Home of the Brave – it’s time for the world to come together as one –
Posted on December 5, 2017 Leave a Comment
One of the most important paintings in my own collection is titled “Home of the Brave” by the young San Francisco artist Monty Guy. It depicts a battle-scarred American Indian wearing traditional war paint on his face along with a black-eye. Blood splatters his face and body. Across his chest the words Land of the Free are tattooed. When I came across the painting at an art opening a couple of years ago, it took my breath away. My husband Enrique and I stood transfixed as we both realized we were standing in front of a masterpiece. That night I had a hard time sleeping and the following morning I woke knowing that I had to buy the painting. I immediately emailed the gallerist and purchased it. I wasn’t sure why the painting resonated with me so strongly. I just knew I couldn’t live without it. That sounds absurd, I know, but, it’s true. Home of the Brave now lives on a wall in our bedroom and is the first thing I see every morning. Sometimes, when the sun is coming up and the lighting is just-right, the young Indian Brave is encircled by an aura. It’s haunting.
On one of those mornings, just coming out of meditation, as I gazed at the painting, the idea for a book about my family tree came to me. I thought about my ancestors who arrived in the New World, the loss of nearly half of their loved ones during that first New England winter, their first encounters with the American Indian, the horrific treatment the Europeans inflicted upon the natives, and the following generations that built our great nation. I knew I had to tell the story of immigration from a new perspective.
As a gay man, I’ve lived through my own sort of holocaust, watching friends and loved ones die of AIDS. I’ve also benefitted from the march of progress in civil rights and the legalization of same-sex marriage. I’m living an American dream, as we all are, that my ancestors surely never imagined. Home of the Brave takes on some of our age’s most heated topics, including gender, immigration and racial discrimination. I can’t wait to share it with you.
Why Would Anyone Pay $450 Million for a Painting? It’s Not About the Money –
Posted on November 28, 2017 1 Comment
Life, like art, is often surreal. At a point in my life when I have less money in my pocket than any other time in my adult life, I find myself obsessed by Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, which Christies recently sold at auction for $450 million, instantly becoming the most expensive painting in the world. Last week, working as a temp for a not-for-profit in Harlem, I used some down-time to search the internet for information regarding the sale of what Christies has called, “The Last da Vinci” and also “The Male Mona Lisa.”
I’ve long been a fan of auctions, going back to my childhood. In the early 70’s my family moved from a tiny modern split-level to a twenty-one room Queen Anne Victorian. To fill all those rooms, my mother began attending auctions. Rather than pay for a baby-sitter for my brothers and me, she would drag us along to sit and watch the auctioneer sell off mostly worthless junk, but once in a while, a rare antique. Before long our house was filled with the “deals” Mom had acquired, including a few “priceless” pieces. In the process, I gained an education in antique furniture, and more importantly, a love for the auction. I’ve been a fan ever since.
Christies marketed Salvatore Mundi as The Last da Vinci – a painting so rare that it only comes to auction once in a lifetime. The marketing campaign has been so successful, evident with the historic and breath-taking auction price, it has also changed the way the art world will market art in the future. Take a look at Christies’ lush marketing video produced to create buzz for the upcoming auction.
I’m by no means an art authority and I’ll leave the discussion of the painting’s authenticity to the experts. What I do know is that Salvator Mundi is now the world’s most expensive painting in the world. That alone makes it great. We may never know if it was painted by da Vinci. We do know that it has been analyzed by several art historians and its composition has been tested with pigments dating back to the early 1500’s, the exact time da Vinci was painting the Mona Lisa. Regardless of who painted Salvator Mundi, the painting has survived the French Revolution and World Wars I and II. It has been in the possession of King Charles I and II, along with King James II of England. Think about it, at the time it was painted, America was a vast forest inhabited only by Indians. There was no art market, there was no New York City, and yet, miraculously, it somehow found its way through the ages to land at Christies on 6th Ave and 50th Streets, selling for a record breaking $450 million in less than twenty minutes. This painting, regardless of who painted it, has a mysterious power to capture our imagination.
Just watch the historic bidding…
It’s not about the money – the value of art at auction is not the value of the painting, it’s the value between the two people bidding on the piece. It’s what they’re willing to pay for the right to say they own it. Also, it’s important to remember that an art collector always considers the collection as a whole when adding a new work of art. A good addition raises the value, visibility and importance, of the entire collection. Whoever bought Salvatore Mundi for $450 million dollars was aware that his or her art collection would now contain the most expensive painting in the world, raising the value of every other piece of art in the collection. That’s priceless.
People travel from all over the globe to visit the Louvre in Paris. In its extensive collection there is only one super-star, a painting held behind bullet-proof glass that visitors queue up for, waiting hours for a few minutes gazing at her. That painting is Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. I’ve seen her in person and as far as paintings go, she is beautiful, but it’s not the quality of the artwork that causes such a draw. It’s the storied past surrounding her that makes her a sensation. The Mona Lisa was carried by da Vinci personally, on horseback, over the Alps from Italy to France. Near his death he gave the painting to King Francois I of France, who hung it in his bathroom. It later spent time with Kings Louis XIV, Louis XV and Marie Antionette at Versailles, before it was hidden in the Palace of the Tuileries to survive the French Revolution. It then spent some time in Napoleon’s bedroom. But, the most amazing and iconic chapter of the Mona Lisa’s life was when it was stolen off the walls of the Louvre by an Italian nationalist who believed the painting should be returned to Italy. It spent a couple years in obscurity until it was miraculously rescued and returned to the Louvre, where it’s now heavily guarded. Then there was the time Jackie Kennedy personally charmed the Prime Minister of France into allowing the painting to tour the United States, as a wildly effective effort to improve French and American relations. Indeed, the Mona Lisa is the most famous painting in the world – and now Salvator Mundi is the most expensive.
The world waits to learn who the mystery buyer of the Last Leonardo is. Most likely it’s a multi-billionaire who wants to leverage the mystery and hype surrounding the controversial piece of art to improve his or her collections’ visibility. No doubt the work and its new siblings will be donated to a museum at some point and a wing of a museum will be named for the generous benefactor. That’s the only way such masterpieces can survive hundreds of years. Whatever institution is the recipient of such a gift, it and the city it’s housed in, will bask in Leonardo’s awe inspiring star power. We’ll have to wait and see where Salvator Mundi next makes an appearance. It may be a long wait.
I’ve been collecting art for about twenty years. I’ve focused on emerging artists and have never paid anywhere near the price of Salvator Mundi. However, I do understand the experience of a painting figuratively jumping off the wall and demanding to come home with you. Art collecting is an obsessive experience that few people can endure. How else could you rationalize spending a few months’ salary on a painting that you may never see a return on? An Art investment is not a liquid asset. Though, the joy of living amongst masterpieces is more than enough compensation, you can’t turn around and sell a painting for grocery money. I will probably never have the kind of cash that Salvatore Mundi has captured. But, I know the thrill that the mystery buyer must have experienced at auction. The painting literally reached into that person’s heart and took them prisoner. They must have said, “I have to have this painting. I can’t live without it.” That’s the passion of the art collector and the power of a masterpiece.
If you’re interested in some of the other most expensive paintings in the world, check out the video below.
Too Bad!
Posted on November 11, 2016 1 Comment
Your candidate didn’t win the race? Too bad! It’s time to claim your power and start something new. My book FEAR – Fuck Everything and Run will help you train for and run a marathon. It will change your life forever. It’s free today on Amazon. Get it now.
https://www.amazon.com/FEAR-Culver-Connor-McCall-ebook/dp/B016AZM5TW
Here is an excerpt…
Outwardly, everything looked great. I’d started a consulting job that was keeping me busy working on the launch of a new fitness brand. Inwardly, I was wrestling with a lot of very old demons. I felt too old, too fat, and way too gay! It’s the feelings of TOO that keep us small. “I can’t do this because I’m too poor. I’m too old to change careers. I’m too fat to take my shirt off at the beach. Oh, and I’m way too bald too!” We have to have the courage to tell the too’s to shut up. TOO BAD, you’re too broke to afford those running shoes and you’re too tired to exercise. TOO is FEAR’s favorite word and it will keep you small and literally steal your life from you. Just tell FEAR, “That’s too bad you feel that way. But, I’m going to run this race anyway. If it kills me, that’s just TOO bad.”
A Tale of Two Dresses and a Suit –
Posted on July 31, 2016 Leave a Comment
We’re all born fashion victims. It’s the nature of being human. Unless you were born in a cave and live in the Amazon, chances are you’ve been wearing clothes and making fashion choices as long as you can remember. And like it or not, our fashion choices are a public display of who we are even if we’re oblivious of it.
Take the recent RNC and DNC political conventions. The fashion crowd would argue that the political world has always suffered from fashion famine. Let’s face it, our trusted public servants are more focussed on world issues and getting reelected than they are on what they wear or studying what is current in fashion. But, it’s the attention to detail or lack thereof in our clothing choices that broadcasts to the world who we really are.
At the RNC convention, Melania Trump stepped onto the world stage in a gorgeous white Roksanda “Margot” dress and the fashion world gasped for air. This stunning beauty and former model might be the breath of fresh air that the faltering luxury market desperately needs. But, alas, that doesn’t look likely with the controversy over the authenticity of her speech.
This week, Congress Woman Joyce Beatty of Ohio wore a very similar dress that caused quite a commotion on social media. It seems that Beatty was not only educating Melania on the art of throwing shade (putting someone in their place), she was also broadcasting to the Republicans that you better up your game if you want to win. In this election, everything is fair game including fashion.
Then there was Hillary looking rather presidential in that ivory man-tailored suit. Everyone wants to read into the subliminal message of the color choice saying that Hillary was paying homage to the suffragists who often wore white. Perhaps she was, but there’s so much more to the story. White on the color spectrum is inclusive of all color. It’s also symbolic of innocence and purity. That’s why it has been the color of choice for bridal dresses for at least a century. Finally, it’s the color of the most symbolic iconography of the office of the president, the White House. Perhaps Hillary is saying look at me I’m innocent. I’m just another human being trying to do my best while pursuing the American Dream. Or maybe, just maybe and quite possibly, she is sending a direct message to Donald Trump – I am woman, hear me roar.
Hillary has been the brunt of fashion jokes throughout her long public service career. She’s been criticized for not taking fashion risks, wearing to many bright colors, taking too many risks with her hair, etc. It is her fondness for the pant suit which really seems to bother other woman. They say that her choice of wearing bifurcated garments is anti-feminist because pants are made for men. I would argue that Hillary’s immaculately tailored ivory suit is one of the bravest fashion choices she’s ever made and so politically radical it’s going to take years for the general population to catch on. What other presidential candidate could carry off a white suit? Except for a very brief period following the release of Saturday Night Fever in the seventies, men just don’t wear white suits – and even then Jimmy Carter, Ronald Regan, George McGovern and all the other political wanna-be’s would have committed political suicide by wearing a white suit.
This campaign is showing us that it’s anything but business as usual when it comes to politics and/or fashion. Hillary is not only breaking the rules of politics and fashion, she is rewriting them and the Hilary effect will be felt for years to come.
- Note – Hillary’s suit was designed by Ralph Lauren.
Gold Digger
Posted on July 24, 2016 Leave a Comment
New York City recently named the uptown corner of 57th Street and 5th Avenue Bill Cunningham Corner in homage to the late NY Times street photographer. Across 5th Ave from Cunningham’s perch is the temple of fashion known as Bergdorf Goodman. Kitty cornered, on the downtown side of 57th Street, is Harry Winston, purveyor of diamonds and all things gold. Cross 5th Ave and you’ll find Holly Golightly’s favorite haunt made famous in Breakfast at Tiffany’s – it’s really just Tiffany, leaving off the S might gain you some respect with the literary crowd, but it won’t garner any savings. If you go just a few more steps south, you’ll arrive at a garish building that epitomizes the heady days of easy money and eighties glitz, Trump Tower. With its developer now the RNC candidate for president, the building is surrounded by assault-rifle toting police officers and secret service agents giving surly glances. Anywhere you look on Bill Cunningham corner you can spot touches of gold.
Fashion has always been a barometer of political and cultural relevance. Right now, gold is in the air and on the streets. The stock market has hit historic highs and the art world is feeling the golden heat too. Take a look at Bo Bartlett’s mammoth paintings now on view at Ameringer McEnery Yohe. Or go further up 5th Avenue to Neue Gallerie to see the crown jewel in Ronald Lauder’s collection, the $135 million dollar Portrait of Adele Blochbauer by Gustav Klimt which is permanently on view. Then cool off at the Met and stroll through the Chinese, Japanese and post modern galleries for more glimpse of the golden touch.
At the Couture shows in Paris, the precious metal made its presence known most prominently on the gold-leafed walls at Dior and spilled onto the collection in the form of embroidery. It was more discreetly used at Armani, Chanel, Maison Margiella and Valentino. The men’s spring/summer 2017 shows had their share of gold too. One standout was the shawl collared dinner jacket in gold brocade at Dolce and Gabbana. Then there’s the athletic world which loves gold too. In a couple weeks we’ll see athletes from around the world compete for gold at the Olympics in Rio. We’re sure to see a few touches of gold on the athletes uniforms as well as the medals around their necks. By Labor Day, when the most heated US presidential election in years gets into full gear and we face an uncertain stock market, gold will be everywhere. This fall, channel your favorite gold digger, artist or politician and add a few pieces of gold to your wardrobe. There’s no need to go full metal jacket, just a touch will make the look shine.
Check Boy Check Girl, Check Please –
Posted on July 14, 2016 Leave a Comment
Are you a checkerboard chick – or maybe you just pick up the check? Plaid has been in the air for sometime now. But, fashions newest fixation with checks has a decidedly 80’s feel. These checks are reminiscent of race cars, taxi cabs and the iconic black and white tiled floors we loved so much back in the Reagan years. For the spring/summer 2017 collections, the European men’s runways were paved in checks – and the checks continued on the couture runways too.
It started in London with the Christopher Kane show. Then in Milan we saw them in the DSquared2 and Dolce and Gabanna shows. Then onto Paris for Comme des Garcon and Givenchy’s men’s shows and full-on body-checks a-go-go. More checks, but now in houndstooth and windowpane, popped up in the couture shows of Aramni Prive, Chanel, Maison Margiela and finally Dolce and Gabanna.
Come spring, boys and girls alike will all be saying, “Check please!
Photo Credits – all photos courtesy of Vogue runway.
Grey Matter
Posted on July 8, 2016 Leave a Comment
It was hot in NYC this week and as the fashion crowd finished up couture week in Paris, we thought we’d take a look at what New Yorkers were wearing to stay cool. There was lots of black and white with touches of gold. But, the real news was that grey matters more than ever. Here’s a little inspiration from the street.
.@BarackObama, my president, just one more favor, please!
Posted on February 15, 2016 1 Comment
Dear Mr. President,
On this day, February 15, 2016, we celebrate President’s Day in the United States. Of all the many wonderful, intelligent and inspiring presidents we honor today, you alone are my president. As a gay man coming of age in the Reagan years, I watched as my brothers fell one by one, dying of the dreaded disease we now know as AIDS. In those years, the president and the country were not ready to embrace and support their fellow human beings as they fought for their lives and equality. It would take a couple decades and several more presidents to move the needle of equality to a place where a basic human right, dignity, would be considered important enough to defend in the highest court in our land, the Supreme Court of the United States.
You have answered my prayers Mr. President. You made some very difficult political decisions that at times must have terrified you. Your presidency has been guided by a power higher than the Supreme Court and the SCOTUS decisions of the last few years, have finally allowed this and future generations of gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer and transgender people to live with dignity. For that I applaud and thank you, Mr. President. You have given this gay man hope and the inspiration to continue the fight – our work is not done. There remain places on this planet where LGBTQ people, along with other less fortunate people, cannot live as their creator intended.
So today, I have to ask you for just one more favor. Please Mr. President, you must find a replacement for Justice Scalia that will continue the progress of human equality. This task must weigh heavily on you. I write today to tell you that we are all rooting for you. You have the courage, strength and intelligence to complete the most important task of your presidency. Remember, the choice we’re making may save our very lives. Please Mr. President, seek counsel with an authority higher than the congress, the supreme court, senate or the bipartisan political body. The human race is depending on you and I know you will get this one right too. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Culver Connor McCall
ps: Over the weekend, while the world mourned, honored and vilified justice Scalia, my love Enrique Padilla Jr. and I celebrated twenty two years together. Our love has survived Regan, Bush, Clinton and Bush. Thank you Antonin Scalia for making our twenty second anniversary so sweet, important and memorable. #lovewins
Image credit: S2O, painting by Jeff Huntington.
Diary of a 53 year old college student – the muse appears –
Posted on February 12, 2016 2 Comments
It’s week 4 of my first semester back in school in over twenty years. My mind has had a hard time keeping up. Fortunately, I’ve been able to adapt a few study tricks that seem to be working well. As I’ve mentioned in an earlier post, I’m having some trouble retaining information – the brain just isn’t as nimble as it was in my early twenties. I’ve started a practice of reading all of the weekly assigned text once and then letting it gestate for a couple days. I then reread the text and take notes. Finally, a third read which is more of a skim, seems to be sufficient to allow me to write with some sort of authority for the weekly writing assignments. Maybe that’s what college students have always done – it’s not how I’ve studied in the past, but, it’s working for now, so I’ll go with it.
I’ve been knee deep in critical thinking about technology and its influence on writing in the digital age. My brain seems to be swelling with new ideas at times, and at other times recuperating from the “attack” of new knowledge. I haven’t felt this challenged in years. As my friend Martha always says, “It’s a good thing.” What with all the reading, writing and thinking, you’d expect it hard to be creative. I’ve found just the opposite. Creativity and knowledge expand – the more you use, the more you get.
Still, I was somewhat surprised to have a new muse walk into the middle of my mind this week. There it was a fully formed character and story – and as they say, “You must court the muse when she appears.” So, this weekend, along with consuming all of next week’s reading assignments, I’ll try to capture the gist of this new book before she disappears into the ethers. Then, I’ll put her in the oven and let her bake.
Some of the ingredients for this next story involve, a rock star, a masterpiece, a plague, reincarnation and a pair of souls eternally bound together but separated at birth. Let’s start with Queen’s 1975 album ‘A night at the Opera’.
Stay tuned…
Diary of a 53 year old college student – week 1
Posted on January 22, 2016 Leave a Comment
The world is a strange place. Life is a mystery. Sometimes I’m baffled by the details of my life, other times it’s pure shock and awe. This week marks the start of a new chapter in my life. I find myself back in college after a very long hiatus – that’s 34 years to be exact. In 1981, when I was a college freshman, I listened to Stevie Nicks ‘Edge of Seventeen’ on repeat. Oh, alright, it wasn’t really on repeat, because I played the album on a Techniques turntable and there wasn’t a repeat button. You had to manually lift the stylus and return the needle to the beginning of the record to hear it played again. I must have replayed that song thousands of times – one of my strategies for driving my roommate crazy and getting him to move out of the dorm. I wasn’t used to sharing anything. I was a spoiled, self entitled college freshman that thought the world was at my feet and that life was going to be handed to me on a silver tray. That was before life took a turn that I could never have anticipated. You see on my eighteenth birthday, July 3, 1981, there was an article in the NY Times announcing that doctors were treating gay men in NYC for a rare “gay cancer”. How was I to know, as I headed off for college, that I would come face to face with that disease? I hadn’t even discovered the Times yet.
Now, in the winter of 2016, I’m returning to school to finish something I started many years ago. I’ll be journaling my way to graduation and posting what I’ve learned on Friday each week. This week I’ve realized that my brain is a lot less flexible than it was when I was 18. I have to reread paragraphs and chapters several times to retain anything. That wasn’t the case back in 1981. I could scan a chapter after smoking a joint on the way to class and still pass the quizzes and tests. Studying in mid-life is much more challenging and far more rewarding than it was when I was a teenager. Let’s hope I have what it takes to see this through…
Here’s that article from the NY Times if you care to take a look back. We’ve come a long way.
Culver McCall 