Results tagged “monalisa”

In one of those weird societal flip-flops, The New York Times today reports on a group of graffiti artists who are suing to limit the expropriation of their commercial property for public display. The Tats Cru and a dozen other street artists whose work don the walls of buildings all over the city are suing the author, publisher, and an exhibitor of a book about urban murals - aka in NYC. They feel that the expropriation via public display of their work, which is rooted in a culture of communal ownership of public space, has infringed on their property rights.

Car makers are flocking to the city with the New York International Auto Show opening this weekend (media previews start tomorrow) at the Javits Convention Center, and there's one particularly NYC-focused exhibit: Taxi '07.

As we walked through the doors of Alain Ducasse at the Essex House we were immediately greeted by a glass of 2004 Chateau Fombrauge Bordeaux Blanc – a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris and Semillon – served on a silver tray from a gentlemen in an impeccably tailored tuxedo. What we loved about this wine is it had the intense aromas of Sauvignon Blanc with richness on the palate from the Semillon. This wine paired perfectly with the cheese puffs, oysters and the puree of wild mushroom soup that were being passed around. After about three more glasses and more hors d’oeuvres than anybody should eat, we finally took our seat at the table.



A distinguished, older French man welcomed us through his translator. He spoke quickly making it difficult for his translator to keep up. Bernard Magrez, our host, and accomplished wine-maker and owner of Chateau Pape Clemant as well many more (32 wineries around the world), spoke about how honored he was to be a part of something with such an extensive history. He told tales of its past and spoke about visions for the future. He expressed gratitude to America, saying he will never forget how the US has helped save France’s freedom. He then turned his attention to Alain Ducasse standing to his right. Margrez praised him for the excellence that he brings to the culinary world and said how honored he was to have this important celebration here. Alain Ducasse stepped to the podium. He did not speak through the translator and addressed the crowd in thickly accented Frenglish. He expressed great admiration for Mr. Magrez and for his wine. It was short and sincere. Which was perfect because we were starting to get hungry again.

We spied somone (from the TatsCru, we think) spraying an image of the Mona Lisa on Mulberry Street earlier, and we thought, oh, cool, maybe there will be a series of old paintings. But we were too naive, because when we approached the ladder, the graffiti artist was examining the picture he was supposed to copy...and there's a mention of The Da Vinci Code movie! Augh! Gothamist read The Da Vinci Code, and you know what, it's just like Dan Brown's earlier book, Angels and Demons, except it involves the Louvre and Jesus, so we never quite understood the Da Vinci Code fever. But today has been a day of Da Vinci Code media onslaught, from Tom Hanks' ode to his make-up guy in the Times (he doesn't discuss his hair, though) and how the judge in the Da Vinci Code (book) case encoded some message in his ruling. This confluence of synergy must mean we will have to see the movie, or else we'll have secretly bad hair when we're in NoHo.

But what we really want to know is what author Muriel Spark thinks. Read her Slate diaries from July 1996 and December 1996.