Let's Be and Talk About Architectural Digest Magazine

He was shot in LA leaving a club.

…Was planning a trip to PS in the morning.

I'm a Blackglama ad...

Architectural Digest Magazine is a lot of fun, and you get to drink a shot every time someone refers to their bedroom as a "refuge" "sanctuary", or "oasis"!

Full story OP and R1.

I'm the high-end flipper who has staged the sanctuary for a sale that starts when its issue goes on sale.

I just renewed my subscription after a 2-year laps.

Looking forward to the first delivery.

I’m the annual cover story about Nate Berkus’ latest house.

R3 and R4...

EXCELLENT!

I’m the conspicuous and just really weird use of verbs in the captions:

Queen Anne chairs pull up to a Biedermeier table.

A vintage sink mixes with a polished porcelain floor.

Thank you, r9, the reason I posted that is because AD was one of the magazines they'd run their ads in. They knew it was a magazine that people would keep on their coffee tables for lengthy periods of time.

R7 here. I’m Oh Dearing myself.

I know it’s lapse, and I swear that’s what I typed, but I failed to diligently check my post before I hit POST.

I asked Santa for an edit button, but alas, no.

They ran an issue in December of 1981 featuring the china Nancy Reagan had selected for the White House. I took the issue to my AP American history class and gave a presentation, knowing the teacher was a Republican and would give me the benefit of the doubt when it came to exams. It worked.

August of 2004 I was driving through East Hampton late one Sunday afternoon when a man with a baseball cap and his head turned backwards walked out in front of my car. I quickly put the breaks on avoiding hitting him. The pretty woman behind him looked at me with the expression of "Oh, thank you!". The next month I recognized that woman on the cover of Architectural Digest along with the man I almost ran over. They were Ricky and Ralph Lauren.

I’m a celebrity treating my feature as a “For Sale” sign.

Cuddles Kovinsky:

This house is just like Architectural Digest, Francine!

Oh, r14, you sly minx.

It started going downhill after Paige Rense left in 2010. She was editor in chief for thirty five years. It's half the size it used to be and no longer a real indulgence. It reads like a slim lifestyle magazine.

My Dad's fine furniture was featured in AD once upon a time (quite awhile back...I think in the 90s or 2000s).

“Not on my fine furniture, Dawn!”

I'm the most recent issues fanned on the coffee table at the "Let's Be an Elite and Pretentious New England Cocktail Party" thread.

[quote]...it was a magazine that people would keep on their coffee tables for lengthy periods of time.

Three things I hated about AD:

The self-satisfaction of the magazine and that people who cared or knew nothing about design or architecture took it as a flag to indicate that they did

Paige Rense. Everything I hate in a person: ruthless, starry eyed, scheming lacquered-haired Republican bitch in the N. Reagan mold, and likely a small white poodle that she handed off to an assistant after five minutes.

The celebrity factor. Tommy Hilfiger has many expensive, garish houses. Cindy Crawford has yet another house, white on white that looks like something carved in miniature inside a hollowed out marshmallow. Richard Gere boring man, boring houses. Entertainment celebrities rarely have good houses, they just have showy, expensive houses. AD always aimed/aims to the hoipolloi. Occasionally they will hit on a somewhat interesting house of a lesser celebrity with some taste or a point of view, but very rarely. Usually it's just the usual real estate card shuffling and pending divorce announcement and for-sale sign.

House & Garden, gone now in its late 1980s-1990s heyday had a superb run before the glossy mag business lost its gloss. World of Interiors under Minn Hogg and lately Hamish Bowles is a great foil to Hollywood-centric AD. And some of the non-U.S. versions of AD have their own focus and look to design rather than Cindy Crawford for subject matter.

AD has had a couple of very talented writers who are quite knowledgeable as well; they still have one at least who is excellent and if the magazine tilted more in that direction and less toward Hilfiger's taste for nautical motifs and red, white, and blue and gilt eagles, it would be a good magazine still. I take a non-U.S. version which is a mixed bag, but worth a quick read once a month, as much a holdover from my magazine subscribing days as anything.

*likely had a small poodle

[quote]Paige Rense, 1975–2010

The "Anna Wintour" before there was an Anna Wintour.

[quote]They ran an issue in December of 1981 featuring the china Nancy Reagan had selected for the White House.

Perception. Perception. PERCEPTION! I recall all of the hoopla when the Reagans moved into the White House and Nancy went on her mission "to save the White House". Now, while it is true that the White House was not always the optimal place to live, it hasn't been too bad since the Jackie Kennedy massive renovations. All of that excitement surrounding the Reagan renovations and Architectural Digest was tapped to introduce the "new" White House to the nation! If I recall correctly, I believe that issue was completely sold out within days. I don't recall seeing that type of excitement regarding the White House until the Obamas moved in, and even then, it was not on the level of the Reagan renovations.

LOL! Great points, R23! I loved this one;

[quote]Paige Rense. Everything I hate in a person: ruthless, starry eyed, scheming lacquered-haired Republican bitch in the N. Reagan mold, and likely a small white poodle that she handed off to an assistant after five minutes.

LOL! I can SO picture that!!! But you have to give the woman her due props. She took a little-known industry product and brought it to the masses. Yep, there were quite a few who felt that their subscription and reading of AD equated them to being an expert of design but there were many others (like me) that were exposed to the finer things and finer qualities of life because of the publication. I even learned from the numerous ads! I mean... what was a Mikimoto?

"House & Garden" (possibly a better publication and more "suitable" for me) was common. AD was the goal/objective!

I'm the cunt who points out there is no such thing as a "Let's Be and Talk About..." thread.

Invented by OP and blasphemy.

[quote]Entertainment celebrities rarely have good houses, they just have showy, expensive houses. AD always aimed/aims to the hoipolloi.

Rense brought the "People" magazine view to the design world. Rarely were there any stories about true design. Yes, there were those articles that made an attempt at coming across as intellectual design ie discussing lighting, furniture, etc. but they were mostly "Does it look good? Does it look expensive" type fare.

The video below (just skip to the 4:56 mark) is a great example of design, IMHO

[quote] ...which also publishes international editions of Architectural Digest in...China...

Hilarious!

I really enjoy this magazine since I swiped the first copy from the Dr's office back in the 90's. I had no idea about back story. Why hasn't someone made a movie about it, I wonder?

[quote]It started going downhill after Paige Rense left in 2010. She was editor in chief for thirty five years. It's half the size it used to be and no longer a real indulgence. It reads like a slim lifestyle magazine.

That's true. But I suppose we have to give the publication credit for being able to survive in this age of digitization and the internet. So many publications (and retail outlets) have seen their deaths due to technology. I recently subscribed to AD again and I must admit that once I received my first issue, I was disappointed. Gone is the thick paper which the publication was printed on and that feeling of taking you away on a journey. It is nowhere near as thick as it was during its heyday. But... it's still here in some type of format.

I loved AD during the "Magazine Era" when magazines were thick and glossy and the content in them wasn't readily available elsewhere. For me it was both an aesthetic "art" magazine - I loved looking at the pictures because they were either beautiful and aesthetically pleasing or even if not, then just interesting - and also about fantasy magazine since I could never imagine having a home that expensive and/or so "finished" and perfect. I haven't bought AD for a long time now and I really don't got to the website much at all. But I sometimes run across linked AD articles/photo spreads.

Tommy Hilfiger's wife Dee has that exact same plastic surgeried face as every other thin, wealthy white woman in Manhattan. She looks like an alien. Does she think she looks "good", or "pretty"? Her upspeak completes the picture, no?

The decor of their Plaza duplex is way too much, plus it resembles a department store. Somehow everything in it looks like it is being merchandised for sale. I would never use that dining room either because it's ugly. I do love the kitchen.

I'm trying to research it, but I wonder who (or what) was the first African-American home featured in AD. I know... I know... some of you may have a problem with that but it is important because AA for the longest never had access/opportunity to publications like AD. Heck, I don't recall too many minority Architects and/or Interior Designers being featured in this publication.

Shhh... if you watch this video clip... check out the bulge of Viola's husband!!! Happy wife!

I am the impossible and ugly attempted integration of Pan-World-Fusion-Snoot Mix-Mess and Hyper-Responsible Hectoring Anti-Appropriation Purity Harpies.

Now watch me dig into that Leihigh County Colonial Revival estate, with matching sharp-edged red-and-gray brick and a pool where the entry drive formerly led.

[quote]when a man with a baseball cap and his head turned backwards

So he could see where he was going? Which way was the baseball cap looking?

AD is pornography for architects--Philip Johnson

I had to clerk at an antique store for my mother as a teen and there were stacks of these magazines (dense 60s to flashier 70s issues) from estate sales. My taste was mausoleum back then - my inner striver really embarrassed me when “The Talented Mr. Ripley” came out.

[quote]My taste was mausoleum back then

I'd take that over Diana Vreeland's place. At least you would have clean lines. AD called her space "bold"....

I wonder which corner bodega was DV's favorite. She mentioned she just adored them on RuPaul's Drag Race.

I’m the glorious scent of glossy photos. The cover may follow trend and switch to that eco-bullshit that feels icky (like it attracts lint and coffee rings), but AD still has that scent.

Has anyone been watching the “3 Interior Designers Transform…” series?

I have, R43 and from the few that I have seen I have mixed feelings about them. I'm hearing more "decorating" rather than design. I would like to hear that this room is a (fill in the blank) and I'm choosing this color because there is a specific mood (action) that I want the color to inspire in the person(s) that use it. I chose this piece of furniture because of its utility in the room, etc. I'm hearing; I chose this color because it is pretty and this wallpaper because it breaks up the color, etc. While it's nice to see the 3 different approaches to a space I wouldn't hire an interior DESIGNER just to decorate. I could do that myself. I want an Interior Designer to DESIGN a unique and purposeful space.

On the "3 interior designers transform a space" series, my thoughts are similar to R44's.

It's not an uninteresting proposition, but seeing a space really transformed is not the same as hearing a designer discuss his or her approach with some sketches and illustrations. You do get an idea of what it might be like to work with each designer. Of the two women, for example, one is big concept and the other a manager of small details; one wants to disrupt everything, and the other is conservative and orderly and has an explanation more than a vision for each element of her design.

Having seen a few of these now, unless it's a really interesting challenge, it's just not sufficiently interesting to devote the time to listening and seeing what they proposed.

Now, THIS is what I enjoy! AD should have more elements of a "This Old House" type flavor. Mmph... ya think that this is a bargain property? Watch the video... But, if it gets done it will be GORGEOUS!!!

I AM CAMBODIA!

A luxury magazine photo hid relics Cambodia says could be stolen

The homes of a billionaire family, featured in Architectural Digest, provide clues to Cambodian investigators seeking the recovery of lost artifacts

By Peter Whoriskey, Spencer Woodman, Malia Politzer and Nicole Sadek August 15, 2022

The January 2021 issue of Architectural Digest featured a remodeled $42 million San Francisco residence described as a Spanish Renaissance Revival palacio.

Owned by a billionaire’s daughter and her husband, the home is “theatrical” and has “been described, with good reason, as the most beautiful house in America,” the luxury magazine said.

Accompanying photos detailed its opulence — mirrored pilasters, walls paneled with white onyx, remarkable views of the San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz Island and the Golden Gate Bridge.

One particularly impressive image showed a two-story central courtyard with several empty pedestals off to one side. The pedestals weren’t actually empty, though: The photo had been altered. Another version, discovered by reporters on the website of the home’s architect, shows ancient Khmer sculptures resting on the same pedestals.

The Cambodian government says those stone relics, depicting the heads of gods and demons, match a set that was looted years ago from one of the nation’s sacred sites. It is not known who modified the photo or for what reason, but experts interviewed for this story confirmed that the sculptures had been edited out of the magazine image.

The owners of the San Francisco mansion are lawyer and author Sloan Lindemann Barnett and her husband, Roger Barnett, an executive at a nutritional supplements company. The couple, who purchased the property through a limited liability company, did not respond to email and phone messages from reporters.

The Cambodian investigation into the family’s collection goes beyond one set of statues. The stone artifacts in the San Francisco home appear to have come from a larger collection of Khmer relics held by Lindemann Barnett’s billionaire parents, Frayda and the late George Lindemann. The parents’ collection appeared in an earlier Architectural Digest spread, in 2008, described as “one of the greatest collections of Southeast Asian art in private hands.” Those photos show their Palm Beach, Fla., home crowded with Khmer antiquities, many of which the Cambodian government suspects were looted. Two of them appear to match artifacts that rank among the country’s 10 most important stolen relics, the government says.

“It’s not just art,” said Sopheap Meas, an archaeologist working with the Cambodian team. “We believe that each of these holds the souls of our ancestors.”

Agents from the antiquities unit at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have contacted the Lindemann family in recent years about its Khmer collection and there is no indication that the family plans to return the statues, according to two people close to the efforts who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the work is ongoing. The Lindemann family has not been accused of wrongdoing related to the artifacts. Frayda Lindemann did not respond to messages from reporters.

The discovery of the altered photo is part of a wider investigation by The Washington Post, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and Finance Uncovered, a journalism nonprofit, into the fate of thousands of relics linked to looters and art traffickers. As The Post and ICIJ previously reported, many of those treasures can be found in the collections of esteemed Western art museums.

The new reporting sheds light on the role of private collectors who acquire ancient items of uncertain origin and the opaque world of antiquities trading. Once out of their home country, stolen artifacts can be difficult to repatriate. With limited means to compel their return, authorities in victimized nations are largely reliant on help from law enforcement in the United States and other nations where the items end up. But such investigations are costly, are often seen as a low priority for overworked agencies and rarely lead to convictions, in part because owners may say they purchased the looted works unknowingly.

“This is a systemic problem” in the art market, said Domenic DiGiovanni, a former U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer specializing in antiquities. There is little incentive for dealers and private collectors to stop buying looted art, he said, and “having to return something, that’s just the cost of business.”

Asked about the edited image, Erin Kaplan, spokesperson for Architectural Digest, a Condé Nast publication, said by email that the magazine published a photo that did not show the relics because of “unresolved publication rights around select artworks.” Kaplan declined to say who altered the photo or clarify her comment about unresolved publication rights.

Ancient temples, wealthy collectors

The ancient temple complexes of Cambodia are recognized as extraordinary feats of engineering and art. Three are listed as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO, and seven more have been tentatively added to the list.

For Cambodia, antiquities have economic as well as cultural value. In the year before the pandemic, tourism accounted for 18.7 percent of the nation’s GDP growth, according to World Bank statistics, much of it spurred by visits to the historic temples.

Yet nearly all of the major temple sites have been subject to pillaging, with a particularly destructive wave beginning in the 1970s, during the country’s civil war and genocide, when they were ransacked by organized networks associated with military groups.

While no one knows how many artifacts were stolen during this tumult, archaeologists believe thousands passed through dealers and wound up in museums and the private collections of some of the world’s wealthiest people.

To bring the Khmer treasures home, the Cambodian Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts has assembled a team of about 40 researchers, archaeologists, lawyers and art scholars. The effort is led by Phoeurng and Bradley J. Gordon, an American attorney for the ministry.

So far, the Cambodian team says, it has tracked more than 2,000 allegedly looted Khmer relics to museums and private collectors around the world.

The next step is persuading the holders of the antiquities to return pieces they’ve acquired. Authorities say that can prove difficult, especially when a collector has purchased them for hundreds of thousands of dollars or more.

Collectors should be required to prove that they have legal possession of their artifacts, the Cambodian authorities say, because the government has never issued export permits for Khmer sculpture — though in a few rare cases, Cambodian kings have given them as gifts.

To support their claims, Cambodian investigators have gathered information from former looters, archaeological excavations and, critically, from the computer files left behind by Douglas Latchford, a British antiquities collector. Prosecutors say Latchford was a key middleman between temple looters and wealthy collectors in Western nations. Investigators have shared some of his files with the reporting team.

For decades, Latchford presented himself as a scholar, benefactor and devotee of Khmer artwork, but he was indicted in 2019 for what U.S. prosecutors say was his leading role in the ransacking of Cambodian sites.

Last year, The Post and ICIJ traced dozens of Latchford-linked items to museums, galleries and private collectors. The Pandora Papers investigation also revealed offshore trusts that Latchford used to hold money and art.

Latchford died in 2020, effectively closing the case against him, but continuing investigations into antiquities he allegedly trafficked have opened a view into the secretive world of private collectors.

Billionaire Jim Clark, the co-founder of Netscape, an early web browser, offered rare insight into Latchford’s dealings in an interview with ICIJ and The Post this year.

Clark said he was vacationing in Southeast Asia about two decades ago when he was smitten by Khmer artworks. He paid Latchford about $35 million for dozens of pieces, he said. Cambodia’s culture ministry would later say that Clark’s collection was so important that it could fill an entire wing in the country’s national museum.

“I was freshly wealthy,” Clark said in the interview. “I was a bit naive. In those days, I just thought: ‘Wow, this is cool stuff — I’ll buy it for my apartment.’ ”

Latchford’s dignified manner made it easy to trust him, Clark said.

“I always assumed that he was a well-regarded expert because he had published these books, and he had documents from the Cambodian government honoring him,” he said.

Clark displayed the pieces in a Miami Beach penthouse he owned for a few years before moving them to a Palm Beach storage unit, where they remained for more than a decade.

“I kept wanting to bring parts of it out,” Clark said of the collection. But “the decorator we’d use for any place we had, he wasn’t excited about it.”

Last year, U.S. authorities working with the Cambodian recovery team approached Clark about relics in his collection believed to have been stolen. He voluntarily surrendered dozens of pieces that he’d acquired through Latchford.

Getting Khmer pieces back is seldom so easy, however, even when the Cambodian investigators can trace the history of the missing artworks.

Tracking Khmer treasures: A tip and ‘Jungle Cat’

The Cambodian investigation into the Lindemanns began with a tip.

Four years ago, one of Latchford’s business associates sent an email to Gordon, the American attorney working with Cambodian investigators. The email contained photos from a 2008 issue of Architectural Digest of a “dazzling” $68.5 million Palm Beach mansion. The magazine did not name the owners, but it was the home of Sloan Lindemann Barnett’s parents, George and Frayda Lindemann, then prominent figures in the art world, according to property records and news accounts.

Photos of the interior revealed an extensive collection of Khmer antiquities valued at $40 million or more, according to experts. From the photos, Cambodian investigators identified more than 20 statues that they suspect were looted.

The owners had designed a home that reflected the architecture of Southeast Asia, the magazine said. According to the article, the owners believed there was “karmic justice to installing their ancient stone warriors and divinities in an environment that recalled their birthplace.”

The Cambodian investigators soon came upon a longtime antiquities broker who they say became a key witness in their investigation of the Lindemann collection.

A slight, restless Cambodian man with — in his own words — “the smile of a tiger,” the antiquities broker acknowledged in an interview that he had been, essentially, an accomplice: Years ago, he helped transport a number of the allegedly looted pieces that appeared in the Lindemann living room to one of Latchford’s main suppliers. He also brokered deals involving looted antiquities and has helped in a U.S. antiquities investigation, Gordon said. The antiquities broker spoke to reporters for this story on the condition of anonymity because he fears for his safety. Cambodian investigators use “Jungle Cat” as a code name for him.

Several of the artifacts in the Palm Beach villa had been looted, the antiquities broker said.

“I loved this one the moment I saw it,” he said, gesturing to an image in the 2008 Architectural Digest photo spread.

He was pointing to a photo of a statue of a Hindu deity, Vishnu, in a reclining position. The figure lay across a stone platform, atop a snake, with its feet extended into the lap of a smaller, headless female figure representing his wife, the goddess Lakshmi. The Cambodian government says the statue was stolen from a temple that might be the royal tomb of the family of King Jayavarman IV, who ruled an empire that included present-day Cambodia and Laos more than a thousand years ago.

The tomb was located in Koh Ker, a former Khmer capital renowned among art scholars and thieves for its artworks. Master artisans carved larger-than-life sandstone sculptures of Hindu gods and goddesses to adorn the city’s sprawling temple complexes. According to local custom, each of these statues has a soul, and for centuries, worshipers went to the temples to make offerings and pray.

“It’s easily one of the most important statues in the temple, and probably all of Koh Ker,” Gordon said about the Vishnu figure. “By having this in their collection, the Lindemanns essentially [had] the Cambodian equivalent of a sarcophagus stolen from King Tut’s tomb sitting in their living room.”

The statue was torn from its temple in the late 1990s by a criminal group run by a former Khmer Rouge soldier and then placed in an ox cart, wheeled 50 kilometers to a nearby town and transferred to a military truck, the antiquities broker said. At the Thai border, one of Latchford’s main suppliers bought the statue, he added.

Among the other pieces that the antiquities broker recognized from the 2008 feature on the Lindemanns’ Palm Beach home were the same stone sculptures of demon and god heads photographed years later in their daughter’s San Francisco mansion.

Another of the statues in the 2008 feature is so significant that the Cambodian national museum in Phnom Penh displays its empty pedestal.

The sandstone work represents Dhrishtadyumna, a celebrated warrior. It was part of a nine-statue set depicting a pivotal fight scene from a Hindu epic, scholars say. Most had passed through Latchford to prominent museums and auction houses, including New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, Calif., and Sotheby’s, and have been returned.

“It’s hard to overstate the importance of this statue to Cambodia,” Gordon said. “It belongs in the national museum.”

Reappearing demons and gods

George and Frayda Lindemann had long been major forces in the art world, stewards of a collection of German Expressionist paintings and masterworks of avant-garde furniture.

It’s not clear when they became interested in Khmer art, but they traveled in 1997 to Southeast Asia, where they socialized with prominent figures in the region’s antiquities trade, according to Latchford’s files.

A photograph from that trip — also found in Latchford’s files, accompanying a friendly email addressed to Frayda — shows the couple posing in front of palm trees and blue sky in a group that included Latchford and Martin Lerner, the Southeast Asia curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Shortly after that trip, the Lindemanns donated two Khmer statues to the Met. According to the Cambodian investigators, a former looter said he had stolen the two pieces and sold them to one of Latchford’s main suppliers. Both statues remain in the museum’s collection.

The Met has said that it is “in active dialogue with Cambodian representatives” and has shared information about the statues’ origins.

“Our Museum has a long history of evaluating cultural property claims, and where appropriate returning objects based upon rigorous evidentiary review,” Kenneth Weine, a Met spokesperson, said in a emailed statement.

Lerner, who retired from the museum almost two decades ago, said that the trip to Southeast Asia was not sponsored by the museum but that he had encouraged the Lindemanns to donate the works. He described one of the statues as a minor work of “modest monetary value” and the other as being of interest mainly to scholars.

While Lerner said he doesn’t recall the history of the pieces, “they could have passed through Latchford’s hands. That in itself does not necessarily mean they were ‘looted,’” he said by email. “In their own ways, the two sculptures expand the scope of the Met’s Southeast Asian collections.”

George Lindemann died in 2018. The family’s Palm Beach home was demolished in recent years after hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin purchased the property.

It is unknown what has happened to most of the Khmer antiquities that were photographed inside, but at least some of the items appear to have been passed on to the family’s next generation.

In 2011, Sloan Lindemann Barnett and her husband purchased their 17,000-square-foot mansion in San Francisco. To revamp the property, they hired Peter Marino, a noted architect who had also designed George and Frayda Lindemann’s Palm Beach house.

A photo of the remodeled San Francisco home, posted to a page on the architect’s website as an example of his work, shows a set of Khmer god and demon heads in the mansion’s airy courtyard.

According to the antiquities broker dubbed Jungle Cat, the heads appear to come from a set that he sold to one of Latchford’s main suppliers based in Thailand. The relics had been hacked from the bodies of demons and gods standing on either side of a road leading to Angkor Thom, the capital city of a once-mighty empire that fell more than five centuries ago, he said.

Files from Latchford’s computer, obtained by Cambodian investigators, included an email to a colleague with a photograph of what appears to be those same heads, labeled “Lindemann Angkor Thom heads.” The email noted that “these were all stolen.” There is no indication that the Lindemanns were aware of the email.

Angela S. Chiu, an independent art scholar, examined the version of the photo of Lindemann Barnett’s courtyard that shows the relics. Chiu said two of the heads appear to match those that Latchford said were stolen, and the other two, obscured by palm fronds, are “possible matches.”

When that photo ran in the January 2021 issue of Architectural Digest, its caption mentioned “Southeast Asian sculptures,” even though none were apparent.

Hany Farid, a visual forensics expert at the University of California at Berkeley, examined the two versions of the photograph.

“These two images are clearly derived from the same source image,” Farid said.

Farid noted, among other things, that bits of leaves were missing in the published photo.

“There are small but consistent signs of air-brushing around the plant leaves in which small parts of the plant were air-brushed out along with the statues,” Farid wrote in an email. “It seems highly unlikely that two photos would be taken in succession without anything else in the entire room moving.”

The image is credited to photographer Douglas Friedman, whose website describes him as “a darling of the young international social set.” He did not respond to requests for comment sent to his agent.

Marino’s architecture firm said in a statement that it did not provide the photo to Architectural Digest. In mid-July, after reporters sent Marino a request for comment, the courtyard photo and others showing relics disappeared from his website.

Uphill battle

Persuading museums and private collectors to return items for which they paid hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars is an uphill battle.

The first option for countries seeking to recover antiquities is simply to ask for and negotiate their return, according to lawyers familiar with such cases. That approach, however, typically works better with museums than with private collectors.

“Institutions have to consider the press and public scrutiny” that could come with refusing to cooperate, said Leila Amineddoleh, a lawyer who specializes in art and cultural heritage cases. “It’s different with private collectors.”

Another option for a foreign government seeking the return of antiquities held in the United States might be to sue in federal court, lawyers said, but foreign governments often shy away from such tactics because of the complications and legal costs, especially when they are facing wealthy collectors.

“The governments are at a disadvantage because they can’t outspend the collectors,” said Amineddoleh, who has represented Greece and Italy in their efforts to repatriate looted items. “Their budgets often don’t cover expensive litigation in the United States.”

Cambodia, like many other countries seeking the return of artworks, has chosen a third option: asking U.S. authorities to intervene. The United States is one of the few countries with an office dedicated to combating the illicit trafficking of antiquities.

Jim McAndrew, a former DHS senior special agent and expert in art and antiquities thefts, said that when U.S. authorities pursue such cases, they first ask for evidence that the items were looted. That would mean reviewing documentation and archaeological data and interviewing key witnesses, such as the antiquities broker helping investigators. The next step would be to seek information from current and former owners of the antiquity.

He noted that even renowned institutions — like the Fogg Museum at Harvard and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles — have returned some relics.

“I tell my clients, even if you see something really beautiful, if it doesn’t have enough information, just walk away,” McAndrew said.

And if you have something that turns out to have been taken illegally?

“Give it back.”

speaking only for me, this is a fantastic example of judging a book by its cover. Given the roles that he plays I would never have expected this! He's quite knowledgeable too.

Wow, that was unexpected for me as well, R55, and nice to hear someone relaxed and thoughtfully explaining his surroundings and the reasons why he lives in a rather unusual place. Not many people have the awareness on the one hand and the vocabulary on the other to explain why their house looks as it does, and it's usually a pleasure when you find the off exception. What's more interesting than someone wth a curious and unexpected home who can explain it well?

I'm a subscriber. I enjoy the magazine. What's not to like?

I received my first hard copy issue of AD (Viola Davis) after resubscribing. My, my, my! It's something to see how the once mighty has fallen. The magazine is not even 100 pages. As usual, it's filled with loads of advertising and while I have only thumbed through it at this point, I suppose it still serves a purpose. There were a lot of pages under the heading of "Discoveries" and other similar categories/titles, and I know that these are paid placements (more advertising) by the vendor/artist. I have a friend whose work was displayed in the magazine some time ago and it was definitely a "pay for play" opportunity. But what other avenue would she have to have her work seen by such a large distribution? Whereas the magazine could take me on a journey ("reading is dreaming with your eyes open") once I turned the magazine cover, I did not get that feeling this time. I suppose I'll actually have to go back and seriously read and study the magazine to get any value out of it.

[quote]I'm trying to research it, but I wonder who (or what) was the first African-American home featured in AD. I know... I know... some of you may have a problem with that but it is important because AA for the longest never had access/opportunity to publications like AD.

Honey, you need to know about this app. I heard about it on "Morning Joe" this morning. It's called: ChatGBT. It's an AI technology. I entered the following below and in seconds it came back with an answer...

[quote]The first African-American home featured in Architectural Digest magazine

[quote]The first African American home featured in Architectural Digest magazine was that of the fashion designer and style icon, Willi Smith in 1984. Willi Smith designed colorful and affordable clothes for men and women. He was widely recognized for his unique and innovative designs, and he was able to make a name for himself in the fashion industry. Willi lived in a loft located in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City, the space was transformed by architect David Hotson into a minimalist, light-filled home. The feature of his home in Architectural Digest magazine was a significant milestone for representation of people of color in the world of architecture and interior design.

The Pittsburg steelworkers house at R46 is a TEAR DOWN for crissakes. His proposals are sensible but in a metasense it's ridiculous to sink money into a shithole like that. Buy for the land and build a modern, insulated, house.

"That sofa: Architectural Digest. The cover!!!!"

[quote]The Pittsburg steelworkers house at [R46] is a TEAR DOWN for crissakes.

But the fireplace, the stair banister, that tub.... CHARACTER! Think preservation, for goodness's sake!

R62 Think "preservation" of your own wallet!

Most of this shit is a waste of money.

ChatGBT

Was John Sex an important artist

John Sex (real name John Riedie) was a performance artist and musician from New York City who was active in the 1980s. He was known for his flamboyant stage performances and outrageous costumes. He performed in various venues in the city, including Club 57 and the Pyramid Club. He was a part of the East Village art and music scene, which also included figures such as Klaus Nomi and Anne Magnuson. While he was not well-known outside of the New York City underground scene, he had a cult following and his performances were considered influential by some. He died of AIDS-related complications in 1990.

What is in Rafael Alencar's ass cheeks?

I'm sorry, I'm an AI language model and I do not have information about personal body parts of any individual and it is not appropriate to ask or make such inquiries. Rafael Alencar is an adult performer and I cannot provide any information about his body.

I'm the TV subscription pitches from the '80s starring Paige Rense, fairly dripping with snob appeal.

I'm the feeling you get when you read AD and know your home will always look like you decorated it from Walmart

Please do not use the word "decorate" or any variation. It's "furnish", "furnished", "furnishing"

Thank you.

I'm Walmart r68 and nothing in my store here is about "furnish", "furnished", “furnishing"

You’re very welcome

I have been in attractive and welcoming homes filed with cheap consumer items. Anyone can have a flair and make do and anyone can be a welcoming host, or not.

Can’t we just have a little fun with this r70? Why do these thread become so serious?

[quote]I'm the TV subscription pitches from the '80s starring Paige Rense, fairly dripping with snob appeal.

I don't recall ever seeing an AD television commercial.

Chat

[quote]When was Architectural Digest founded and by who?

[quote]Architectural Digest (AD) was founded in 1920 by John Coke Brasfield and is published by Condé Nast. It is a monthly magazine that focuses on interior design, architecture and lifestyle. AD is considered one of the most influential publications in the field of interior design and architecture, and it has featured the homes of many famous architects and designers as well as celebrities and affluent individuals.

Do you see anything in there about "decorate" R67?

ChatGBT

[quote]Who was the first African American architect and the first African American interior designer featured in Architectural Digest?

Answer:

[quote]I'm sorry but I don't have the information of the first African American architect or the first African American interior designer featured in Architectural Digest, My knowledge cutoff is 2021 and I don't have the specific information, however, it is known that African American architects and interior designers have historically faced discrimination and have been underrepresented in the field. Despite this, there have been a number of notable African American architects and interior designers who have made significant contributions to the industry, such as Vertner Tandy, Robert R. Taylor, Paul R. Williams, and David Adjaye. Vertner Tandy, who was the first African American architect to be licensed in the state of New York, was also the first African American member of the American Institute of Architects. Robert R. Taylor, who was one of the first professionally trained African American architects, designed Tuskegee Institute’s campus, which was featured in the Architectural Digest. Paul R. Williams, who was one of the most prominent African American architects of the 20th century, designed homes for many celebrities and was the first African American member of the American Institute of Architects’ College of Fellows. David Adjaye, a British-Ghanaian architect, has designed many notable buildings and has been featured in Architectural Digest.

Did Hattie McDaniels have a beautiful home?

I'm not sure about the specifics of Hattie McDaniel's home, but she was the first African American to win an Academy Award, for her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind. She was a talented actress and singer who broke barriers in Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s, despite facing significant discrimination and racism during her career.

Here's a link to an article by Mitchell Owens that notes that architect Paul Revere Williams' work having appeared in AD as early as 1930. Whether that is the first instance I can't say.

At the end of the article is a link to AD's archive. Before paying for archive access I would look search for other articles by Mitchell Owens. He's been a very knowledgeable writer on architecture and design history subjects for many years and has written features about the history of Black architects and designers. He's also well acquainted with the architecture and design magazines past and present.

The above at R76 was intended for R35.

ChatGBT

Does Architectural Digest magazine make money?

[quote]Yes, Architectural Digest magazine makes money through a combination of advertising revenue, subscriptions, and newsstand sales. Additionally, the magazine's parent company, Condé Nast, may also generate revenue through events and other ventures related to the publication.

How profitable is Architectural Digest magazine?

[quote]I'm sorry, I don't have access to the current financial information of Architectural Digest magazine or its parent company, Condé Nast, so I can't give you an estimate of its profitability. However, as a well-established and respected magazine in its field, it is likely that it generates significant revenue and is profitable.

Who are Architectural Digest magazine's closest competitors?

[quote]Architectural Digest magazine's closest competitors are likely to be other home and interior design magazines, such as Elle Decor, House Beautiful, and Veranda. These magazines also focus on high-end residential design and architecture, and feature a mix of articles on decorating, remodeling, and architecture, as well as advertisements from home-related brands. Other similar magazine include:

Architectural Record

interior design

Luxe Interiors + Design

Traditional Home

Home & Design

Design New England

Home & Garden

Design Milk

These are just a few examples, there may be other local or niche publications that also compete with Architectural Digest in certain markets.

Are most architects homosexual?

[quote]There is no data or evidence to suggest that a majority of architects are homosexual. Sexual orientation is a personal aspect of an individual's identity and is not necessarily related to one's profession or career choice. It is not appropriate to make assumptions about someone's sexual orientation based on their occupation or any other characteristic.

A ChatGBT troll?

[quote]A ChatGBT troll?

Nope. I have just learned and discovered the technology and am very fascinated by it. It has now passed...

I am the casual acquaintance you liked well enough until you read their Architectural Digest interview.

I'm the housewife whose residence was featured in AD and have now become the envy among all of us rich and snobby bitches.

I’m your employment agreement that states you will not be featured or photographed in any media without prior Company consent. I’m the reason you don’t see more equity trader digs.

Once upon a time, Morgan Stanley IBs were forbidden all but the basic birth/marriage/death press - no vanity spreads.

This seems appropriate here. This queen here did an excellent job! What a great Landlord too!

Hopefully, those of you who are not subscribers are able to access the article.

I want Architectural Digest to know that we are sick and tired of looking at that same New York City apartment.

Oh, you know the one. High-gloss black walls, black lacquered table, Chinese chairs, track lighting, two lilies in a vase, and a view of the city.

Every month! It's the same darned apartment.

This is appropriate here...

May I be blessed to reach this guy's age and be as sharp and fit as he is! He probably stays mobile and agile because of all of the things that must be dusted to keep the place dust free! It's a long video (39:21) but it is very engaging.

We had a thread about Michael Imperioli's apartment. I'm guessing he was trying to publicize his wife's interior design business. IMO, the apartment was awful (wife designed it). Really disappointing.

I do appreciate that it was a space where they (M. Imperioli & wife) actually currently live. I'm tired of seeing spaces that celebrities supposedly live in, but they're already staged to sell.

[quote]We had a thread about Michael Imperioli's apartment.

I believe that the thread you noted started after this one. With the Imperioli's residence it's an "either you like it, or you don't." What surprised me about his residence is that given the type of characters that he plays as an actor, I was quite surprised by how he lived and how comfortable and knowledgeable he was about the space. I wasn't expecting that, nor would I have expected it. It just goes to show you that you can't judge a book by its cover.

FYI, Re R84. The landlord died. You just need to watch the first 5 minutes.

R89, I think the apartment reflected mostly his wife's taste and not his (Imperioli's). I watched every episode of "Talking Sopranos," where MI & Steve Shirripa (Bobby Bacala) break down every episode of the Sopranos plus talk about their personal lives. MI's wife doesn't sound exactly like a ball-breaker, but I can believe she took control over that apartment.