impressed with her.
Being so Anglophilic by culture and habit, the Spanish Royal family does not possess the same gravitas for many Americans that the British does, as if it is somehow our heritage. Or the habit of our heritage.
However, the Spanish Royals are older than the British and except for the interruption by Franco, are the longest lived Royal Line in the world, second only to the Japanese. They are also related to all the other royal families, often very closely.
The Spanish people have wielded enormous power all over the planet in times gone by. It was the Spanish, after all, who made the first real inroads of fatally disrupting the native inhabitants of the New World with their “conquest” in the 16th century.
Columbus sailed for the Spanish Queen Isabella, as every American schoolchild learned early on. And it is that Spanish influence which continues to this day on more than half of the Western Hemisphere.
In Europe, of course, all of this is understood. Franco restored the monarchy with King Juan Carlos with his death. Many people who came after have no recollection of the fascist military dictatorship of Generalissimo Franco. For those of us who were around, it was quite a surprise to see the country returned after his death, to a monarchy and with a young and vital king and queen – that being Juan Carlos and Sofia. |
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| The King and Queen today. |
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That was almost forty years ago. The couple have grown children and have grandchildren. They also have a marriage which is widely and publicly thought to be “distant.” The king is said to have been, perhaps still is – although he’s getting up there – quite the lothario. As it is with kingly libidos and dogs, they often leave their calling cards hither and yon over time. None of this is remarkable human behavior. In fact it provides proof of a king being among us mere mortals. What it is, however, is difficult for a marriage partner to deal with, one way or another. Unless they have their own private interests, it’s just a problem.
It is well known in their country (and elsewhere) that back in 1976, the Queen walked in on the king having a slap and a tickle one afternoon or evening with a very sexy actress who was well known and much younger than the Royal couple. According to legend, that did it for the Queen.
Sofia comes with a Royal lineage to match that of her husband. No doubt they are related by a generation or three. Royal matches are just that. This was true with Elizabeth and Philip, although we also know that Elizabeth was mad for Phil when she was a young teenager and there’s no passion more lasting than that affirmed at a very young age. Today Sofia is known in the media as The loneliest woman in Spain. |
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All of this, however, are small troubles for the king and the queen and their family compared to the socio-economic problems in the country. There were riots just yesterday across the country. Labor against the government. Watching it on video, it occurred to me that we have not seen that kind of rioting in this country since the Viet Nam War days. Even then, the Spanish are a fiery, passionate people and can express it freely.
Another irritatingly serious factor affecting the monarchy right now are the legal problems of a son-in-law of the king and queen, Inaki Urdangarin (say it out loud phonetically – it’s quite easy). I am not well informed enough to give you the details, but Sr. Urdangarin, who is also known, because of his marriage to the royal daughter Cristina, Duchess of Palma de Mallorca, as the Duke Consort of .... Cristina is a mark against the integrity of the family and therefore, the monarchy. The results of the investigation of his business practices may exonerate him. Or they may damn his reputation. As it is there have been rumors, unconfirmed that the Duchess Cristina may have known about some of his “mistakes.”
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| The wedding of Cristina, Duchess of Palma de Mallorca and her groom, Inaki Urdangarin. |
The Princess of Asturias and her mother-in-law the Queen. |
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The couple met in Atlanta in 1996 or 97 at an Olympic game. The following year they married and he was given a royal title. They have several children. More recently, the Duke Consort had a non-profit business for several years which was producing some hefty fees for him, despite its non-profit status.
The fees being paid him were also coming from various state agencies. Last February he spent the weekend giving testimony to investigators about his “non-profit” business. There was an abundance of “can’t remember’s” and “I don’t recall’s” in his answers. He also blamed certain missing funds as something his former partner did.
All of this comes on the heels of a busted real estate bubble in Spain, rising unemployment, the now almost universal debt infested economy, and growing anguish among the citizens about their own futures. Royal figures using their position and connection to profit while others are losing their footing is anathema to political stability, as history has explained again and again.
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| Cristina, the Duchess, and her husband the Duke Consort, with the next generation. |
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No doubt the Inaki Urdangarin story has affected the couple as it has affected his place in the Royal Family image. The marriage is said to be faltering. At the same time Queen Sofia, the loneliest queen, is said to be spending a great majority of her time in London away from her husband, where she has family and friends.
Meanwhile in the royal rumor mill is talk that there were members of the family who lost money on Madoff. We do know that through funds like Walter Noel and Ezra Merkin, all kinds of people across the world sought and had access to the Madoff touch. So it wouldn’t be at all surprising to learn that the King of Spain may have fallen prey to the natural greed that afflicts us all at one point or another.
Aside from these salient matters, King Juan Carlos remains possibly one of the most popular leaders with his people and in Europe. He and his queen re-introduced monarchy with a modern touch that oversaw a prosperous nation moving into the modern age while preserving the traditions and folkways of the old. Nevertheless Spain is confronted with many of the same problems of indebtedness, inflation and growing unemployment as much of the world today. The stability of the Royal family is crucial to its continuing leadership. |
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| Daydreaming of summer nights at Treillage ... |
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