Oct
15
The American Chef
More from New York
Sunday, October 7, 2007
GRAND LUXE YACHT
Last year Robb Report magazine listed the SeaFair’s 228 ft. Grand Luxe Yacht as one of the hottest luxury products in the world. The Grand Luxe Yacht shares company with the likes of a 300 mph production sedan, the Aaerion Supersonic Business Jet, the Poseidon Undersea Resort and Sotheby’s Diamond Collection. This boat is a spectacular five level ship built specifically to exhibit prestigious works of art, antiques, and jewelry from around the world. As you can imagine, this invitation-only traveling fine art fair is an amazing vessel to behold. You can see more about the Grand Luxe on expoships.com.
When I was first asked to take part in the inaugural festivities on this luxury liner, I was eager to participate. A commercial kitchen is often compared to a ship’s galley, yet what I discovered is that working in this particular galley was quite different than the standard kitchen fare. You quickly have to get used to the all electric kitchen while maneuvering in tight quarters.
Both the crew and I got quite the education about the logistical challenges of serving food from the kitchen to the dining room which are located on different levels. The crew rose to the challenge of producing great food for some very discriminating guests. This is of course good news, particularly since I have the pleasure of taking more voyages with SeaFair in the coming months.
posted by Walter Scheib
Oct
10
Antiques & The Arts Online
More from New York
Treasures Aboard: Floating Galleries Go Port To Port On The ‘Grand Luxe’
By R. Scudder Smith
Oct 9th, 2007
Any Port, USA:What is 228 feet long, weighs in at 3,200 tons, requires a draft of only 6½ feet, and has 28 individual galleries filled with art treasures? There is only one answer: the three-deck megayacht Grand Luxe, a floating antiques fair that is the brainchild of David and Lee Ann Lester. A bit behind the date for the original christening, this yacht, the fourth largest privately owned yacht in America, docked in Greenwich harbor at the exclusive Delamar on September 27 for a one-week stay. This location was picked because the Delamar has the only dock, 600 feet long, that can handle a vessel of this size.
Read More
Oct
8
Newsday
More from Port Washington
ARTS ON LI: Art yacht stays afloat on cash and class
ARIELLA BUDICK | ariellabudick@newsday.com
October 8, 2007
When I first heard about SeaFair, the multi-floor emporium of art, jewelry and antiques packed into a roving mega-yacht, I was doubtful. It sounded cheesy, like an unholy mix of Las Vegas kitsch and upscale ostentation. The promotional copy, promised “privileged guests” access to “international fine art dealers amidst gourmet restaurants, a champagne/caviar lounge, and spacious sky deck.” All of which suggested that this 228-foot floating superstore exists to convince the semi-cultivated rich to part with their money.
SeaFair’s art yacht, gaudily named the Grand Luxe, made a five-day stop in Port Washington last week and is now plying the Long Island Sound, calling on New York City and Westport, Conn., before wending its way to Miami Beach for the country’s largest fair, Art Basel Miami, in November. (It will be in New York City in the spring and back in Port Washington and the Hamptons next summer.) Landlocked fairs, you see, require collectors to travel, while SeaFair, according to its founder, Naples, Fla.-based David Lester, “brings dealers directly to collector’s residences and seasonal homes.” Its target audience isn’t the seasoned connoisseur seeking that obscure object of desire but the newly minted millionaire in a rush to appoint the villa.
Still, as I approached the enormous boat looming above the Port Washington marina like a cruiser on steroids, I couldn’t help but be impressed. SeaFair signals its ambitions by dint of scale alone. Moving up the gangplank and into the lush interior where the Nassau County Museum of Art was holding its annual benefit, I saw right away that I was wrong, at least about the tackiness.
SeaFair is classy. Most of the galleries that have signed on with Lester, while not cutting edge, are high-toned and respectable. I didn’t see installation art, video, or any of the fashionable contemporary work that might challenge, disturb or disrupt the sedate comfort of the place. Instead, there were objects - touchable, textured, colorful, gleaming, ownable objects guaranteed to start the flow of desire.
Iliad Antik, a gallery based in Manhattan, had a stunning booth filled with Biedermeier and art nouveau furniture, Hungarian modernist paintings, Cycladic figurines and an Egyptian relief. Everything reflected the exquisite taste and idiosyncratic passions of its two partners in love and business, Andrea Zemel and Adam Brown, who scour Eastern Europe for the works of obscure masters.
Galleries pay $10,000 to $30,000 a week to exhibit, depending on how much square footage they occupy, Lester says, plus the costs of transporting, insuring and installing their wares. The investment can pay off with a single million-dollar sale, of course, but often what happens later matters more than the onboard transactions. “The real sales come in when clients work with their interior designers,” Brown says.
Upstairs on Deck 2, I was spellbound by the vibrant colors and mesmeric patterns of pre-Columbian textiles offered by William Siegel, who operates out of Santa Fe. Siegel, too, sees SeaFair as an opportunity to collect collectors. At the ship’s debut in Greenwich, Conn., he explained, “I introduced this material to 50 people, who were blown away. Maybe five will come to Santa Fe. If one turns into a loyal client, it will have been worth it.”
While the merchandise sprawled over three levels, the party crowd congregated mostly on the main deck. That’s where I met Dr. Harvey Manes, who said he hailed from Old Westbury, Manhattan and Westhampton, and who acquires everything from caveman art to postmodernist photos. (He recently lent a Pieter Breugel painting to the Nassau museum.) Manes was enthusiastic about the offerings and the atmosphere: “I think there’s some really quality work here, and I’m almost ready to purchase a couple of pieces,” he said. “There’s great art, great food and great company.”
Later, alone on the moonlit sky deck, where a baroque concerto competed with the sound of lapping water, it occurred to me that all this came free - something that can’t be said for $20-a-ticket art fairs, or for most museums. Despite the elitist pretensions and deluxious aura, anyone can walk on board and bathe in the fantasy of owning an art-filled yacht. SeaFair is a populist experience masquerading as an exclusive one.
« Go Back — More Articles »