Inhoudsopgave van August 2023 - Robb Report

Nash Weerasekera Weerasekera is an illustrator, a painter, and an author based in Melbourne. Originally from Sri Lanka, he moved to Australia, where he received a bachelor’s degree in architecture from RMIT University. His compositions often meld his own personal story with colorful commentary on today’s societal issues, and the images he created for “Busted” (p. 108) are no different. “I was trying to convey the increased effort by law enforcement in cracking down on the collecting and selling of antiquities,” he explains. “Especially those of cultural and historical significance to their respective countries.” Liza Weisstuch A freelance food, spirits, and travel writer of more than 10 years, Weisstuch has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Smithsonian magazine. This issue, she penned “The Stage Is Set…

Frankly, until I visited the place, I could not have told you that the dodo was native to the island of Mauritius. I suppose I had it down for Africa, somewhere Madagascar-ish, but there’s every chance that’s a post-rationalization. In any case, I would have been wrong. Being a flightless bird, the plodding dodo never made it beyond the borders of the tiny Indian Ocean island and was swiftly ushered out of existence by Dutch settlers in the 17th century. And yet, for such a limited creature, the dodo has done well for itself in terms of name recognition—everyone knows the dodo. Which is why I feel Mauritius’s Heritage Golf Club should name its new course after the bird: There’s a good chance these links will still be talked about…

New York–based artist Daniel Arsham gets a thrill from decay—the inevitable decline of ordinary objects. His works consist of eroded casts of human figures or cameras, radios, guitars, or teddy bears. He calls them future relics, or fossilized artifacts. Inevitably, his creativity has made Arsham, 42, a hot commodity. A recent collaboration with Hublot, called Light & Time, resulted in a 20-meter sundial made entirely of ice and snow that was installed (with the help of a team of professional snowmakers) at the top of a ski slope in Zermatt. And for those of you thinking of a chocolate teapot right now, that is, of course, the point: The work is temporary, perfectly marking the destructive nature of time. His career, though, has been long-lasting, stretching over two decades and…

THINK OF IT AS a townhouse in the sky. Back in 2015, billionaire New York hedge-fund guru Larry Robbins purchased the newly completed twostory penthouse that crowned the Charles tower on Manhattan’s First Avenue in bustling Lenox Hill. Then, for good measure, he snapped up the two full floors below. The result: a sprawling 12,000square-foot four-story, eight-bedroom crib with 1,500 square feet of terraces, jaw-dropping sunset views across Central Park, and a top-floor retreat boasting a hot tub, a fireplace, and seating for 10. Taking five years to transform the white-box space, Robbins incorporated features such as a custom four-floor chandelier reflecting the Manhattan skyline (for the curvy staircase) and a professional-grade kitchen with bespoke blue-glass cabinetry, rose-gold accents, Miele appliances, and marble everywhere. A private elevator whisks you to…

BUDGET: $1 Million If you’re looking to add a Stuttgart blue chip to your garage, the classic profile and visceral performance of the 1972 Porsche 911 S 2.7 Prototype1 from RM Sotheby’s ($780,000 to $900,000) surely make it one of the most rewarding cars to look at and to drive. But one car does not a collection make, so for those looking to kick-start the hobby, consider a turnkey anthology in the form of the 1973 911 S 2.4 from RM Sotheby’s ($200,000 to $250,000) plus, from Gooding & Company, the 1987 930 Slantnose ($250,000 to $300,000) and the 1963 356 C Carrera 2 ($600,000 to $700,000). For about a quarter more than the S 2.7 Prototype’s high-end estimate, you could snag three covetable Porsches from three different decades. BUDGET:…

FIELD NOTES Someone recently commented that our art collection is like a really great cocktail party. Whether this was intended as a compliment or a slight, I took it as high praise. Aren’t the best parties informative and inspiring, soulful and sinful and somewhat surprising? Guests cluster in unexpected combinations loosely linked by a shared sensibility that has more to do with a zest for life than the cause du jour. Nothing too overtly deliberate or contrived. If what my husband, Steven, and I have amassed over the past 25 years feels anything like a spirited cocktail party, I’ll drink to that. Whatever the so-called collection is about, it is, for the most part, unguided by mission or scholarship. If we wanted the backdrop of our world to be an…

Denmark is not the friendliest nation to the car enthusiast. The highway that leads you away from Billund Airport toward the small city of Vejle runs through vast fields of piercingly bright, sharp-yellow rapeseed flowers broken only by occasional wooden farm buildings painted in the distinctive, flat red so redolent of southern Scandinavia. The road is pan-flat, arrow-straight, perfectly surfaced, and largely empty, but if you’re tempted to indulge in a harmless burst of acceleration, remember that Denmark’s relatively low speed limits are ruthlessly enforced. If you’re caught doing twice the maximum, or over 125 mph, or if your driving is considered reckless, your car can be confiscated and sold, the loss made all the more galling by the fact that, if you’re a Danish resident, you’ll already have paid…

THE 14 - SUITE Miavana resort, which occupies its own private island off Madagascar’s northeastern coast, has introduced an all-inclusive package with a difference: Five-star room and board is bundled with a round-trip private transfer in the hotel’s Learjet 45 from Johannesburg’s Fireblade private terminal. Since Miavana launched the program (priced at $33,000 per person for one week) in Covid’s wake, Scott Dunn Private head Jules Maury reports she has regularly sent guests to the hotel, always booking its shuttle service alongside a villa or two. The package appeals for practical reasons, per Maury: A charter’s the only smart way to reach Madagascar now, easing the logistical hiccups created by patchy commercial service since the onset of the pandemic. Adding a connection by private jet also ekes out a few…

As the SailGP F50 race boat suddenly tacks, the G force pins me inside the aft steering station. Working against gravity, the U.S. team’s driver, Jimmy Spithill, and four other sailors somehow sprint 20 feet between the twin hulls to a mirrorimage station on the starboard side. The catamaran pivots hard on its foils, flying six feet above the water. What sounds like a jet overhead is actually the boat responding as the 15-knot gusts hit the “wings”—the stiff 95-foot-high sails designed as airfoils—and the 50-foot cat accelerates to three times the speed of the wind. The F50 is techy, edgy, exhilarating, and, without the right skipper, dangerous. “A hot-rod version of the AC50,” is how naval architect Paul Bieker describes it, referring to the 50-foot catamaran raced in the…

Spain’s picturesque Ribera del Duero wine region, one of the nation’s leading producers of fine vintages, is located on a high plain that brackets the Douro River. The rich farmlands run for 71 miles through the provinces of Soria, Burgos, Segovia, and Valladolid in the autonomía, or state, of Castilla y León, north of Madrid. Archaeological evidence suggests wine has been made here for 2,600 years, since the Romans commanded these lands, and the geology explains why. The vineyards sit at 2,500 to 3,600 feet above sea level, and such high altitudes provide what’s known in viticulture as the diurnal temperature shift: Hot, sunny summer days offer ideal conditions for grapes to ripen, while significantly cooler nights allow them to retain their freshness and acidity. Locals call Tempranillo, the main…

The scene is the invitation-only preview of the European Fine Art Fair, colloquially known as TEFAF, in New York in May. A savvy American collector who has known his way around the art world for decades is admiring a headless torso, gracefully chiseled in marble. All that’s left of the statue’s arms is a rough chunk above the right buttock, believed to be the remnant of a hand. The dealer, an elegant Parisian, carefully rotates the millennia-old figure on its turntable pedestal. “We have photographs of it before 1970,” he rushes to tell the collector—a claim that might sound like a non sequitur to the uninitiated but has become (faulty) shorthand in the antiquities trade for “legal to sell.” After a recent barrage of headlines about archaeological artifacts seized from…

THE GOODS THIS MONTH’S WHO, WHAT, AND WEAR Most visual artists don’t get one big break. Instead, they ascend several incremental rungs—a high-profile museum group show here, a sold-out fair booth there—as they muscle their way toward the art-world establishment. The three you find here are each at slightly different points along that trajectory, but all are poised for what promise to be milestones this fall. Julia Jo, Valentina Vaccarella, and Igshaan Adams utilize disparate mediums and explore a range of subject matter, but the trio share the rare ability to create art that feels distinctly of the moment. Even if you’re just learning these up-and-comers’ names now, you’ll likely be seeing their work everywhere soon. Julia Halperin Julia Jo Some artists approach painting like a marathon, others like a…

Drinking History the cock tail passes from patron to patron down the bar at Handshake Speakeasy, each guest dipping a short metal straw into the coupe to siphon out a fleeting taste of the 100 Year Old Hanky Panky. Everyone at the Mexico City bar knows they’ll never taste a drink quite like this again—lush and concentrated, its amaro edge softened over time, made with gin and vermouth that predate the Sputnik launch and a Fernet-Branca that’s older still, dating back to 1930. Although better known for its modernist cocktails, Handshake’s menu has, since last summer, featured four drinks incorporating vintage spirits, ranging from a $55 shakerato made with 1980s Campari to that time-capsule Hanky Panky, which sells for a breathtaking $430. And it joins an elite club of establishments—the…

Step into most horological outlets and the decor leaves you in little doubt why you’re there: to buy some serious steel. But strolling into one of pre-owned retailer WatchBox’s new American stores, created by interiors firm Studio Mellone, feels more like arriving for cocktails at the home of one of your stylish friends. That’s because Andre Mellone— the 54-year-old Brazilian-born, New York–based designer who leads the firm—usually brings his masculine aesthetic to the more nuanced context of residential spaces. “I really try not to do much retail anymore unless it’s really worth it and it really makes sense,” Mellone tells Robb Report, noting that he has previously created stores for Thom Browne, the Row, and Jason Wu—whose Tribeca apartment he also decorated. “It needs to be something that is interesting…

DREAM MACHINES A DEVOTION TO MOTION Behind the wheel of one of the most highly anticipated cars in recent memory, from a storied marque renowned for luxuriant silence, I’m being driven to distraction by the noise. An unexpected popping accompanies nearly every curve, as if the door frames are flexing under centripetal force. After I pull off the road, a brief inspection reveals the source: water bottles rolling around the coach doors’ cavernous storage compartments. It’s a sound that would go unnoticed in most vehicles, but inside a cabin that otherwise seems untethered to the external world, it might as well be a brass band. It’s a testament to the ethereal nature of the 584 hp Spectre, the first all-electric automobile in Rolls-Royce’s 117-year history. “We started looking into electrification…

A custom aircraft interior can be inspired by anything. Take the sophisticated, moody, and detail-rich cabin of Project Thunderbird, the notion for which came from a chair. “The owner thought the available interior choices were bland, so he asked me for ideas,” says London-based designer Colin Radcliffe, who started the project facing the vast, empty cabin of an ACJ319neo, which has up to 115 seats in its commercial Airbus version. Seeking a unique look, Radcliffe seized on an object his client loved: an early-20th-century Macassar-ebony chair by Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann, a leading figure of the Art Deco movement. “From that, I came up with drawings inspired by an era of bygone travel, as glamorous and elegant as an Odeon-style 1930s ocean liner,” says Radcliffe. “I loved the idea of layers of…

As the Tyrannosaurus rex once hunted its prey, so controversy now stalks the trade in its bones. Private collectors of scientifically important dinosaur fossils must tread carefully. Auction houses have recently achieved eye-popping prices, most spectacularly in 2020 with the $31.8 million sale of Stan, a 37-foot-tall T. rex that outperformed his Christie’s auction mates Picasso, Renoir, and Cézanne and smashed the previous $8.4 million record price for the sale of a fossil at auction, set in 1997 by Sue, a fellow T. rex from South Dakota. Skulls and artful skeletal arrangements are also popping up at art fairs, completing the makeover from dusty museum diorama to fashionable art installation. “Recent years have seen a dramatic increase in interest,” says Iacopo Briano, a paleontology expert at Giquello auction house, which…