M A L AYSI A
High Art ISSUE 51. RM15.00
02/2019
All eyes on curios, modern spaces, private galleries and old masters
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CONTENTS
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Robb Report
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34 18 Letter from the Editor 20 Opinion 22 Perfect 10
30 Beta 34 Auction
158 Robb Reader 160 Stockists 162 The Last Word
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The Art Issue
February sees us celebrating the finest in art and culture. Follow Robb Report Malaysia as we take you through the worlds of old masters who are making a great resurgence and showing plenty of investment value. A discourse on private galleries showcases the joys and travails in housing your own collection. In Cuba, discover the bubbling art scene which has sprung forth since 2011’s reform by Raul Castro. On the outskirts of Copenhagen, discover a lovely home which embodies the Scandinavian sensibilities of function meeting form in the most elegant way. Cover photo: NTU Singapore
astronomia sky World Premiere Complication in Three Dimensions Celestial Panorama: Daily and Annual Sidereal Display Hours, Minutes, Seconds and Day and Night Indications Gravitational Triple Axis Tourbillon: 60 Sec, 5 Min, 20 Min Exclusive Jacob & Co. Manufacture JCAM11 Caliber 47mm diameter, 18K White Gold; Limited edition: 18 Pieces
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CONTENTS
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Art & Design
76 Fan Craft Mandarin Oriental Hotel Kuala Lumpur and the pewtersmith Royal Selangor collaborate to create an objet d’art celebrating the hotel’s two decades of existence in Malaysia. with a rendition weaving heritage and craft.
Wheels
88 Sweet Spot Ferrari’s GTC4Lusso displays a drive character suited to being an everyday car.
Water
96 Adventures That Never End From hidden coves to secret beaches, exploring Langkawi
with Layarlayar yacht charter is a promise of exceptional discovery and relaxation.
Time
107 Lines of Interest Urwerk’s UR-111C reinvents time-setting, and offers a digitalanalogue approach to experiencing horology.
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CONTENTS
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Travel
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114 Nature’s Embrace After a 12-month renovation, The Datai Langkawi returns with new points of interest that highlight the majesty of its unique location.
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126 Crowning Glory The Prince Gallery hotel in upscale Kioicho pulsates with art objects atop the Tokyo Garden Terrace.
Savour
134 A Taste of Tomorrow China’s diverse culinary culture comes to the fore with JW Marriott’s Taste the Moment festival in Shanghai.
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138 The Lion’s Share The St Regis Kuala Lumpur’s Guest Star Chef Series sprung the talents of Andreas Caminada of three-starred restaurant Schloss Schauenstein located among the Swiss Alps, who charmed with his take on communal dining with rather extraordinary twists.
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MARCH 21 ïš» 26 W W W. B AS E LW O R L D . C O M
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MALAYSIA
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Editorial Editorial Director KENNETH TAN (k.tan@imv.com.sg) Editor-in-Chief, Robb Report Singapore KARISHMA TULSIDAS (k.tulsidas@imv.com.sg) Special Projects Director ZECH PHARAMOND (z.pharamond@imv.com.sg) Associate Editor TIEN CHEW (t.chew@imv.com.sg) Editor-At-Large, Watches and Jewellery CELINE YAP (c.yap@imv.com.sg) Motoring, Timepieces and Spirits Editor WEI-YU WANG (wy-wang@imv.com.sg) Chief Sub-Editor JACQUELINE DANAM Junior Writer ALLISA NORAINI (a.noraini@imv.com.sg) Editorial Assistant TASH MAHNOKAREN
Art Art Director NGUYEN THI YEN PHUONG Design Director PARVEZ AKIEL MAHFOOZ Designer LE THU TRANG Designer THAO TRUONG Picture Editor KENNY NGUYEN
Contributing Experts Savour CLEMENT LIM Travel & Leisure TERRY LIM Wines & Spirits ZEPHYR TAN
Production Group Production Manager SHAHRUL HILAL RETHASHAH
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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
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That Artistic Feeling In this month’s issue, our art theme strives to transmit as much beauty and understanding through an exploration into the kaleidoscopic world of art and artists. A discourse with expert art auctioneers reveals the incredible value and appeal of old masters in light of the stratospheric closing bid of US$450million for Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi last year. For art lovers who have long dreamed of setting up their own gallery, the Private Eyes feature uncovers the travails of such a Herculean effort, something which would doubtless resonate among some of Malaysia’s finest collectors and gallery owners. Cuba, a popular destination for many of our readers, comes into focus in the A Quiet Revolution feature, which delves into the art scene’s development since Raul Castro’s 2011 reform. For interior design aesthetes, the Modern Family feature visits the residence of Kasper and Heidi Egelund on the outskirts of Copenhagen. This serene exercise in design and easy living marries beauty and function, a Scandinavian trait which has seen Vipp
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A rather poignant quote by Pablo Picasso goes: “The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls”. That art evokes and uplifts spirits is without a doubt. Perhaps, more curiously, is how art can make visible certain things to people where it remains invisible to others.
– the design company which Kasper is CEO of – produce a pedal-operated trash can which is now in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art. This month’s issue also covers one of Malaysia’s crown jewels in hospitality. The Datai Langkawi, which has reopened following a yearlong renovation, is interesting for many reasons. One of them is the launch of its artist residency programme, an integral part of its vision to celebrate Malaysian culture and heritage. Throughout the year, Malaysian artists from the peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak will be invited to live at the resort and produce arts and crafts which will be featured at The Datai’s art gallery. As Arnaud Girodon, the resort’s general manager says: “Malaysia has such wonderful artists and craftsmen in every state, we should at least participate in this legacy and culture of art.” KENNETH TAN
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OPINION
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Ferrari Races into a New Era with a Throaty Roar
Tossing the old code of silence about future plans, the automaker’s new CEO allows a peek under the hoods to come.
Illustration: Celyn
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By BEN OLIVER
or the Old Man – Enzo Ferrari – the road cars that bore his name and those who bought them were an irritating but financially necessary distraction from life’s true purpose, which was to race. His lack of regard for his customers was sufficient to inspire the creation of his closest rival. In the early 1960s, a wealthy young manufacturer of tractors from a nearby town came to see Enzo to complain about the malfunctioning clutch on his new 250 GT. Enzo blamed his customer’s driving ability, and as Ferruccio Lamborghini stalked out of the Old Man’s office, he vowed to build a better road car. Ferrari’s latest boss can’t afford to be so high-handed with his clients. Louis Camilleri was born in Egypt to Maltese parents and educated in the UK and Switzerland. He has the playboypatrician demeanour of some of the others who have owned or operated Ferrari, such as Gianni Agnelli. He became CEO in July 2018 after the early death of Sergio Marchionne, a talismanic figure in the car industry who led Ferrari to its independence. For Camilleri, this will be a labour of love. He is already wealthy, with a net worth of about US$170 million after his time as CEO of Philip Morris. He already seems to embody the lifestyle ascribed to the brand with his impressive collection of Ferraris and history of dating models, and his openness about all of that may make him
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an especially appropriate leader for this Italian supercar maker. But he heads a business very different from that which Enzo ran when he offended Ferruccio. Then, Ferrari had 500 customers each year. Today, it has around 8,500, assuming they limit themselves to one new Ferrari each year, and not all will. In most parts of the world (not Beverly Hills), a Ferrari remains a rare and exotic sight on the road, but those 8,500 customers fund a business worth about US$22 billion and support 3,500 employees at a large industrial complex in Maranello. Camilleri needs to keep his clients sweet on the brand. And unlike Enzo, he answers to shareholders. Their zeal for the stock has more than doubled its price since Ferrari’s 2015 IPO. That valuation is based partly on the promise of growth, and leadership has had to reveal its new-product plans to reassure investors that Ferrari can deliver the near doubling in profit it has promised by 2022. Camilleri has said openly that by that date there will be 15 new Ferraris and 60 per cent of the brand’s production will be hybrid, and that the company is working on a V6 hybrid power train. But Ferrari’s leadership will tell investors, analysts and its best customers more in private.
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OPINION Big news will be the return of the standard-production, midengine V12 Ferrari supercar. It likely will be unveiled later this year, have 1,000hp and cost upward of US$400,000. Ferrari has left this market to Lamborghini since the demise of the F512 M in 1996, but it has been eyeing the thousand Aventador sales its rival makes each year and licking its lips. The new car will probably share its platform with the replacement for the 488, which may get a final, track-focused, GTO-badged version even more hardcore than the acclaimed Pista unveiled in March 2018. The controversial Ferrari SUV (or FUV) is confirmed for 2022 and has been given a name: Purosangue, or Thoroughbred. But Ferrari has decided little else about it. There seem to be two options: either a direct rival for the Lamborghini Urus at around US$200,000, or something more expensive and more extreme,
The controversial Ferrari SUV (or FUV) is confirmed for 2022 and has been given a name: Purosangue, or Thoroughbred.
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which would have no rivals and might be more appropriate for the brand. Ferrari’s other headache is the rumoured new Dino – a mid-engine V6, entry-level sports car to sit below the 488. Well-informed sources say it’s on ice for fear of cannibalising sales of the hugely profitable 488. The V6 power train that Ferrari has confirmed wasn’t just intended for a new Dino; it will probably also power the replacement for the frontengine Portofino roadster and might be offered in the FUV if Ferrari pursues the less hardcore option. With its scale and shareholders, modern Maranello is very different from the Enzo era. If the clutch in your Ferrari is faulty, you’re unlikely to get an audience with Louis Camilleri. But we no longer need to get into the boss’s office to see what plans might be lying on his desk. Ben Oliver is an award-winning automotive journalist, consultant and speechwriter based in the UK.
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THE GOOD LIFE Our editorial round-up of some of the newest, best and brightest updates from the world of luxury.
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MAKE YOUR MARK For an unforgettably lavish New York treat, look no further than The Mark Hotel’s penthouse. So exceptional is The Mark Penthouse (priced at US$75,000 per night) that legendary French interior designer Jacques Grange described it as ‘a castle in the sky’. With five bedrooms, four fireplaces, six bathrooms and two wet bars spread over 1,114 sq m, it is the largest hotel penthouse suite in the US. Alongside its views of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Central Park, a private rooftop terrace and elevator, and an expansive library lounge, the penthouse also comes with The Mark Hotel’s signature ‘It’s a given’ service. A click of your fingers and staff will arrange anything from suit tailoring at midnight from Bergdorf Goodman to getting French Michelin-starred chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten to whip up dinner for two. www.themarkhotel.com
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THE SKY IS NO LIMIT
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The Cvstos Jetliner II P-S is a bold new take on aviation-inspired timekeeping.
A FINE INDIAN DRAM Malaysia sees a new range of Indian single malt whisky, courtesy of Paul John. With the exception of peat imported from Scotland, Paul John whisky is a proudly Indian spirit made from barley grown in the foothills of the Himalayas and malted near Delhi. The brand’s seaside distillery is in the state of Goa, where it can take advantage of the sweet groundwater. The core range of Scotch-style single malts comes in three styles: the elegant and easy-going Brilliance (RM500), the slightly peated and balanced Edited (RM600), and the heavily peated and characterful Bold (RM600). Whisky fans will be pleased to note the 46 per cent ABV, no chill filtering and no added colouring. pauljohnwhisky.com
Geneva-based Cvstos was never one for the faint of wrist and the new Jetliner II P-S (from RM50,624) is no exception. It is a large and bold tonneau-shaped piece that has an eye-catching open-worked dial and skeleton hands as well as the brand’s own take on the small seconds indicator. The new CVS-410 movement developed specially for this timepiece boasts innovative technologies, including a system of two ‘anti-rattling’ magnets that improves efficiency and performance. www.cvstos.com
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DUFFTOWN FEROCITY Mortlach 20-year-old Cowie’s Blue Seal is a fiery, soul-satiating dram. Paying homage to previous Mortlach bottlings of the brand’s halcyon days, this new 20-year-old resurrects the Cowie’s Blue Seal moniker which was formerly stamped on bottles from 1909 all the way to the 1970s. This expression upsets Speyside decorum with distinctly weighty aromas and a luxuriously oily mouthfeel.
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The product of Mortlach’s unusual 2.81 distillation process (more than double, less than triple), this dram offers notes of bitter cocoa, hints of clove and veritable meat gravy. It is rich and wholly enveloping on the palate, filling your jawline with savoury cinnamon and allspice. Living up to its reputation as the Beast of Dufftown, Mortlach’s 20-year-old whisky is both delicious and bold. www.mortlach.com
THE WANDERING VAGABOND Hautlence and Cortina Watch team up for a unique limited edition.
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The ever-unconventional Swiss watchmaker Hautlence has created a particularly special run for its dealer and partner Cortina Watch. The HL Vagabonde Cortina Watch Limited Edition (RM165,000, limited to five pieces) is an elegant and dressy timepiece with the brand’s signature ‘TV screen’ shape. The wandering hours movement is a unique take on timekeeping, while its intricacies are hinted at with blue open-worked discs – these are also a classy and striking contrast to the textured silvered dial and red gold case. hautlence.com
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BACK IN BLACK The Rolls-Royce Black Badge edition cars are for the young and young at heart.
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The formidable and iconic offerings from Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the four-door Ghost (RM2.28 million) and the two-door Wraith (RM2.3 million) are back in Malaysia with a daring new look. The Black Badge editions are based on the familiar 6.6litre V12-powered base models, tweaked slightly for extra output and with an overhauled, edgy aesthetic that overlays a youthful and dynamic spirit over the legendary Rolls-Royce luxury and magic carpet ride. www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com
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TAKE HEART There’s plenty of joy to be found in Chopard’s Happy Hearts timepiece. A lady with a heart of gold deserves only the best, which is why Chopard has released its Happy Hearts timepiece (SFr6,250) as a talisman for big-hearted women. A symbol of the perfect union, the watch combines two of the Swiss maison’s most iconic collections: the emblematic Happy Hearts jewellery collection and its ever-popular Happy Sport watch. Three diamonds, a red heart and a diamond-set heart dance freely across the white dial, fuelled by Chopard’s perpetually renewed spirit of joie de vivre as the timepiece keeps pace with a beating heart. www.chopard.com
CRIMSON PEAK
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Coco de Mer raises temperatures (and pulses) with its Renaissance collection.
A CLOSE CALL An exquisite Maison Close corset makes its wearer look good enough to eat. Maison Close’s Jardin Imperial corset (€300) really should come with a warning about dangerous curves ahead, given the ease with which its soft lace and stretch satin structure adheres to every contour. Available in a flattering shade of chestnut, the corset reflects the subtle belle epoque libertinism and haute couture references that Maison Close is famous for, and comes fitted with suspender straps and tantalising hook-and-eye closures. Pair with matching briefs, two glasses of the finest champagne and a Do Not Disturb sign on your door. www.maison-close.com
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Sensuality, temptation and seduction permeate Coco de Mer’s new Renaissance lingerie collection, which explores erotica from the perspective of the Italian Renaissance era’s most influential artists. The Venus slip in red lace (£395), for instance, is a nod to Botticelli’s Primavera painting and its central figure, Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. A plunging neckline, high slit at the side and intricate lace pattern inspired by the Italian master’s depiction of fruit and flora make for a Valentine’s Day gift that won’t stay wrapped for long. www.coco-de-mer.com
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THE HUMAN TOUCH Linn Audio’s latest rock star addition brings the concert to your home. Bruce Springsteen’s 1992 album The Human Touch, with its all-American rock n’ roll swagger, captures the rock legend’s heart and knack for good rhythm. So now imagine The Boss’s emotive voice played over a sound system that transports you back to the early 1990s, evoking memories that you didn’t think could still be there. Enter the device that will do just that: Linn Audio’s Selekt DSM (from £4,000), the latest network music player from the Glasgow-based company.
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As Gilad Tiefenbrun, Linn’s managing director, puts it: “Our latest addition is what we call a time machine. Its space optimisation technology ensures you get the best possible sound from any Linn DSM network music player. The distortions of the room are removed.” The sound quality from the Selekt DSM, Tiefenbrun adds, is comparable to being physically at a rock concert or that moment in time when a piece of music was played for the first time. “We love the clarity of digital music, but we also love the tactility of physical records. It’s easy to feel we’ve lost touch with the immersive experience of playing a vinyl record – the LP selection, the lift-lower, the anticipation during those first pops and clicks – and that playing music requires only a swipe and a tap,” says Tiefenbrun. The Selekt DSM transforms one’s physical interaction with digital music. The device’s jewel-like glass dial glows on command and rotates with watch-like elegance when activated. Also, judging by the way the Selekt DSM projects Springsteen’s raw unfiltered vocals, the guys at Linn know what they are doing. www.linn.co.uk
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BETA
Inspired creations An inside track on the possible and probable future.
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SKY DESIGN Concept: Volante Vision Concept Designer: Aston Martin Odds of production: This Vision Is Likely To Stay Hazy Barely a blip on the radar a few years ago, flying cars have moved out of the backyards of amateur experimenters and into the engineering buildings of some of the aerospace industry’s heaviest hitters. But while the technology driving many of these concepts is potentially revolutionary, the aircrafts’ aesthetics often don’t elicit the same level of excitement. Enter Aston Martin and its recently unveiled Volante Vision hybridelectric vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) concept – essentially a sports car for the sky. Designed under the direction of Marek
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Reichman – Aston Martin’s chief creative officer and the artistic force behind the DB11, Vantage and DBS Superleggera – the fighter jet-like aircraft is marked by an aggressive forward-sloping silhouette like that of a jungle cat ready to pounce. During takeoff, a large vertical fan at the back of the craft works with twin propellers at the front to provide lift. At a sufficient altitude, the two propellers rotate into a forward position to generate thrust. Inside, the cockpit is outfitted with three two-toned leather chairs and a pilot heads-up display that could have been ripped straight from Iron Man. While it’s unlikely we’ll ever see the Volante Vision cruising above our heads, the design exercise has strengthened the bonds between Aston Martin and its aerospace partners including Rolls-Royce – the aircraft engine manufacturer, not the auto marque – clearing the way for future collaborations.— JOHN LYON
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SPEEDIER THAN SOUND Concept: Hypersonic Airliner Designer: Boeing Odds of production: It Will Be A Minute
The first step to creating the future is to imagine it, and Boeing’s engineers imagine a future with hypersonic airliners. Hypersonic is a level beyond supersonic, speeding past the sound barrier to fly at Mach 5 – equivalent to about 6,116km/hr – or faster. Mach 5 would make just about anywhere on earth accessible via a flight of three hours or less. Today, the longest airline flights – covering roughly 14,484km – take a gruelling 18 hours. Boeing promoted its latest hypersonic concept last July at Great
BETA
Britain’s Farnborough International Airshow. The aircraft features a needle-sharp nose, broad raked-back wings and a twin tail. Earlier in 2018, the company announced its HorizonX technology-accelerator group had invested in Reaction Engines, a British company known for its advanced SABRE (Synthetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine) hybrid engine. The SABRE engine blends jet and rocket technology to drive aircraft at hypersonic speeds without overheating. The hypersonic airliner is now in the engineering-study phase, Boeing says. The company has been working on experimental hypersonic technology for decades, but it will take decades more to make it accessible to everyday travellers. Military and national-security planes are likely to achieve hypersonic flight first. If we’re lucky, maybe by 2045 we’ll have breakfast in New York and disembark in Beijing for lunch. — MARY GRADY
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HERE COMES THE SUN Concept: SolarImpact Yacht Designer: Jorg Schaaf Odds of production: Miracles Begin At Sunrise SolarImpact is a breakthrough for yachting, arriving at a time when diesel-electric engines are the only viable green option to combustion engines. A combination of solar technology and innovative hull design makes this 24m vessel an actual game changer, especially compared to other solar-powered boats that have been around for years. SolarImpact’s SWATH (Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull) running surface is a rarity among pleasure boats, but it has been used for decades on commercial vessels in the world’s most treacherous waters. The torpedo-shaped hulls beneath the water’s surface reduce rolling by as much as 90 per cent, making cruising an infinitely more pleasant experience than ploughing into head seas. SWATH hulls tend to dance over – rather than charge through – waves. Above the water, the aluminium yacht has a 344 sq m interior spread over three levels. Designer Jorg Schaaf could’ve given SolarImpact a utilitarian interior, as one might expect of a green, solar-powered yacht, but instead he made it large and spacious
with excellent views through the slatted, charcoalgrey exterior. A saloon, a galley and five staterooms – including a large master suite – designed around the 10m beam give the yacht a sense of home. The true quantum leap for yachting comes from the 297 sq m of solar panels (many of them flexible to adapt to SolarImpact’s curved architecture) that connect to the yacht’s battery banks and electric engines. Life aboard is infinitely better without the unavoidable noise, vibration, emissions and smell of combustion engines. Every owner, naturally, will also appreciate having virtually no fuel bill. SolarImpact is almost energy self-sufficient, but not quite. The yacht has two small diesel motors for days of extended cloud cover or for when the captain needs extra oomph to avoid approaching weather. One would expect a solar boat to be slow and plodding, but SolarImpact turns in a highly respectable top-end speed of 22 knots. The concept debuted at the Cannes Yachting Festival last September via 3D virtual reality. The yacht will be built by Schaaf Yachtbau in Germany. The Swiss company behind SolarImpact Yacht said it spent five years tweaking the luxury-meets-technology idea so it could be a viable design, having partnered with energy specialist Kreisel Electric in Austria and solar-cell expert SunPower in the US. — GERI WARD
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AUCTION
Off the Block We keep you up-to-date on the hottest lots under the hammer.
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AUCTION
Les Grandes Marques du Monde au Grand Palais BIDDING COMMENCES ON 7 FEBRUARY THROUGH BONHAMS IN PARIS.
There’ll be classic cars a-plenty within the spectacular setting of Paris’s Grand Palais, with a 1957 BMW 507 3.2-Litre Series I Roadster with Hardtop as one of the auction’s attractions. Of the 257 BMW 507 models produced, this automotive design icon (chassis no. 70044) is one of only 34 series I, and is estimated to fetch between €1.8 million and €2.2 million. Infused with classic German styling and reflecting the impressive sporting pedigree of the Bavarian marque, this model is five owners from new and is eligible for numerous prestigious events including Mille Miglia and Tour Auto. www.bonhams.com
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AUCTION
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Tiffany Studios Pond Lily Lamp AUCTIONED BY CHRISTIE’S IN NEW YORK
US$3.4 million Of the sales at Christie’s Design auction in December last year, none shone quite so bright as a rare Pond Lily leaded-glass table lamp produced by Tiffany Studios. Breaking the auction house’s own longstanding record for the most expensive work by Tiffany sold at auction, the lamp dates back to 1903 and boasts an artistic glass selection and a bronze base with a significant patina. The base and shade, which share a strong synergy, depict pond lily stems, leaves and flowers floating in water, all inspired by the flora of Louis Comfort Tiffany’s lily pond at his country house on Long Island. www.christies.com
Patek Philippe Ref 1463 AUCTIONED BY PHILLIPS IN NEW YORK
US$495,000 Considered one of the crown jewels of trophy timepieces within the vintagecollecting community, this extremely rare stainless steel chronograph wristwatch is one of only 67 known examples released by Patek Philippe in 1941 (and produced for the next 25 years). Despite its long production run in all metals, only 750 total examples were produced, with fewer than 10 per cent in stainless steel, making this timepiece a stunning acquisition for any distinguished collector. It features a two-tone silvered dial with an outer tachymeter scale, and an even more unusual inner silvered matte dial with elongated white gold baton indexes and Arabic numerals. www.phillips.com
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AUCTION
A sensational coloured diamond ring by Bulgari AUCTIONED BY CHRISTIE’S IN NEW YORK
US$18.3 million Few gemstones are as rare and elusive as the blue diamond, which might explain why this 8.08-carat Fancy Vivid Blue diamond ring by Bulgari fetched such a remarkably high price at Christie’s Magnificent Jewels auction. These natural wonders of the super-deep are thought to have been formed in the hot layer between the earth’s crust and core, acquiring their blue colour from the mineral boron, which is found in the ocean. This cushion modified brilliant-cut diamond comes mounted on a platinum ring and is nestled between two triangular-cut diamonds, all executed in Bulgari’s classical Roman aesthetic. www.christies.com
Erotic: Passion & Desire Online
Complete set of Black Bowmore 1964
BIDDING COMMENCES ON 5 FEBRUARY
AUCTIONED BY BONHAMS IN EDINBURGH
THROUGH SOTHEBY’S ONLINE.
£93,750 The star of Bonhams’ whisky sale last December, this set of three bottles of Black Bowmore 1964 easily outstripped its preauction estimate of £50,000 to £70,000. The Black Bowmore 1964 first edition was bottled in 1993 in a production run of 2,000 bottles, followed by the second edition in 1994 (again, production was limited to 2,000 bottles). The third and final bottling, in an edition of 1,812, took place in 1995. “Bottles of Black Bowmore 1964 are always eagerly sought by collectors and the complete set of three is particularly desirable,” commented Martin Green, Bonhams’ whisky specialist. www.bonhams.com
Sotheby’s reveals its naughtier side once again with its annual Erotic Sales. This year’s onlineonly auction will include paintings, sculptures, books, posters and photographs from antiquity to the present day. Last year’s auction racked up a record-breaking one million page views and bids from over 18 countries, which means you’d better enter your bids in a timely manner. Besides a daring and seductive depiction of the Greek myth of Arachne by painter Nikolaos Gyzis (estimated at between £30,000 and £50,000), there’s also an exquisite timepiece by Carrera y Carrera (with a top estimate of £3,000) that you’ll revel in displaying. www.sothebys.com
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“ I, Kusama, am the modern Alice in Wonderland.” - Yayoi Kusama -
Photo by sMaija Toivanen
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Robb Report
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Old Masters, Young Dealers Next-gen gallerists and auction-house specialists are shaking up the market for centuries-old works of art.
By ANGELA MH SCHUSTER
F
rom Peter Paul Rubens to the peerless Leonardo da Vinci himself, European old masters are in demand again. “In the past, so many collectors of contemporary and modern art had started out in old masters,” says Paul Smeets, a secondgeneration art dealer based in Geneva, who specialises in Italian Renaissance paintings. “Now it’s the other way around, with most of my younger clients coming to me from contemporary art.” Of course, it’s not as if they ever disappeared from the market, but with fewer and fewer quality works remaining in private hands and previous generations of knowledgeable dealers continuing to retire, old masters risked becoming a niche field. Now a core group of dealers and auctionhouse specialists – many in their 30s and 40s – is sweeping away the proverbial cobwebs when it comes to the public perception of oldmaster artworks and how they are bought and sold. These young players have found a way to piggyback the contemporary art craze, using modern technology, pop culture, and the continuum of art history to make old masters feel fresh and young again – and they’re selling centuries-old works to collectors who previously thought of the 1940s as ancient history. One of the leaders in the revival is Jonquil O’Reilly, the dynamic 34-year-old head of sale in the old-masters department at Christie’s in New York. O’Reilly – who has been selling works
As prices for contemporary art continue to skyrocket and young artists are establishing ‘markets’, becoming hot commodities at ever earlier ages, one cohort of dealers is banking on the next big things in art being... really old. As in, artists who might be surprised to hear the Louvre is no longer a royal palace.
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Robb Report
“Designers like Alessandro Michele of Gucci are liberally appropriating concepts for their collections from centuriesold canvases.” by Lucas Cranach, Francesco Guardi, Anthony van Dyck and the like for nearly a decade – is adamant about curbing the pretentiousness that can be so off-putting. “When it comes to old masters, one cannot be too pompous and high-minded when talking to potential clients. If you lose them in a paragraph, they’re not coming back,” she says. “Not everyone is interested in just which chapel in Florence a particular altarpiece may have come from. That simply doesn’t excite people anymore. On the other hand, if you can contextualise a work and highlight its relevance, you can really engage them.” O’Reilly has found a unique path toward just such collector engagement by bringing together the tools of social media and her vast knowledge of historical fashion, which she contends is “all in vogue” these days. If there is any doubt that old masters are quite literally back in fashion, one need only turn to a suite of recent runway shows in Paris, London, Milan and New York. “Designers like Nicolas Ghesquiere of Louis Vuitton and Alessandro Michele of Gucci are liberally appropriating concepts for their collections from centuries-old canvases and paintings on panel to such a degree that the inspiration behind individual sartorial flourishes can be traced to specific works of art,” she says, excitedly scrolling through a string of paired images she has posted on Instagram to drive home the point. “Look here, you have these amazing Tudor ruff collars Viktor & Rolf did for their fall 2018 collection, which could
easily have been inspired by William Larkin’s 1614 Portrait of Lady Diana Cecil, and this padded princess number at Comme des Garcons last spring,” she says, reeling off a few. “Don’t you think it bears an uncanny resemblance to Anton Raphael Mengs’ 18th-century portraits of Maria Luisa of Parma and Maria Francesca Pignatelli in the Prado? And then, of course, there is Gucci, which, as we all know, has been in full-blown Renaissance mode for several seasons now, ever since Alessandro Michele took over the house.” Christie’s has been quick to capitalise on O’Reilly’s keen fashion insights, working with her to produce videos that detail the sartorial choices by the sitters in portraits they have in upcoming sales.
Jonquil O’Reilly, old-masters head of sale at Christie’s, pins today’s fashions on old-master canvases like this Portrait of Alessandro Farnese in Armor (1561) by Anthonis Mor and Alonso Sanchez Coello.
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Elizabeth I’s Phoenix portrait may have inspired this Gucci runway look.
Viktor & Rolf’s Tudor ruff collars could easily have been inspired by William Larkin’s 1614 Portrait of Lady Diana Cecil.
Beyonce and Jay-z photo by Robin Harper/Parkwood Entertainment Gucci, Viktor & Rolf photos by Shutterstock
Beyonce and JayZ’s music video for Apesh*t was shot at the Louvre.
“When one sat for a portrait centuries ago, it was an expensive and time-consuming endeavour, so it was important to look your very best,” she notes. “It also provided a chance to brag about your family history, wealth and social standing through the expensive clothes and jewels you were wearing.” Beyond the runways, old masters are having a major popculture moment, says O’Reilly, citing the release of Beyonce and Jay-Z’s music video Apesh*t. Shot off-hours at the Louvre, the visually stunning, politically charged video features many of the museum’s most cherished works, the camera panning across such classics as Jacques-Louis David’s Portrait of Juliette Recamier (1800) and Leonardo’s Mona Lisa (1503–06). Add to this the knockout 2018 Costume Institute presentation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Heavenly Bodies: Fashion in the Catholic Imagination.
The show, which relied heavily on the Met’s vast collection of medieval and Renaissance works of art, attracted 1,659,647 visitors, easily overtaking its 1978 blockbuster Treasures of Tutankhamun to become the most popular exhibition in the museum’s history. Then there’s the fact that some of the contemporary artists with the most mass appeal have overtly nodded to old masters in their recent works. As just two examples, Jeff Koons’s Gazing Ball series paired ‘copied’ paintings by Gustave Courbet and the like with gleaming blue balls that reflect both the image and the viewer, while Mickalene Thomas, who has reached beyond the art world with her edgy magazine work and an HBO documentary about her mother, has painted her own versions of such masterpieces as Edouard Manet’s Le Dejeuner Sur l’Herbe, but with women of colour. O’Reilly is not the only one eager to capitalise on old masters’ new cool factor. Also leading the pack are Jorge Coll, 40, of London-based Colnaghi; Filippo Benappi, 30, a fourth-generation proprietor of the eponymous Turin gallery; Andrea
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Colnaghi sold Claude Marie Dubufe’s Head of a Turk to the Louvre in 2017. Facing page: Filippo Benappi.
Lullo, 42, and Andreas Pampoulides, 43, the duo behind Lullo-Pampoulides in London; and Smeets, 44, who in June was appointed chair of paintings for the European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) Maastricht. Savvy about branding, marketing and shameless self-promotion in the age of social media, they are changing the game when it comes to the cultivation of a new, and noticeably younger, clientele. “Not only am I finding new buyers, but the age of my clients is actually going down considerably,” says Smeets, who counts among his clients the Met and the National Gallery of Art in Washington. “Many of the newcomers are people in their 40s and 50s, some of whom are just discovering old masters after years of collecting contemporary art.” Among them, he says, is a wellknown 40-something American contemporary-art collector who thought nothing of plunking down seven figures for Tintoretto’s Portrait of the Cardinal Marcantonio Da Mula (1562-63) on the opening day of TEFAF New York Fall in October. While a few astute collectors, including J Tomilson Hill and Michael Ovitz, have long peppered their postwar and contemporary pieces with old masters, Smeets says more and more new buyers are mixing top-notch works from different time periods. Furio Rinaldi, 34, an associate specialist in the old-master drawings department at Christie’s in New York, concurs. “We are finding that few collectors buy in a monolithic way anymore,” he says. In the scheme of things, European old masters – paintings, sculptures and works on paper created
between the 14th and early 19th centuries – represent but a tiny fraction of the more than US$60 billion annual global art market. In 2017, the category raked in just US$977 million, an alltime high. Even so, nearly half that sum was garnered by the sale of a single lot, the Salvator Mundi – a 500-year-old oil on panel hailed as “the Last Leonardo in private hands” – for a recordshattering US$450.3 million at Christie’s in New York. The sale was not without its controversies, which stirred even more buzz. Misattributed to a follower of Leonardo’s, the painting surfaced at a regional auction house in Louisiana, where it was picked up for 10 grand and change by New York dealer Robert Simon. Suspecting it was a rarity, he commissioned a painstaking restoration. Accepted as the real deal, Salvator Mundi was acquired for US$80 million by Swiss dealer and freeport magnate Yves Bouvier, who quickly flipped it to Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev for US$127.5 million.
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The record-breaking price achieved – the previous record was US$179.4 million, for Picasso’s 1955 canvas Les Femmes d’Alger (Version ‘O’), at Christie’s in 2015 – is partly attributable to the house’s savvy crossmarketing: Christie’s thumbed its nose at convention and put Salvator Mundi in its prime contemporary sale, where the real money exchanges hands. In the run-up to the sale, Loic Gouzer, chairman of postwar and contemporary art at Christie’s told Robb Report: “Leonardo is an artist who’s been in dialogue with every artist who’s followed him – think Warhol, think Jean-Michel Basquiat – and as such, his work is absolutely timeless.” That manoeuvre – along with the painting’s whirlwind tour of Hong Kong, London, San Francisco and New York, and a social media blitz – did the trick: After an unusually long, 20-minute bidding
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war, Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan Al Saud, on behalf of the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture & Tourism, snapped up Salvator Mundi, paying more than four times its unpublished US$100 million estimate. The vast bulk of old masters, however, can be had for a song, at least considering prices commanded by contemporary stars like Koons, Gerhard Richter or Kerry James Marshall. As art-market economist Clare McAndrew has pointed out in the UBS/Art Basel Art Market Report, some 91 per cent of the old-master works in play changed hands for less than US$50,000. “When compared to prices paid for contemporary works of art, old masters remain a relative bargain,” says London-based dealer Fabrizio Moretti, 42, who opened his first gallery in Florence two decades ago. “If you have a million dollars to spend on a piece of contemporary art, you are not going to be buying a museum picture. If, on the other hand, you have a million to spend on an old master, you can find a very good picture.” For that price, one can take home works by such well-known artists as Jacopo da Pontormo and Tintoretto. Granted, most great works are locked up in permanent collections, but these dealers insist opportunities remain. “Important pictures do come to market as the result of diligent research, which
“Not only am I finding new buyers, but the age of my clients is actually going down considerably.” often leads to new discoveries and reattributions of works forgotten or obscured by poor restoration,” says Pampoulides, a veteran of Christie’s in London who teamed up two years ago with Lullo, a longtime associate and third-generation art dealer, to form London-based Lullo-Pampoulides, which has a gallery on Cork Street. It also helps to have personal contacts with access to masterpieces still held in old
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private collections. As old-masters dealers are well aware, Sotheby’s has benefited over the years from its close relationship to the Duke of Devonshire, who has been known on occasion to part with works to maintain the upkeep of his house, Chatsworth. Pampoulides likens his art deals to courtship rituals. “It’s important to make people feel comfortable because they’re not just buying art, they’re buying into you.” The two dealers are big believers in using plain English when talking about art. “It has to be understandable, rather than patronising. Even now, when you go to a show at the Royal Academy in London, the pictures may be fantastic but exhibition labels are a nightmare – you’re like, ‘What the hell does this say?’ If I don’t understand it and I’m in the business, you only can imagine how off-putting such language must be to those who are not in the trade.” Since joining forces, Lullo and Pampoulides – whose clients include the Victoria & Albert Museum and the St Louis Art Museum – have made a number of significant sales, among them a recently rediscovered painting by Bartolomeo Cavarozzi, Still Life with Quinces, Apples, Azeroles (Hawthorn Berries), Black Grapes, White Grapes, Figs and Pomegranates. The two spotted the misattributed oil on canvas from 1463 on the block at Grogan & Co, a relatively small auction house in Boston. “We knew it was an important picture, but it was a bit beyond our pocket,” says Pampoulides, who instead bought it jointly with Colnaghi and Benappi. Once it was cleaned and correctly attributed, says Coll, the dealer-friends were able to more than quadruple the painting’s US$1 million purchase price, with Colnaghi placing it in the collection of a private European foundation.
“It’s important to make people feel comfortable because they’re not just buying art, they’re buying into you.”
For younger galleries such as these, transactional flexibility and fluid relationships with like-minded colleagues have become another hallmark of the way they do business. These next-gen dealers have also adopted contemporary art’s more minimalist approach to presentation. “The days of velvet-covered walls with
Robb Report
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THE ART ISSUE London-based dealer Fabrizio Moretti with Victory of David over Goliath by Sebastiano Ricci.
row upon row of paintings are over,” says Smeets. “Important pictures need room to breathe, so I rarely show more than five or six paintings at a time.” “When it comes to the marketing of old masters, it is all about viewer engagement,” says Coll, who took the helm of the 259-year-old London gallery Colnaghi in 2015. (It was through Colnaghi that
David Bowie acquired Tintoretto’s 16th-century altarpiece Angel Foretelling the Martyrdom of Saint Catherine of Alexandria in 1987.) Under Coll, the gallery has been on a campaign to cultivate its nextgen clientele and bring the Colnaghi brand to new art collectors. Two years ago, the gallery began holding what he calls “wild and wonderful dinner parties”, where 50 or so young collectors compete Price Is Right–style for £20,000 in gallery credits during the Old Masters Week sales in London – held every July and December. The winners come closest to guessing the hammer prices of selected lots before they hit the block. “The parties just seemed like an exciting way for us to demystify the market and pique interest.” More recently, Coll launched the not-for-profit Colnaghi Foundation, which is partnering with the Wallace Collection in London to develop online and in-gallery master classes on art collecting and connoisseurship. “Few young people today have the grounding in Latin, classical mythology, and history possessed by their predecessors,” says Coll, “so we aim to address that.” In May, the gallery plans to encroach on the Venice Biennale and lure contemporary-art loyalists by offering high-end multiday itineraries in which collectors can follow in the footsteps of such legendary Colnaghi clients as JP Morgan, Helen Frick and Peggy Guggenheim. “Our goal with all of these endeavours is to create fun experiences that foster an appreciation for art and in the process ignite a passion for collecting,” Coll says. Christie’s O’Reilly is on the same track. “Whether they’re buying or not, what is important is that we are bringing new people into our pre-sale exhibitions and they’re beginning to build their eyes by seeing new things,” she says. “That’s a real start. Having bodies in the room who are soaking things up and sharing with friends is sure to change the way in which old masters are viewed.”
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Private Eyes
Some of the world’s finest art is found not in MoMA or the Met, but in the growing number of private museums run by wealthy collectors, despite the legal and financial challenges of operating them. By JULIE L BELCOVE
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On the grounds of Glenstone is Split-Rocker (2000) from Jeff Koons. Flowering plants grow out of the stainless-steel structure and are kept alive by an internal irrigation system.
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icha rd Ser ra’s 68m-long strip of weatherproof steel caresses a gentle hill at Glenstone, a temple to contemporary art in Maryland. Nearby is the spot Ellsworth Kelly chose to stand a 14m-tall stainless-steel totem at the edge of a pond like a beacon. British land artist Andy Goldsworthy took the site-specific concept one step further, using earth excavated on-site to make the clay structures, including a giant, cracked boulder, that rest inside three stone cottages he built in the woods. But Michael Heizer may have one-upped them all with his two pieces. One, a pit of steel beams in a roofless room, is built directly into the foundation of architect Thomas Phifer’s new 22,296 sq m Glenstone expansion,
called Pavilions. “You cannot remove it unless you demolish it,” says Emily Wei Rales, who with her multibillionaire husband, Mitchell, erected the museum on the bucolic 93-hectare estate. For his other piece, Heizer proposed a 23m steellined trench in the ground, piled around with 594 tons of soil and rock, which he said would force the
The new Pavilions expansion to Glenstone, with Michael Heizer’s Compression Line.
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steel walls to curve until they kissed at the midpoint. The structural engineer Glenstone hired said it couldn’t be done, the steel wouldn’t bend; but Heizer, famed for having spent decades digging up the Nevada desert to create his epic City, stood firm. The Raleses fired the engineer. The resulting piece, Compression Line, behaves just as Heizer foretold. The episode, which Rales estimates spanned 10 years from meeting Heizer to installing his artwork, is indicative of not only the couple’s unflagging support
An installation of works by Charles Ray (top) and two artfully composed approaches to Glenstone.
for the artists in their collection but also the degree to which some of their art is inextricably rooted in Glenstone itself. It is an apt metaphor for some collectors’ determination that their collections remain intact and under their control, which increasingly means founding their own museums. In 2016 the art-collector database Larry’s List identified some 317 private contemporary-art museums worldwide, a whopping 71 per cent of which had opened since 2001. Miami led the pack with eight. Glenstone obviously isn’t some hedgefund mogul’s spare SoHo loft where he can show off his overpriced trinkets by young artists who have yet to stand the test of time. This is a deadly serious endeavour
Charles Ray: Ron Amstutz; all others: Iwan Baan
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with a staff of 130 and a rigorous framework for collecting. The Raleses won’t even entertain buying work until the artist has exhibited for at least 15 years. It’s the kind of collection that major museums would have been jockeying to receive. Eli and Edythe Broad, Ronald Lauder and Francois Pinault are just some of the top collectors who, like the Raleses, have opted to create their own museums. Their stated reasons for going it alone vary, but one thing is clear: there’s a fine line between ego and altruism. “Our collection is well over 2,000 works,” says Eli Broad, one of the US’s leading philanthropists. “I’ve been on museum boards. I’ve seen so many collectors give their collections, and maybe five or 10 per cent of it is shown. The rest ends up in storage. That isn’t very satisfying to someone who’s spent decades building the collection and wants to share it with the broadest possible audience.”
Directors of established, public museums are, for the most part, pragmatic. “I would not be honest if I didn’t say, ‘Yeah, I would like Eli’s collection’, ” says Adam Weinberg, director of the Whitney Museum of American Art. But, he adds, putting the art in a private museum where the public can still view it is better than it ending up at auction. Private museums are nothing new. The Whitney, the Menil, the Guggenheim, the Barnes and the Frick are just a few public institutions that had their start thanks to the largesse of a single visionary founder. What is new, however, is the rapid proliferation of institutions like these both in the US and around the globe. The pioneers in this generation of museum founders are Don and Mera Rubell, who snapped up future stars like Jeff Koons and Keith Haring at the start of their careers. Eventually their reputations for talent spotting made the subsequent success of their artists an almost foregone conclusion; their clout ignited Miami
Robb Report
THE ART ISSUE even before Art Basel’s must-see art fair rolled into town. The Rubell Family Collection will more than double its space in 2019 when it moves from its home of 25 years, in a former Drug Enforcement Agency warehouse, to a new 9,290 sq m building designed by art-world darling Annabelle Selldorf. What all these collectors have in common is an abiding love of art. Museum founders also tend to be control freaks. Many, like Andy Hall, are self-made billionaires and used to doing things their way. A longtime collector, Hall went into overdrive in response to a mild midlife crisis and the 9/11 attacks, deciding, much like Mitch Rales after a near-death experience, that he wanted to leave behind a legacy that wasn’t just piles of money. “Maybe that was a narcissistic streak in me or a bit of vanity,” he says from Vermont, where the Hall Art Foundation exhibits on a former dairy farm. The foundation also funds a long-term exhibition from the Halls’ Anselm Kiefer holdings at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, and converted Schloss Derneburg, the one-
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Left: The Broad’s collection includes one of the world’s largest groups of works by Jeff Koons. Below: architecture firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro gave the Broad a fittingly iconic home.
“I’ve seen so many collectors give their collections, and maybe five or 10 per cent of it is shown. The rest ends up in storage.” Eli Broad, philanthropist time home of artist Georg Baselitz near Hanover, into a massive museum with multiple exhibitions on view simultaneously. Visitors may not wander, but instead must book a guided tour of either two or five hours’ duration or a customised group appointment. The long tour, which is limited to 20 guests and costs about US$87 each, provides lunch, coffee and cake for a very civilised experience. “You can’t cherry-pick,” Hall says. “You have to see the whole thing.” And the Halls aren’t finished. They’re currently renovating more buildings on the property and envision instituting a two-part visit. Like the Raleses, the Halls collect in depth. “I always thought, if you’re going to own one work by a certain artist, why not own a dozen?” Hall says. He acknowledges that opening the museums has raised his and his wife Christine’s profile considerably. While gallerists used to act aloof at art fairs, “now we can’t walk down the aisle without being stopped by a dozen dealers,” he says. “We joke we should go in disguise.” The art world seems to understand the impulse to create
interior: Ryan Miller; exterior: Jacob Fischer
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Robb Report
“It’s a sublime feeling. To be able to take it in without being crowded by people taking selfies is something pretty rare today.” Emily Wei Rales one’s own museum perfectly well; the political world, not so much. In 2015, Senate Finance Committee chairman Orrin Hatch launched an investigation of 11 private art foundations’ tax-exempt status, demanding to know how many hours they were open to the public and how many visitors they received. The responses varied wildly. Rales, for one, found the investigation irritating, since she and her husband had diligently dotted their i’s and crossed their t’s, going so far as to ask for and receive IRS verification that Glenstone’s planned changes were proper. “It’s fine to be audited,” she adds, but she insists that the value of a museum cannot be reduced to attendance figures, particularly when part of an institution’s mission is to offer a place of quiet contemplation. She laments that investigators never accepted their invitation to visit. “It’s a difficult story to tell verbally. You have to be here to experience certain moments, like if you’re sitting in a beautifully designed, spacious room and you have a giant window looking out onto a beautiful hillside with these gorgeous honey locust trees. It’s a sublime feeling. To be able to take it in without being crowded by people taking selfies is something pretty rare today.” Hall concurs, calling many of the world’s most popular museums, such as the Louvre and the Tate Modern, victims
of their own success. Glenstone keeps the hordes away by enforcing a reservationonly admissions policy. Still, with the reopening last autumn, the museum expects to accommodate 100,000 visitors annually. Admission is free and, Rales says, always will be. To be sure, there are some sketchy examples out there. The website for Seven Bridges, for instance – which claims to have a 100-piece-strong sculpture garden and two galleries in Greenwich,
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Brant Foundation interior: Stefan Altenburger; exterior: Christopher Burke
The Brant Foundation in Greenwich, Connecticut. Facing page: an installation at the Rubell Family Collection in Miami.
Connecticut – does not list visitor information or even an address, just a phone number (calls were not returned) and a contact form that repeatedly resulted in an error message. When financier Richard C McKenzie Jr opened it in 2012, he reportedly allowed just six to 10 visitors a day, one day a week. Peter Brant, an art-world big shot as publisher of Art in America in addition to being a voracious collector, converted an enormous stone barn adjacent to the Greenwich Polo Club to house his Brant Foundation Art Study Center in 2009. Brant, like Hall, has said he felt the creative urge to curate. Twice a year he organises shows featuring artists in his collection, like Karen Kilimnik and Urs Fischer, and toasts them with
splashy, invitation-only opening parties. Since being criticised in the art press for offering limited public access, the foundation’s activity seems to have stepped up, with programming including the occasional yoga or painting workshop. A New York location, in the late artist Walter De Maria’s old studio, is slated to open in March with an exhibition of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work filling the 650 sq m of display space. At the other end of the spectrum are Broad and Neue Galerie New York, both vital, blockbusterproducing institutions that could easily be mistaken for public museums. Neue, on a stretch of Fifth Avenue known as Museum Mile, is the passion project of cosmetics heir Ronald Lauder, a repository for his collection of modern German and Austrian art in a 1914 mansion that drew nearly 250,000 visitors in 2017. On permanent view: Klimt’s iconic portrait of a Viennese socialite, Adele Bloch-Bauer I, 1907, aka The Woman in Gold, which became a symbol of Jewish heirs’ fight to reclaim art that the Nazis had looted from their families. After a protracted legal battle, Austria’s Galerie Belvedere returned the painting in 2006 to Bloch-Bauer’s niece, who sold it to Lauder for US$135 million – at the time believed to be the highest price paid for a painting.
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“The real test of a private museum is not what happens in five years, 10 years, but in 20, 30.” Adam Weinberg, Whitney Museum
Klimt’s renowned Adele Bloch-Bauer I, 1907, on display at Neue Galerie.
One version of the 2017 Republican tax bill would have clamped down on some of the flightier foundations with limited public access, but those regulations fell out before the final vote. Another common practice that raises eyebrows but is legal, according to the lawyer, is creating a foundation but maintaining ownership of the bulk of the collection. The Halls, for example, have gifted a fraction of their roughly 6,000 artworks to their foundation. “I’m just not quite at the point in my life when I want to give away the rest of my art collection,” says Hall, who is 67, quickly adding: “If Christine and I are hit by a truck tomorrow, God forbid, the foundation would receive the vast
Photos by Hulya Kolabas
In Los Angeles, Broad has attracted 2.4 million visitors in its first three years. Beyond the impressive numbers, its benefactor boasts that the average age of its audience is 33, 12 years younger than typical museumgoers. They’re drawn, he says, by free admission; the instantly iconic Diller Scofidio + Renfro building, with interior windows giving visitors peeks at the thousands of works in storage; and the use of knowledgeable staffers instead of security guards. There’s also the enviable collection, which counts the most works by Cindy Sherman and among the most by Koons (among others) in the world. Showplaces like Neue don’t come cheap. Broad, who is 85, is leaving his namesake museum an endowment in the hundreds of millions of dollars – more, he says, than any museum in Los Angeles except Getty. But even for a collector with a much smaller scale in mind, annual operating costs including security, upkeep and insurance can easily top US$1 million. Even if that kind of cash requirement doesn’t pose a problem, the potential legal hazard of self-dealing might. Naive collectors sometimes think they can skirt the rules by putting their holdings into a foundation, taking the tax deduction and then borrowing back artworks to hang in their houses. But that’s a serious no-no. Same goes for calling your suburban backyard a ‘sculpture garden’. A lawyer who works extensively with foundations – and who requested anonymity because she was not authorised by her firm to speak on these matters – says that the government also often looks askance at art foundations in close proximity to founders’ homes, which allow them to “walk across the street to look at their art with their morning coffee”.
Photo by Heinrich Hecht
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majority of our collection.” Collectors can continue to enjoy the art in the privacy of their own homes, and when it is on loan to their foundations, the foundations can pick up carrying costs such as storage, transportation and insurance. “You can have your cake and eat it, too,” says the lawyer. Adding to the ethics quandary: an extensive exhibition provenance often increases the value of an artwork, so collectors could profit from the foundation’s display of their personal property. Then again, they also profit from lending artworks to public museums. It’s probably no coincidence that the owner of Hockney’s Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), reportedly British currency trader Joe Lewis, decided to put the 1972 canvas on the block last autumn, just months after it appeared in a major Hockney retrospective at the Met. In the lead-up to the sale, Christie’s breathlessly predicted the painting would fetch the highest price paid at auction for a work by a living artist.
THE ART ISSUE
The Raleses, on the other hand, have already contributed most of their collection to Glenstone – which now has more than 1,300 works – keeping only a couple hundred pieces in their personal trove. Moreover, they have painstakingly mapped out Glenstone’s future beyond their lifetimes, including provisions that it continue acquiring works only by artists already in the collection and that their Charles Gwathmey-designed house on the estate will become part of the museum. There’s also an endowment, but Rales declined to put a figure on it. “The real test of a private museum,” says the Whitney’s Weinberg, “is not what happens in five years, 10 years, but in 20, 30.” The Raleses are determined that the spotlight shine on the artists, not them – hence the absence of their name from the museum’s. And don’t ever expect to see an oil painting of the founders in the entrance hall. Says Emily Rales, as if it were a mantra: “No portraits. No busts.”
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An installation at the Hall Art Foundation’s Schloss Derneburg location.
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Robb Report
Collector Javier Peres has artfully paired an Igbo figure from Nigeria with Ajarb Bernard Ategwa’s acrylic on canvas Sweet Rasta (2018).
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The Collector By ANGELA M H SCHUSTER Portrait by THOMAS MEYER
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azing about gallerist Javier Peres’s sundrenched apartment in Berlin’s Schoneberg district, one is struck by the seamless juxtaposition of works by contemporary artists and pieces crafted by African artists more than a century ago. “I rarely display more than 30 African works at a time. We live quite minimally, and the challenge is always how to exhibit the pieces as beautifully as possible alongside our collection of contemporary art. For me, it is important to show both types of objects on equal footing, without any hierarchy.” Peres says his insatiable appetite for African ethnographic art was sparked by the 1984 landmark exhibition Primitivism in 20th-Century Art at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. However, it wasn’t until around 2000 that he began collecting in earnest. Since then, the Cuban-born dealer has amassed 150 or so prime African pieces, which he rotates within the gallery-like space that he and his partner Benoit Wolfrom bought and renovated in 2014, stripping it down to its bare essentials. While many of the African works were purchased at auction, some of Peres’s most treasured finds have been picked up at the Parcours des Mondes ethnographic-art fair in Paris. “The cool thing about the fair is that you never know what you might find,” says Peres, citing a fantastic Fang figure he bought three years ago from Bernard de Grunne. “Benoit and I were planning to
“I’m quite interested in how different cultures choose to present themselves and what they consider beautiful.” Javier Peres buy a large Congo figure from the Belgian dealer – who rarely brings more than five or six things, and they are always top, top quality – when we happened to spot the Fang. As de Grunne was our first stop in the morning, we wanted to see what else was on offer before inking the deal on our Congo figure. We wound up spending much of the day discussing its merits with our friend and adviser Bruno Claessens when suddenly, at like six o’clock in the evening, we looked at each other and said, ‘It’s the Fang we want’.” The early 19th-century wooden reliquary from Gabon now stands sentinel in the pair’s stark-white living room, paired with Lavender Hill Mob, a 2016 acrylic on canvas on wood by Blair Thurman, an artist in the Peres Projects gallery stable. Peres says his collection has evolved over the course of nearly two decades. “In the beginning, I was drawn primarily to richly patinated female figurines such as those made by the Baoule of Ivory Coast and the Senufo of southern Mali, as I’m very interested in how different cultures choose to present themselves and what they consider beautiful. Over the past five years, however, my focus has shifted toward works from eastern Nigeria, where it borders Cameroon.” It’s an area, he explains,
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Robb Report
Photos by Andrea Rossetti/Peres Projects
that has largely been overlooked – its artistic achievements long overshadowed by the humanitarian crisis that engulfed much of the region until the end of the Biafran War in 1970, at which time pioneering dealers Helene Leloup, Jacques Kerchace and Philippe Guimoit began bringing into the spotlight previously unknown works made by peoples such as the Igbo and Mumuye. “I simply love the sculptures from this border area because they are far less familiar and thus a bit outside the artistic canon,” says Peres. A notable example is a Kaka altar figure from the Mbem area of western Cameroon that he purchased in 2014. The sculpture had been included in the 1995–1996 exhibition Africa: The Art of a Continent, which was on view at the Royal Academy in London before travelling to the Guggenheim in New York and Martin Gropius Bau in Berlin. “When I saw the altar figure at Parcours, it stopped me in my tracks and I bought it right on the spot.”
A late 19th- to early 20th-century Dan or We fetish mask from Ivory Coast.
A Fang horned helmet mask of the So Society from the GabonCameroon border area.
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A BLUE-CHIP BUYER’S GUIDE HERE’S A SECRET: Even the most seasoned art aficionados rely on advisers to navigate the obstacles to building a serious collection. These five heavyweights have proven track records and bigname connections – keep them on speed dial for your next major acquisition.
THE DOYENNE
Barbara Guggenheim The founding partner of Guggenheim, Asher, Associates, Inc practically invented the role of art adviser more than 30 years ago. She’s the best when it comes to impressionist, modern and contemporary art. Just ask Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg. (guggenheimasher.com)
THE POWER PLAYERS
THE A-LISTER
Lisa Schiff The founder and president of New York’s Schiff Fine Art sources prime works of modern and contemporary art for Leonardo DiCaprio’s annual DiCaprio Foundation charity auction. Clearly, she’s got connections. (sfa-artadvisory.com)
THE NEW KID ON THE BLOCK Steven Murphy
The former Christie’s International CEO established Murphy & Partners in 2014. He now handles some of the world’s most important collections, including William Louis-Dreyfus’s US$50 million trove. (murphypartners.co.uk)
Allan Schwartzman & Amy Cappellazzo
THE TRADITIONALIST
The duo behind Art Agency, Partners joined forces in 2014; two years later, they sold the advisory to Sotheby’s for US$85 million. The pair still controls the firm today, working with big-time collectors like Howard Rachofsky and Deedie Rose. (artagencypartners.com)
Bruins’s Tang Art Advisory is the go-to for collection building and management. Her online platform is like the Tinder of art, connecting collectors with local advisers around the globe. (tangartadvisory.com)
A helmet mask of the Sande Society made by the Bassa people of Liberia.
Annelien Bruins
If there is a unifying theme to the pieces in his collection, it is their quality and deep provenance; nearly all have been published or exhibited. “It’s important to keep in mind when it comes to classic African art,” he cautions, “you are dealing with antiquities – and, by extension, cultural property that may be protected by law.” Not surprisingly, such pedigreed works tend to command higher prices. “I can remember when I had a US$10,000 limit, then a US$25,000 limit, and then a US$50,000 limit. At this point, I am willing to sell my left arm or my organs to have that mask or that statue.” His most recent acquisition is a Mumuye figure from the collection of Liliane and Michel DurandDessert, which he bought at Christie’s in Paris in June. It is a highlight of an exhibition he’s hosting until 22 February, which he says “explores the layers between the physical world and the dream world – connections that I see between artists working today and those working on the African continent centuries ago”. peresprojects.com
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Segura: Santi Visalli/Getty Images
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Robb Report
A Quiet Revolution Cuba’s art scene isn’t a boom – it’s a rebirth. By TONY PERROTTET
Alain Pino’s Controlling Vectors (left) and Esterio Segura with 48 Glorious Entries of the Victorious Hero into Havana hanging behind him (below).
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very night, groups of young habaneros turn up in droves at Fabrica de Arte. The contemporary art space set inside an old factory in the heart of Havana’s Vedado neighbourhood is an alternate reality to daily Cuban life, where live trova music and colourful projections of avant-garde films swirl through a warren of galleries. The brainchild of afro-rocker X Alfonso, the venue is brimming with the kind of progress you’d fully expect to miss when visiting this last remaining relic of the Cold War. But on one recent evening, the scene was more modernday Soho than old Havana. In between the dance floor and bar, the art was as biting as the cocktails, with photographs by local artist Enrique Rottenberg showing shabby bedrooms and startling portraits of women posing half-naked on dishevelled beds. There has been a lot of talk about a ‘boom’ in contemporary Cuban art among international collectors, who now travel to the gritty streets of Havana from London and New York in search of the next rising star. In a sense, it is not Cuba that
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Segura: Santi Visalli/Getty Images
has changed but the level of attention the art world has deigned to give it. “Havana has always been a wildly creative place,” says Bryant Toth, a New York art dealer who specialises in Cuban art. “It has been hugely vital in music, the visual arts, ceramics, theatre and literature. It was just difficult to showcase it to the world.” The rich traditon goes back to the 1920s, when Cuban artists like Wifredo Lam were hanging out in Paris with Picasso and Hemingway. But the heyday didn’t last long; everything changed with the Revolution. Under the rule of a young Fidel Castro, art suddenly became another ward of the socialist state. Galleries were the property of the government, art was subject to heavy censorship and even calling yourself an artist required an official certificate. Canvases were
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a luxury reserved for a privileged few, as was access to the leader’s ‘free’ art schools and institutes. Since Raul Castro introduced his reform in 2011, the tide has turned back, if slowly and unevenly. The first private galleries have opened, young artists have Untitled No. flourished and the hunt for new talent is on. “It’s not 45 from Adrian Fernandez’s To like New York where you can walk down a street and Be or To Pretend see a dozen galleries,” says Toth. “You really have to series. know where to look. You still need to visit artists in their homes and in their studios.” Though today’s artists are no longer relegated to a clandestine existence, they remain dangling on the fringes of what’s considered acceptable in a country still prone to erratic spasms of censorship. It’s a governmentordained purgatory that mandates only subtle protest. Such is the case with Rottenberg, whose squalored subjects are an easy reference to the rampant “It’s not like New York where you can walk poverty and inequity on the island, yet they are presented without commentary. down a street and see a dozen galleries. It’s the same with Adrian Fernandez: he makes You really have to know where to look.” good use of quiet critique in his photographic Bryant Toth, art dealer series To Be or To Pretend, which highlights floral arrangements in front of dramatic backdrops with an almost cartoonish vividness. But the flamboyant still lifes are a subtle swipe at Cuba’s upper-class. A closer look reveals that these arrangements, which were photographed in the homes of Havana’s affluent families, are fake. There are acceptable forms of protest, of course. Painter Alain Pino’s use of images of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington from US greenbacks in paintings littered with paratroopers and military aircraft are blatant in their message, yet they keep the finger pointed outward. And then there’s the all-out resistence of Esterio Segura, whose studiohome is a must-see for any collector seeking a glimpse into the future of Cuba’s art scene. His private space comprises a series of white-cube galleries filled with sculptures depicting Pinocchios (an overt reference to liars), cages (prisons) and airplanes (exile). But Seguro’s most rebellious work lives in his dining room. There, an entire wall is covered with 48 Glorious Entries of the Victorious Hero into Havana, four dozen ceramic plates painted with detailed images of Fidel Castro making love to Cuba in the form of a woman. Each plate depicts a different sexual position to represent el comandante’s relationship with the country throughout his 48-year rule. The raw blue sketches would be graphic in any country – most certainly in this one. And the day it can be exhibited at Fabrica de Arte will truly be the signal of a new era for Cuban art.
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“Every choice takes its point of departure in function.”
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MODERN FAMILY
At their coastal Danish residence, Kasper and Heidi Egelund of the family-owned design firm Vipp have mastered the work/life balance. By TED LOOS Photography by MARK SEELEN
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When the salty breeze blows in from the Baltic Sea, Kasper and Heidi Egelund’s house outside Copenhagen is there to catch it, just a few metres from the waterline on the other side of a small dike. The villa, made of brick, glass and cedar, is a fulltime residence that seems like a beach getaway – quite a trick to pull off.
A limited material palette of wood, steel and glass creates a seamless relationship between the architecture and natural surroundings.
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Great modern design has to be beautiful and functional at the same time. You can’t have one without the other.
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ven more surprising, the Egelunds live in this very composed space with their three young children, but there’s no chaos to be seen. When you know that Kasper is the CEO of the pacesetting, family-owned Danish design company Vipp (vipp.com), where Heidi also works running the HR department, it starts to make sense. The Danes are famous for their devotion to modern ideals, and modernity has at its core an element of practicality. Great modern design has to be beautiful and functional at the same time. You can’t have one without the other. Completed in 2016 after about a year of construction, the 260 sq m house is located in a quiet, friendly neighbourhood called Sovang, part of the small seaside city of Dragor. It’s only a 20-minute drive to Vipp’s Copenhagen HQ for the Egelunds, who both make the short commute. The house is composed of a series of simple geometric volumes aimed at maximising water views. The first floor holds a big, open kitchen and dining space, a family room/library off to the side, and three small bedrooms for the
The interiors emphasise simplicity and contrast. The black Vipp kitchen and pendant lights provide a strong counterpoint to the wood-clad wall.
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A private balcony completes the feeling of staying at a very well-designed hotel. children, plus a bathroom. Up a flight of floating black stairs, the second floor is just for adults, with a master bedroom fronted by a picture window looking out at the sea and a skylighted bathroom. A private balcony completes the feeling of staying at a very well-designed hotel. “The whole idea was to create a beach house, very open, a place where you don’t have to take off your shoes,” says Kasper, in the midst of throwing together a small lunch of local vegetables, cheese and bread with Heidi on a bright summer day. “It’s easy to live here.” But, of course, such seeming ease can be
Above: the living area opens to both the kitchen and terrace. The upholstered Hay sofa, a rug and curtains introduce softer elements. Right: the skylighted bathroom relies on function and form.
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Below: this Wendt art is displayed in the hallway; a Poliform bed is centred in the master for a view of the sea.
THE ART ISSUE complicated to create, and so the Egelunds, both 43, hired not one but two top architects to design the home – one for the exterior and one for the interior. Architect Mads Lund chose a palette of all-natural materials for the primary architecture. As he puts it: “Every choice takes its point of departure in function.” The facade, facing the road, is largely clad in long, gray Kolumba bricks from the Danish company Pedersen – it presents a stable, solid face to the community. On the sea side, it’s clad in cedar planks, facing the elements with a hearty, traditional material that can weather over time. Large walls of windows face the sea to the back and a yard to the side, both opening onto cedar patios. The restrained interior design was the province of the man Kasper calls a “rising star”, David Thulstrup (studiodavidthulstrup.com), most famous for collaborating with Danish architect
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“The whole idea was to create a beach house, very open, a place where you don’t have to take off your shoes.” Bjarke Ingels on the recent revamp of the acclaimed restaurant Noma. Kasper hired the architect to create the Vipp loft, a special space above the company’s offices in Copenhagen that guests can book to experience the brand and design in an immersive way. “After seeing his work at the Vipp hotel, there was no doubt that David needed to do his magic in our private home. His style and visions are impeccable.” Thulstrup chose raw concrete floors and, behind the staircase, a two-storey, floor-to-ceiling wall of wood strips. “The black metal staircase is inspired by the fundamental Vipp design language and stands in a contrast to the adjacent wood-cladded wall,” says Thulstrup.
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Seeking out both Lund and Thulstrup created the ideal design collaboration. Why hire two architects when just one of them could have probably fielded both duties? “They are not specialised enough,” says Kasper. “It’s like asking your brain surgeon to operate on your foot. Seeking out both Lund and Thulstrup created the ideal design collaboration that was “all in all a smooth process where we got the best expertise from both worlds”. The endorsement of specialisation makes sense since Vipp does a few things very well – in the States, it is best known for its brilliantly clean-lined kitchens, its prefab houses and, amazingly, its trash cans. In fact, Vipp’s iconic, pedaloperated trash can – now in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art – is where the company started, when Kasper’s grandfather, Holger Nielsen, created it for his wife’s hairdressing salon. “My grandfather left us with an amazing heritage and values,” says Kasper, the third generation to run the company; he now owns a third of it, as does his New York–based sister, Sofie, and his mother, Jette. The company is committed to what he calls “functional, genuine, but still elegant” design. Certainly, there’s no better showroom for Vipp’s aesthetic than the Egelunds’ own house. The matte-black powdercoated kitchen cabinets and drawer-filled island are classic Vipp in that they boast the chicly sturdy look the company has as its signature. Lunch is served on white
Thulstrup’s blacksteel staircase was inspired by “the fundamental Vipp design language”. Facing page: architects Mads Lund and David Thulstrup collaborated on the family home.
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“Architecture is so powerful.”
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Lund created a modern two-storey villa that honours the Nordic tradition of functionality, with easy transitions to and from the exterior.
plates, shaped like two merged circles, from the Vipp ceramics line. Naturally, trash cans come from the company, too, but one of the children’s bins has a bit of extra flair. It’s covered in colourful polka dots, the result of a limited-edition collaboration with the artist Damien Hirst. It’s a demonstration of how Vipp turned itself from a lesser-known niche company into a small but influential global design player. The living room’s large green velvet sofa – the one moment of saturated colour
“Good design can change everything.”
– is from modern Danish brand Hay (Vipp doesn’t make upholstered furniture), and the lights over the dining table are George Nelson’s classic Bubble lamps for Herman Miller. The Egelunds will source from anywhere as long as the aesthetic is consistent with how they want to live: simply, elegantly. “Architecture is so powerful,” says Kasper. “Good design can change everything.”
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ART & DESIGN
FAN CRAFT Mandarin Oriental celebrates 20 years in Kuala Lumpur with a Malaysian iteration of its iconic fan. By WAN PHING LIM
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o commemorate its two decades in Malaysia, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Kuala Lumpur (www. mandarinoriental.com) and the world’s foremost pewter house Royal Selangor (my.royalselangor.com) have combined forces to produce a signature art piece in the shape of a wayang kulit pewter fan. Unveiled at the hotel’s Royal Suite, the doublelayered fan pays homage to the Kelantanese art of shadow puppetry and storytelling. At the forefront, Seri Rama from Hikayat Seri Rama gazes lovingly
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ART & DESIGN
at his wife Siti Dewi, both intricately carved in pewter. In the background, four motifs of Chinese, Indian, Malay and East Malaysian designs are gilded in 24-carat gold – representing the diversity and multitudes of cultures – making this a truly Malaysian fan. Frank Stocek, general manager of Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur, said: “Royal Selangor has been our close partner for many years, and they’ve done an amazing job in crafting a very unique piece of art that marries the luxury and ambience of Mandarin Oriental with Malaysian culture and heritage.” Weighing 2.6kg, the wayang kulit fan is a trendsetter for other Mandarin Oriental hotels around the world (each hotel
has its own unique fan) because it is the first to be moulded in a 3D shape, explains Esmond Sit, one of the designers in the team of Christopher Yong, creative consultant at Royal Selangor, who collaborated with founder-designer Tintoy Chua of Fusion Wayang Kulit. The team took six to eight months to perfect the design from fabrication to 3D rendering to sculpting, refining by hand, polishing, gilding and assembling. The fan now sits proudly on display at the hotel lobby. A second fan is available for viewing for a limited time at the Royal Selangor flagship at Pavilion KL.
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CONCOURSE SKYLINE PENTHOUSE
SKY HIGH A first of its kind, Concourse Skyline Penthouse presented by Robb Report is the epitome of urban grandeur, embodying luxury living with state-of-the-art furniture. By ALLISA NORAINI
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One of the city’s leading property developers, Hong Fok Corporate has a plethora of top-tier projects, such as Concourse Skyline, under its belt.
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Located on Beach Road, Concourse Skyline is within close proximity to the Singapore Grand Prix circuit, Singapore Sports Hub and Marina Bay Sands.
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CONCOURSE SKYLINE PENTHOUSE
O If there’s one lesson to be gleaned from 2018, it’s that to live luxuriously, one has to dream big. And you can bet that our dreams will be bigger and more lavish than ever this 2019, which is why Robb Report has teamed up with Hong Fok Corporate to develop the very first Concourse Skyline Penthouse in Singapore.
ccupying levels 39 to 41 of Concourse Skyline along Beach Road, the three-storey apartment – which spans a total of 11,000 sq ft – will be the true embodiment of living the high life. Of course, the high life comes at a price, specifically, an eight-figure price tag. But for those who are more than happy to shell out some loose change, the fully furnished home will feature a carefully curated selection of stateof-the-art furniture and products brought in by more than 20 luxury brands such as Montblanc, Lladro, Delonghi Group, Leica and Sarment amongst many others. Keep your eyes peeled for the Six Senses Spa, which will take up a room on the ground floor. It will be solely dedicated to wellness and all things Zen, so one no longer has to step out of the house for a much-needed pampering session. The master bedroom is located on the second floor, along with an outdoor swimming pool that occupies part of the balcony. You’ll wake up to views of the pool, enticing you to take a dip each morning. But here’s the real icing on the cake: couples who take their me time seriously
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CONCOURSE SKYLINE PENTHOUSE won’t need to share bathroom space as the penthouse comes with his-and-hers walk-in wardrobes, twin sinks, a standing shower and standalone bathtub. If you’re concerned about being the hostess with the mostest, all is solved with the penthouse’s ideal location along Beach Road. There’ll be plenty to boast about, starting with the staggering views of Marina Bay Sands and Singapore Flyer. Both owner and his or her guests will also catch the thrills and spills of the Formula 1 races and fireworks that illuminate the city skyline ever so often. Not only is the rooftop floor of the penthouse an ideal place to host parties and barbecue nights, it also serves as a vantage point to catch the exuberant city skyline. Helping to transform the apartment
Not only is the rooftop floor of the penthouse an ideal place to host parties and barbecue nights, it also serves as a vantage point to catch the exuberant city skyline. into a grandiose, contemporary lair is The ID Dept, an acclaimed interior design company whose portfolio spans luxury residences such as Pearl Island, The Orchard Residences, Cairnhill 9, Oceanfront Sentosa, Goodwood Residence and numerous others. These creative folks will deck the apartment with bespoke furniture, some of which have been exclusively designed just for this project. Take the matte black Soundwave bathtub from Kaldewei for instance, which will make its first appearance in Singapore at the penthouse. The bathtub, which acts as a speaker, uses a cutting-edge bath audio system that
plays music when connected to a smartphone, tablet or laptop via Bluetooth. Art, too, holds a place in the penthouse. At the private lift lobby that sits to the left of the penthouse’s main entrance, guests will be greeted by an installation comprising LEDs encased in golden tubes that are attached to narrow, carbon fibre stems. The penthouse will also be home to numerous other exquisite gems such as Nathalie Ziegler’s flower glass chandelier, which will be installed by the glass artist herself; Ron Arad’s rocking chair, an elegantly sculptured piece that’s limited to 12 pieces worldwide; as well as a glass installation that’ll be suspended above a Yamaha GB1K grand piano in the living area, crafted by glass artwork designer Lasvit. Concourse Skyline Penthouse presented by Robb Report is set to complete by the end of March.
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Ron Arad’s Rocking Chair British-Israeli designer Ron Arad is the ultimate non-conformist when it comes to his line of work, and this artistic trait has driven the creation of furniture that have been well-embraced by many designers and art collectors around the world. Case in point: the Rocking Chair. Originally prototyped for Italian contemporary furniture retailer Moroso, the Rocking Chair is limited to only 12 pieces worldwide, and one of them will be exclusively displayed in the penthouse. The ergonomically designed chair, which is carved out of a steel blade treated with iron oxide, comes fully equipped with a polyeurethane foam seat that is charmingly finished with leather upholstery patinated by hand in France. www.ronarad.co.uk
Ron Arad explores and reinvents the chair through designs that hover somewhere between sculpture and furniture.
Originally prototyped for Italian contemporary furniture retailer Moroso, the Rocking Chair is limited to only 12 pieces worldwide, and one of them will be exclusively displayed in the penthouse.
Robb Report
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CONCOURSE SKYLINE PENTHOUSE Kaldewei Meisterstuck Classic Duo Oval in Matte Black Bathtub
In design, today’s avant-garde creations are the antiquities of tomorrow, but it’s hard to envision anything that could top the Kaldewei Meisterstuck Classic Duo Oval in Matte Black bathtub. The brainchild of premium bathtubs and washbasins manufacturer Kaldewei Meisterstuck, the classic duo oval bathtub is more than just a vessel for bubble baths. Acting as a sound box, the tub doubles as a speaker when filled with water – all thanks to a game-changing bath audio system that is the first of its kind in the world. Beneath the tub hides a Bluetooth receiver, which plays back audio files wirelessly from any Bluetoothenabled device. Here’s a great excuse to start working on that bathtime playlist. www.kaldewei.us
Inaho Light by Affluency Inaho, which was created by Japanese duo Hideki Yoshimoto and Yoshinaka Ono, landed on the radar of revered designers when it was awarded first place in the Lexus Design Awards 2012, and then subsequently presented during the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan in 2013. The installation is made up of LEDs encased in golden tubes fixed to the end of three-millimetre-wide carbon fibre stems. Tiny perforations in the tubes distribute light into a smattering of blurry dots, reminiscent of a serene paddy field. The stems, which also carry movement sensors, will sway in the direction of passing people. www.myaffluency.com
In design, today’s avant-garde creations are the antiquities of tomorrow.
Above and left: Inaho’s interior lighting is inspired by golden ears of rice swaying in the wind. Right: the Kaldewei Meisterstuck Classic Duo Oval is a wonderful space in which two people can enjoy a relaxed bath together.
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Lasvit Sonata takes the form of a suspended installation that strings together pebble-like sculptures in chromatic hues of silver, black and gold.
Lasvit Sonata
Above: Lasvit Sonata. Right: Peony Light by Maurizio Galante and Tal Lancman.
Czech Republic-based Lasvit is an esteemed purveyor of bespoke crystal glass sculptures and installations, some of which are painstakingly hand-blown in Bohemia. The glass artwork designer’s client portfolio spans properties such as China’s Pacific Century Place Business Center and the Bund Hotel, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Taiwan, Prague’s Quadrio Shopping Center and Rosewood Hotel in Abu Dhabi. The artwork that will be calling the three-storey penthouse its home is Lasvit Sonata, which takes the form of a suspended installation that strings together pebble-like sculptures in chromatic hues of silver, black and gold. www.lasvit.com
Peony Light by Maurizio Galante and Tal Lancman Architecture and fashion moguls Maurizio Galante and Tal Lancman were never afraid to traverse boundaries, and this, together with the duo’s unparalleled levels of creativity, have brought them to where they are today in the design world. Galante and Lancman have together embarked on a gamut of multi-sensorial projects that evoke images drawn from nature, history and mythology. One of their numerous unique creations is Peony Light, a light structure elaborately put together by flexible neon tubes that have been constructed into the shape of a peony. The Peony Light is the third product of the duo’s neon series. www.maurizio-galante.com
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Nathalie Ziegler’s Chandelier
Parisian glass artist Nathalie Ziegler will be in Singapore to personally install her creation – an intricately crafted flower glass chandelier – in the penthouse. A master in the age-old craft of glassblowing, Ziegler has carved out stunning glass lighting designs that have been exhibited at numerous art museums and galleries in France, Los Angeles, London and Bangkok, amongst numerous others. Ziegler adds an exquisite touch to all her artworks by adopting intricate silvering techniques, a process which coats her creations with a lustrous layer of reflective substance. Nature is often her source of inspiration. www.myaffluency.com
This and facing page, top: Nathalie Ziegler experiments with silvering techniques on glass.
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Robb Report
SWEET SPOT By WEI-YU WANG
The Ferrari GTC4Lusso lives up to the promise of speed and luxury.
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The GTC4Lusso’s name references illustrious predecessors, such as the 330 GTC or its 2+2 sister model, the 330 GT – one of Enzo Ferrari’s favourites – and the 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso, which represented a sublime combination of elegance and high performance. The number 4 alludes to the car’s four comfortable seats.
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nce, owning a Ferrari was an intimidating prospect. It might have been a joy to drive, but it was also a temperamental, demanding car that, for the sanity of its owner, spent most of its time in a garage. Times have changed, however, as exemplified by the Ferrari GTC4Lusso (RM1,158,000 before taxes, duties and options). It still ticks many of the traditional boxes: it is a large, sleek and curvy two-door grand tourer (three, technically – it has an estate-style rear), with a naturally aspirated 6.3-litre V12 at the front. It kicks out a class-leading 680bhp, which takes it from 0-100km/hr in 3.4 seconds, and will do 335km/ hr flat out. But this is also one of Ferrari’s most civilised offerings. The GTC4Lusso is very well put-together by any standard. Its interior appointments are
luxurious, with soft and plush leather seats and a 10-inch centre touchscreen that controls an evolved infotainment system. And then there are the rear seats; these are not nominal plus-twos only suitable for small children, but proper ones that give full-grown men a respectable amount of room and comfort. This philosophy extends to the drive character. To be clear, it will still thunder ahead if one wants it to, but a gentle touch will lead to a purr that will not wake the neighbours. The ride is on the firm side, but not far off from sedan-like comfort and it soaks up potholes admirably. It also hosts a sophisticated all-wheel drive system that includes rear-wheel steering and intelligent torque management, which means more stability, control and agility. It even has a reasonably sized boot compartment. Fast, clever, comfortable and with one wheel planted in ‘practical’ territory, this is, without reservation, a genuine everyday Ferrari. auto.ferrari.com
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BEAUTY AND MORE
M By KEEGAN DORAI
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The Mercedes-AMG GT C displays a feisty nature beneath a gorgeous exterior.
erging seductive design with exhilarating engineering is the all-new Mercedes-AMG GT C (from RM1.4 million), a supercar infused with the best technological innovations from Affalterbach. Not only is it styled to impress, the automobile is also expected to take on its closest rivals with a growling 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 that pushes out 550bhp and 680Nm. With figures such as that, it’s no surprise the AMG GT C is blisteringly quick. A century sprint is easily done in just 3.7 seconds and, if momentum were
still in play, then hitting its top speed of 316km/hr would be easily accomplished. The enabling factors for this powerful performance lie in a quick seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, deployable front splitter and rear spoiler among others, all of which combine to great effect. From the AMG GT S to the AMG GT C, updates include Herculean rear arches which are 57mm wider to accommodate larger track axles and meatier 305-section rubbers at the back. It’s the same treatment used on the circuit-oriented AMG GT R, but
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Luxurious accoutrements abound with generous use of Alcantara, dry-carbon trimmings and exquisite aluminium knobs.
without the sportier styling kits on the outside. These enhancements amplify its traction and stability at high tempo. On the East Coast motorway, it demanded to be pushed, with a poise and grace which kept it firmly on the road even on the sinuous stretch between Bentong and Gombak. Tackling the corners in Sport+ is a great window into its dynamic feedback and composed traction, courtesy of a balanced weight distribution, with its low-positioned engine and rear-mounted transmission. The AMG GT C does get brutish in Race mode with its dampers firmed up, traction control limited and transmission sharpened for quicker shifts, resulting in a super engaging drive. From inside the cabin, the low seating position, chunky steering wheel and race-car like ergonomics evoke that sense of adventure, while comfort is granted through supportive sports seats. Luxurious accoutrements abound with generous use of Alcantara, dry-carbon trimmings and exquisite aluminium knobs. As a whole, the AMG GT C is a remarkable supercar. It retains its traditional AMG roots with an audacity and flair to be among the best in class in its segment, and fabulous in its own right. www.mercedes-amg.com
Robb Report
The classic fastback design features LED rear lights with darkened elements inside.
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For the Love of the Cavallino Rampante The Ferrari Owners’ Club Malaysia (FOCM) celebrates solidarity and fellowship across a week-long series of events. By KENNETH TAN
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embers of the Ferrari Owners’ Club Malaysia re c ent ly celebrated their affinity for the marque of the Prancing Horse in a series of events. The celebration began at The Els Club in Langkawi with the annual FOCM Golf Challenge. Members enjoyed a delightful stay at The Ritz-Carlton, Langkawi with its spectacular sunsets and also a demonstration of the Azimut 66 Flybridge after casting off from the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club. Back in Kuala Lumpur, a day at the Shah Alam go-kart track brought thrills
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1) Dato’ Sri Sam Soh arrives at the starting tee for the day’s golf challenge. 2) From left: James Ng, Vincent Chan, Ahmad Fauzi Ghazali and Dato’ Mahathir Samat vying for the holein-one prize of a set of Parsons Xtreme Golf irons. 3) Abu Bakar Fikri Sulaiman sends a drive towards the green on The Els Club’s scenic hole number 17.
The celebration began at The Els Club in Langkawi with the annual FOCM Golf Challenge.
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4 and spills with team Enzo emerging tops in a photo finish over team Ferrari, with a winning margin of a mere 0.02 seconds. Thereafter it was time to party with the revelry taking place at Vertigo rooftop bar at Banyan Tree Kuala Lumpur. Here, the guests were welcomed by the 812 Superfast at the entrance before riding up to the 57th floor where they were greeted by the dramatic cityscape of Kuala Lumpur and the company of Ferraristi.
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Team Enzo emerged tops in a photo finish over team Ferrari, with a winning margin of a mere 0.02 seconds. 1) The social night at Vertigo opened up to Kuala Lumpur’s skyline. 2) One for the camera at the go-kart track. 3) Dato’ Sri Eric Wong and Datin Sri Jacqueline Yap. 4) The Board of Directors of the Ferrari Owners’ Club Malaysia. 5) A sunset cruise on the waters of Langkawi onboard the Azimut 66 Flybridge.
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ADVENTURES THAT NEVER END Discover Langkawi’s many delights on an Azimut yacht. By ZECH PHARAMOND
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From now till the end of March, charter clients may discover Langkawi’s natural beauty and the secrets of its outlying islands through bespoke excursions by Layarlayar.
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his series of luxury charters by AB Yachts – which is also the authorised dealer of Azimut Yachts in Malaysia and Brunei – offers a stunning scope for the appreciation of Langkawi’s ancient and well-preserved ecology, as well as access to secret beaches and hidden coves. Layarlayar’s two Azimut sports cruisers, moored at the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club, consists of a seven-person Atlantis 43 and the 10-person Flybridge 66, which also boasts a Carlo Galeazzi interior. Both yachts are equipped with sun decks, cuttingedge home entertainment systems and en-suite cabins. A four-hour excursion (US$6,000 for Atlantis 43 and US$11,000
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This and facing pages: Azimut’s yachts are works of art and come with state-ofthe-art furnishings and equipment.
for Flybridge 66) includes sightings of 470-millionyear-old fossils on Pulau Anak Tikus. This is then followed by a cruise on Kilim River to watch eagles hunt for fish and to marvel at the mangroves, of which Langkawi possesses the highest concentration of species globally. On eight-hour excursions (US$11,000 for Atlantis 43 and US$20,000 for Flybridge 66) you would also enjoy lunch at a floating restaurant and cruise off Pulau Langgun to view its spectacular sandstone formations. The itinerary also showcases Gua Cherita, which translates to Cave of Legends in English. The most
Relax on deck with spectacular views of the Andaman Sea or retreat to the air-conditioned comfort of the cabins, which includes a large ensuite bathroom in the case of the Flybridge 66.
famous of stories related to this ancient limestone sea cave is of the kidnapping of the princess of China by Garuda, the mystical phoenix, to prevent an alliance between the empires of China and Rome. For the adventure-inclined, the eight-hour itinerary includes accessing a hidden lake in a cave at Pulau Langsir by dinghy during low tide, kayaking, diving (for certified divers) and jet-skiing. Once you’ve dried off, relax on deck with spectacular views of the Andaman Sea or retreat to the air-conditioned comfort of the cabins, which includes a large en-suite bathroom in the case of the Flybridge 66. Pleasure seekers who delight in being onboard for longer may also discuss overnight trips on the Andaman Sea and jaunts to Ko Tarutao and Phuket with the concierge, whose range of expertise includes planning itineraries to feature the best luxury hotels, restaurants and retailers according to your desires. layarlayar.com
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First, Different, Unique As Jean-Claude Biver moves into an advisory role, he explains to us the importance of giving back. By WEI-YU WANG
In late 2018, luxury conglomerate LVMH announced that Jean-Claude Biver was stepping away from operational responsibility of its watch unit for health reasons. The watch unit includes the brands Hublot, TAG Heuer and Zenith.
Photo: Fred Merz | lundi13 for The Wall Street Journal
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wave of concern spread throughout the watch community as many would have known Biver personally as a loquacious and engaging individual who delighted in meeting customers, business associates and other insiders, and who never shied away from the limelight. Those who did not know him would still feel the announcement’s magnitude as Biver is one of the horological world’s most significant and influential personalities. But the news is not so dire. Biver is back to his globetrotting ways, travelling around North America, Europe and Asia with seemingly little concern. Although optimistic about his health, he acknowledges that his illness has taken its toll. “I am like a second-hand car,” he explains with one of his typical anecdotes. “It can look nice on the outside,
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Big Bang Unico Sapphire All Black Galaxy – sapphire is a difficult material to work with but made possible by Hublot’s expertise.
“I will have to continue as the voice of the brand, of course,” he says. “The brands are very close to my heart. But I will not make any more decisions.”
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but when you drive it, you can still feel everything that has gone wrong.” One would be hard-pressed to notice though, and it is difficult to believe Biver is just shy of 70 years. His famed energy is still there, in the way he constantly taps the table to highlight a point, and in the strong and passionate way he articulates his innumerable ideas. Biver still maintains a role at LVMH, but in a non-executive capacity. “I will have to continue as the voice of the brand, of course,” he says. “The brands are very close to my heart. But I will not make any more decisions.” He intends to continue advising people around him. “That will become my biggest success, to build a team that is capable of running things without me,” he adds. This, in fact, is what Biver feels he should be doing at this stage of his career and he is happy with the decision he made. “Probably without being ill, I would not have stepped down so early,” he admits. “Maybe another two or three years, I don’t know. But it would have come. “I have to give back,” he says simply. “Giving back is important once you reach a certain age. When you’re 35, it’s not necessary. You still have to do your job, shape your future. But at a certain moment when the job has been done, the time has come to give back. And that time has come for me.” And Biver has plenty to give back. His decades of experience began in 1975 at Audemars Piguet. A few years later, he dared to acquire the then-defunct brand of Blancpain; on the back of a bold campaign pushing the virtues of mechanical in a quartz-dominated era, Blancpain returned, and with it, the Swiss mechanical watch. This was followed by a run with Omega, whose watches he
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put on the wrists of Cindy Crawford and James Bond. But it is for Hublot he is more often associated with these days. In 2004, Biver joined what was at the time a little-known independent. Although Hublot was very different from the previous brands he had worked with, Biver’s approach, at its core, stayed the same. “At Blancpain, we were very contrarian. Everybody believed in quartz and we were coming out with mechanical. At Hublot, we were very disruptive, but contrarian and disruptive is very close,” he explains. “So, there are similarities. I have always been disruptive in my job, I have always tried to be first, different, unique.” He taps the table a little harder at those three words. “With all my brands I always tried to go against the current,” he says.
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Above: Big Bang Unico Red Magic – the world’s first vibrantly coloured ceramic. Below: TAG Heuer Connected Modular 41 – under Biver’s leadership, TAG Heuer entered the smartwatch market, one of the few Swiss brands to do so.
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The answer for Hublot lay in the Art of Fusion, of innovation and combining materials not traditionally put together. The result is encapsulated in the original Hublot Big Bang, released in 2005. It worked; today, Big Bang is a genredefining take on audacious luxury. Its success led to LVMH acquiring Hublot in 2008, and with it, Biver. And yet, despite everything, Biver remains very close to the young man he once was, a romantic hopeful who was deep into the hippie community. “I agreed with the philosophy. We were generous, trying to save the planet, a little bit naive. We were at peace. These particularities of the hippie spirit I have never lost. Even if I’m different, even if I lost my hair, the mentality has not changed.” That young hippie would no doubt approve of the passion that has ruled Biver’s life and career. “I would never change anything,” he says. “All my failures, all my mistakes, have helped me to build up what I am now. I would not like any other life.” www.hublot.com
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GO WITH THE FLOW MB&F’s latest Horological Machine recalls the heyday of 20th-century transportation art. By KAILASH M
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t’s incredible isn’t it,” begins Max Busser, founder of Max Busser & Friends or MB&F. “Four years of relentless work to develop a new horological machine for a fiveminute presentation that the whole world hears about instantly. It used to be that wherever I travelled in the world, it was being discovered for the first time.” The challenge, then, is to continuously dazzle the media. Truly, this is not difficult with the timepieces from the famed house of MB&F; one might encounter
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“This is the first time I’ve created a Horological Machine with two influences,” says Busser of HM9.
images online immediately following every release but there is nothing like experiencing them in person. Such as in the case of this HM9 Flow. “This is the first time I’ve created a Horological Machine with two influences,” says Busser of HM9. In the early days of aerodynamic consideration in mobility, the final design would be chosen simply because it appeared streamlined. This was rarely, if ever, validated by calculations, but the result is that aircraft and performance cars tended to share a common aerofoil silhouette. Hence, HM9 can be had in two flavours of just 33 pieces each. The Air edition features a dark movement and aviator-style dial, while the slightly more flamboyant Road edition has a movement fashioned of rose gold and a racinginspired speedometer dial treatment (both editions are priced at RM740,900). “This piece is basically a tribute to the time that engineers were still artists. Before CAD simulations and wind tunnels. The W196 Formula 1 car piloted by Juan Manuel Fangio is so beautiful but they had no idea if it was actually fast, there was no way to test for a drag coefficient. The only way you would draw a car or a plane would be with your hand. The thought process was ‘Let me design something which looks fast’.” Beyond the design however, were monumental challenges in engineering the HM9, especially to be watertight. “It’s beautiful, sure, but I’m insisting that this time, we focus on the technicality of the piece. We had to go through such challenges to realise this design and it deserves the attention,” Busser says. “The vertical time display is a result of conical gears with zero tolerance, not even a micron of difference. Even the
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At some point, art and engineering parted ways; coming together briefly for such works as perhaps the 1948 Buick Streamliner and the Swiss guardian of the skies, the De Havilland Venom.
Above: the Road edition has a rose goldplated movement and speedometertype dial, while the Air edition has a darkened NAC movement and an aviation-style dial. Above right: Maximilian Busser.
angle between them has to be perfectly 90 degrees to prevent energy losses. This is down to incredible machining and insane watchmaking, reminding us of a time when watchmakers had a reason to exist.” And then there is the matter of having a pair of balance wheels, which curiously only serve a single time display. “A normal watch with one balance wheel is enormously affect by the wearer’s movements, but here the effect is averaged between the two via a planetary differential.” The final challenge, or perhaps the most crucial of them all, was in the protection of this exemplary movement. “The case design was met with silence from the team, and then ‘Max, how are we going to case this? Lets find a way!’ Enter the 3D gasket. Starting with an ingot of titanium, each gasket takes
40 to 50 hours of machining for water resistance. This bodes well for future projects and even those archived due to this basic but eminently crucial criterion. You have to know that nothing in anything that we do is pre-existing.” At some point, art and engineering parted ways; coming together briefly for such works as perhaps the 1948 Buick Streamliner and the Swiss guardian of the skies, the De Havilland Venom. More recently, this list might include such modern classics as the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird or the Koenigsegg Regera. Today, MB&F has birthed such a piece in the HM9 and only time will tell if it will be remembered as such. Busser believes the formula for this is simple: “You have just got to have confidence.” www.mbandf.com
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T LINES OF INTEREST The UR-111C is Urwerk’s new take on the linear indicator, and it is full of new tricks. By WEI-YU WANG
he always-exciting independent watchmaker Urwerk recently unveiled its surprising UR111C (RM555,600). The wandering hours movement that has become a brand signature has been laid aside for a concept that embraces linearity. The dominant feature here is its minutes indicator that consists of a marker spiralling around a rotating cylinder; the resulting effect is that the marker corkscrews its way from the lower left to the top right. It is flanked by a jumping digital hours window on the left and a somewhat more conventional minutes indicator on the right that affords more precise readings. “This indication is something between digital and analogue,” describes Martin Frei. As co-founder and chief designer of Urwerk, the distinct
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appearance of the brand’s watches is largely due to his artistic vision. His appreciation for linear indicators stems from childhood. “I’ve seen it in a light meter that my father had, and I rediscovered later on,” he explains. “I also saw it in a car from the ’50s, where the speedometer had a linear indication. It was just a very cool way of indicating change and I thought at some point we have to make a watch with one.” This is Urwerk’s second implementation of a linear indicator, following UR-CC1 a decade ago. “That was a while ago, and we wanted to move to the next step,” says Frei. “We have a sort of evolutionary process going, Felix (Baumgartner, Frei’s fellow co-founder and master watchmaker) and me. We enjoy this ping pong game that we play, where we trade ideas.” One of these evolutions is time-setting method. A lever on the side unlocks the roller in the middle of the case, which is used to set the time. “I like that it’s on the body, in a similar orientation and moves in the same direction as the indication,” Frei says. “It’s almost as if you’re turning the indication itself.”The other remarkable new feature is the running seconds.
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Above: Urwerk co-founders, Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei. Right and below: the UR-111C features 48 hours of power reserve.
Mounted at the top of the case, it comprises two tiny gears, meshed together and turning in unison. Fivesecond numerals are mounted alternately on each wheel and are visible through a magnifying window that showcases the mechanism in enthralling detail. “This was another thing we had to find a solution for because it was positioned quite far down in the case,” relates Frei. “In order to bring that up to the surface, we had to do something.” The solution lay in another childhood experience with his geologyinclined father. “We would often go to this store that sold minerals and stones,” Frei recalls. “And
Frei and Baumgartner have once again found new ways to express themselves and new ways to excite watch fans.
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The steel-cased watch is, at first glance, visually similar to the other streamlined and industriallooking catalogue of Urwerk.
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there was this one weird natural stone and it was placed on top of a newspaper. I remember that it seemed to transport the image from underneath to the top, giving an exact copy.� Urwerk found a man-made fibre-optic material that had the same properties. The result has a dual purpose: not only does it appear to elevate the running seconds to the surface, it also allows more light through for better visibility. The steel-cased watch is, at first glance, visually similar to the other streamlined and industrial-looking catalogue of Urwerk, but Frei and Baumgartner have once again found new ways to express themselves and new ways to excite watch fans. www.urwerk.com
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OLD ENGLISH Arnold & Son maintains the historical spirit of inventive timekeeping. By WEI-YU WANG
Clockwise from above right: Double Tourbillon Escapement Dual Time watch; Golden Wheel; Tourbillon Chronometer No. 36.
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t a time when the English ruled the watchmaking industry, John Arnold was the standout. Born in Cornwall in 1736, Arnold was one of the most ingenious watchmakers of his era, holding numerous patents and favoured by a wealthy clientele that included royalty. It was an Arnold timepiece that was first to be termed a chronometer, and his marine chronometers graced many a ship, including those of the East India Company. Arnold was also a contemporary and friend of another great horologist, Abraham-Louis Breguet.
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TIME Arnold’s legacy continues today in Arnold & Son, now based in La Chauxde-Fonds, Switzerland. The modern incarnation of the brand pays tribute to its founder’s spirit with a catalogue defined by highly technical, complicated and inventive timepieces with a classical inclination. The brand has an impressive array of in-house calibres, with each model boasting of its own specially developed movement. One such model is the DTE (RM789,000), which stands for Double Tourbillon Escapement. It effectively has two separate movements, each with a dial of its own that can be set completely independently. The beautifully symmetric layout and white lacquered dials take their visual cues from vintage pocket watches. Another is the Constant Force Tourbillon (RM745,800). Its patented constant force system uses two mainsprings: one to power the geartrain, and the other
to contribute whenever a drop in torque output is detected, resulting in greater overall precision. It also features a tourbillon and true beat seconds. The latter is rarely seen in mechanical watches today, but requires great expertise to make and was, historically, a highly desired feature that enabled more accurate counting. It has become somewhat of a signature complication for Arnold & Son – something that John Arnold would no doubt have approved of. www.arnoldandson.com
The Constant Force Tourbillon features a patented constant force device with 60-second tourbillon and true beat seconds.
The modern incarnation of the brand pays tribute to its founder’s spirit with a catalogue defined by highly technical, complicated and inventive timepieces with a classical inclination.
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A welcoming address by HYT Watches’ CEO Gregory Dourde showcased some of the advanced hydro-mechanical breakthroughs which the watchmaker has imbued into its updated collections.
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Essence Of Time
HYT Watches and Robb Report Malaysia sought to display the ephemera of time at their recent event.
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By KENNETH TAN
he romance and excitement of cuttingedge horology was alive and well at an HYT Watches event held at the brand’s f lagship boutique at Starhill Gallery. A host of timepiece connoisseurs turned up at a venue transformed to resemble a spaceage laboratory, with canapes and drinks delivered in test tubes. A welcoming address by HYT Watches’ CEO Gregory Dourde showcased some of the advanced hydromechanical breakthroughs which the watchmaker has imbued into its updated collections. Guests then enjoyed a rare glimpse of the new Skull collection with the 48.8 watches (RM295,000) available in metallic hues of red, green and blue (each limited to 50 worldwide). At a counter, sommelier Yuhei Teraoka conducted a tasting of a fresh, fruity 2015 Vincent Girardin Bourgogne. Meanwhile, in a private den, cigar aficionados enjoyed the fine Cuban flavours of Cohiba Robustos, with its complex spice. This was paired with the honeyed notes of Diplomatico rum.
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6 1) The newly launched HYT Skull collection was among the highlights of the evening. 2) Cohiba Robustos offered an olfactory sensation to the guests. 3) The scintillating H3 bespoked with diamonds. 4) A view of the boutique’s stunning centrepiece. 5) A wine bar was tended by sommelier Yuhei Teraoka. 6) Bold statements by HYT Watches set the mood for an extraordinary evening. 7) HYT Watches’ CEO Gregory Dourde delivers his presentation. 8) One for the camera with the Shanghai Watch Gang.
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NATURE’S EMBRACE The Datai in Langkawi returns following a year-long refurbishment. By K ENNETH TAN
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When The Datai in Langkawi closed in 2017 for refurbishment, expectations ran high for its long-awaited reopening. This sort of breathless anticipation was merited by The Datai’s lofty standing among resorts across the globe, having ranked among the world’s top five resorts when it opened in 1993 and achieving the unprecedented honour for being the recipient of two Aga Khan Awards (in 2001) for architecture and interior design.
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I Above: one-bedroom Beach Villa. Left and below: Rainforest Villa. Facing page: Rainforest Pool Villa.
n order to recall that same magic of this near-mythical resort, The Datai Langkawi called upon the talents of its originator, Didier Lefort of the Paris-based design studio DL2A. “When we first started thinking about this resort some 30 years ago, we (the late architect Kerry Hill and Lefort) conceived of a philosophy which is integrated with nature and a reflection of Malaysian culture,” Lefort remembers. True to form, that Datai DNA has endured and been redefined with Lefort striving to rekindle all the high points of modernity, simplicity and luxury among nature. He added colours and energy to corridors and lights, with modernday lighting technology enabling him to introduce greater precision and creativity – not to mention savings in energy – to the resort. Palao timber, which forms some of the columns and roofing, was sanded down to obtain a brighter burnish, while over 90 per cent of the furniture was replaced, recalling the colours of nature, notably that of Langkawi’s myriad butterflies, onto the textiles and fabrics. The efforts invested in the resort also extended to an overhaul of the wiring, plumbing and roofing. It took 20 mock-ups to get the bathtubs designed exactly right and a total of 1,100 drawings before commencing with the renovation. “What was tricky in the beginning was that we maintained the language of the space,” Lefort muses. “It’s easy when designing from nothing but, in our case, so many important people have visited and stayed at The Datai, and we didn’t want to destroy any of what they recognise and love.” Arnaud Girodon, The Datai Langkawi’s general manager who has been with the resort for the last five years, concurs, saying that at the very start, it was clear that only
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Lefort had the natural authority to introduce the 21st-century design language to the resort, evolving his earlier ideas into a more contemporary ideal. He immediately reached out to his Malaysian counterpart Jay Yeunh whom he had worked with all those years ago, and the duo quickly formulated ideas which would further the concepts of nature and Malaysian culture which they had postulated nearly three decades ago. What transpires most clearly in the present day is that the resort of 121 rooms, suites and villas still retains its sensitivity to all manner of life, from the fauna to the flora. “We want to protect this and it is important that we show this respect for nature and this area’s biodiversity,” Girodon says. “To cut a tree would mean you had to pay tens of thousands to the government and we were extremely careful then and now in our development of the site and its facilities,” Lefort remembers. Here at Teluk Datai, a stone’s throw from where the oldest
What transpires most clearly in the present day is that the resort of 121 rooms, suites and villas still retains its sensitivity to all manner of life, from the fauna to the flora.
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At the spa, two famous global personalities are now inextricably linked to the spa menu.
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rock formation in Malaysia is found (Cambrian, 550 million years ago), forest authorities have tagged all of the key trees and have instituted a system in which financial penalties are incurred for every tree brought down, with remedial action also required to replant trees and regenerate the forest. As such, the most irresistible of The Datai’s charms is its sense of place, deep within the ancient rainforest teeming with wildlife and centuries-old trees. From flying squirrels and dusky leaf monkeys, to great hornbills and sea eagles, the entire resort is a window into the natural world. The scope of the resort’s refresh
Ghani Hussain worked with The Datai to introduce herbal healing teas at the resort. A stated, and rather lofty aim of The Datai, is to be zero waste within the year, with a phenomenal level of detail in its execution such as replacing plastic cotton buds with bamboo ones. In the same way that The Datai has been meticulous about protecting its natural heritage, so too did it retain its fabled members of staff, many of whom have spent over a decade at the resort. An overwhelming majority of those who were kept on were sent for hospitality training and certification programmes during the renovation’s duration. At the spa, two famous global personalities are now inextricably linked to the spa menu. Bastien Gonzalez, known for his roster of A-list Hollywood celebrities,
includes the establishment of a permaculture garden where ingredients are harvested for use in daily menus. At the spa, artisanal essential oils incorporate healing herbs from the rainforest, and ancestral therapies. The herbalist consultant Dr Abdul
members of royalty and sports personalities, is present for the first time through his Pedi:Mani:Cure Studios, a first in Malaysia. Meanwhile the pioneering Phyto 5 treatment – which proposes therapies tailored to the personality and moods of the client – is a mainstay of the facial treatments, utilising pure spring water from pristine Swiss regions in the process.
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Malay adornment and woodwork patterns add to the sense of Malaysiana.
The Beach Club and Beach Bar (top) and The Dining Room.
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Inside the rooms, the cultural melting pot which is Malaysia may be clearly discerned from the enigmatic details; bed bases are adapted from Chinese bed columns, while red and beige sandstone hint at the Indian origins of the material. Malay adornment and woodwork patterns add to the sense of Malaysiana. Canopy rooms – located close to the adult-only pool – range from 63 sq m up to 378 sq m for The Datai Suite, while the Rainforest Villas encompass 123 sq m of bathroom, bedroom and living facilities including a daybed on the outer terrace. With the refurbishment, a few more pool villas have been added to the mix. The Beach Villas are available in single- and doublebedroom configurations with a separate living space, private pool and immediate access to the beach – voted top 10 beaches around the world by National Geographic. At the top of the pile is the new fivebedroom Datai Estate, sprawled across 3,500 sq m with an incredible pool design, terraces for hosting dinner under the stars and an accompanying in-villa chef and butler. Outside of these luxurious accommodation options, the whole of Langkawi opens up in ways you never knew. A dreamy, meandering walk down the butterfly garden, comprising many nectar and caterpillar host plants, reveals all manner of Lepidoptera. Langkawi has the one of the greatest concentrations with 530 species, outnumbering that of the entire Australian continent (450) and the UK (65). At the newly built Nature Centre designed to look like a tribal bamboo longhouse, resident naturalist Irshad Mobarak and his team conduct nature rambles from the break of dawn to dusk, with a particular highlight being the new 20m-high canopy walk showcasing the tremendous beauty of the surrounding forest.
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The awardwinning Pavilion restaurant serves traditional Thai cuisine nightly in an open-air setting.
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of Michel and Sebastian Bras of Le Suquet in France and also of Toya in Hokkaido, Japan. The younger Bras made waves last year when he decided, and was granted the right, to withdraw from the Michelin guide, despite the restaurant having held a three-star rating for the past 18 years. Over a dinner crafted by the duo, the Bras classic of a gargouillou of young vegetables, herbs and sprouted seeds was artfully paired with the complex fruit of a 2016 Tedeschi Soave.
soup with galangal and mushroom) to southern Thai-style masaman curries served over jasmine rice. Keeping it casual are The Beach Club and Beach Bar where one can watch sunsets colour the skies over grilled seafood and some of the finest wines from a cellar stocked with over 400 vintages. In conjunction with the resort’s grand opening, The Datai welcomed some of its key guests with the first of its signature chef series featuring the father-and-son duo
The ensuing culinary highlights included a wildcaught turbot seared with brown butter and saffron, duck liver from Domaine Castaing with calamansi vinegar and a reinterpretation of another Bras signature, a coolant chocolate biscuit with malt ice cream recalling the famed chocolat fondant of 1981. If anything, the eight courses by the Bras duo was a microcosm of The Datai Langkawi, touched by the certainty of purpose, honouring nature and setting off on a journey which thrilled and amazed in equal measure. www.thedatai.com
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Edinburgh Euphoria See Scotland’s compact capital through The Glasshouse Edinburgh’s signature Elite Whisky experience. By AJA NG
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One is suitably impressed when greeted with the historic facade of the 185-year-old Lady Glenorchy Church, which houses The Glasshouse Edinburgh.
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Right: the modern and contemporary lobby. Below: Snug serves afternoon tea and also has a seasonal all-day dining menu.
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he rebuilding of this landmark, which was undertaken at the turn of the millennium, had juxtaposed a striking modern glass roof to the church’s gothic front, a microcosm of the city where old and new are celebrated side by side. As part of the Elite Whisky experience (£2,500 for two guests and two nights), my stay began at Auchentoshan Suite – the largest and most lavish of the 77-room property’s accommodation options boasting
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floor-to–ceiling windows and crisp modern decor. Welcome drams of Auchentoshan 12, in keeping with the suite’s name, were a precursor of things to come. Later that evening, Ronnie Berrie joined my dining party as we savoured a delectable seven-course dinner, paired with whisky, of course. Berrie is a keeper of the Quaich – a recognition of outstanding achievement awarded to those who work with, and spread the good word on, whisky.
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Stepping out, it seemed as if the city unfurled itself at The Glasshouse’s doorstep. To the left was the Old Town, ahead the new town, with Calton Hill and Holyrood Park in the east. Soon, the bucolic nature of the Scottish countryside took over as we made our way northwest towards the banks of the River Teith, where Deanston Distillery stands. Deanston is one of a handful of distilleries still owned by the Scots and one may glean plenty of useful insights into the world of
Welcome drams of Auchentoshan 12, in keeping with the suite’s name, were a precursor of things to come. Berrie took us through the exquisite whisky and local produce pairings. The amuse bouche was served with the 12-year Glenkinchie, while the Corned Beef Brisket and West Coast Black Pudding was paired with the Macallan Gold. This was followed by a Monkey Shoulder sorbet, before we moved on to border lamb spiced by the peat and smoke of Lagavulin 16. The next morning, I was served a full Scottish breakfast in bed, with the sunlight streaming in, heralding the day to come.
Take in Edinburgh from outsized balconies similar in size to your room or choose a suite that takes advantage of the direct access to the hotel’s roof terrace sitting beneath dramatic Calton Hill.
Scotch whisky through the personal tours conducted by Berrie. He provided the history behind the 53-year-old whisky brand and we enjoyed a sampling of Highland single malts, still handmade by a team of local craftsmen. Back at The Glasshouse, The Snug offers a cosy setting to unwind in. The bar and lounge stocks a collection of over 180 expressions of whiskies, an ideal complement to the haggis and Highland cattle and venison burgers. www.theglasshousehotel.co.uk
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CROWNING GLORY The Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho dazzles with stylish interiors featuring artworks by Japanese artists. By ELAINE LAU
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Like a crown perched atop the gleaming Tokyo Garden Terrace skyscraper in upscale Kioicho, The Prince Gallery is easily one of Tokyo’s most stunning hotels. The country’s first Luxury Collection property located on the top seven floors of the tower impresses with chic interiors offering panoramic views of the metropolis at every turn and a curated collection of artworks by Japanese artists.
Photo by The Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho
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If the mansion is a reflection of Tokyo’s recent past, the hotel is a striking picture of its present – a city pulsating with art, culture and design.
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he 250-room hotel takes its name from the Akasaka Prince Classic House adjacent to the tower. The 1930s European-style mansion, which served as the former residence of the last crown prince of Korea, Yi Un, has been gorgeously restored and is a charming venue for weddings and other special functions. If the mansion is a reflection of Tokyo’s recent past, the hotel is a striking picture of its present – a city pulsating with art, culture and design. The hotel’s
arresting artworks and design elements referencing nature and levitation create a stylish, dreamlike tableau. At the 36th-floor elevator lobby, I am greeted by a futuristic sculpture evocative of clouds and wind by Atsushi Hosoi. This cloud motif is also evident in the pearlescent ceramic and porcelain assemblage by Asaho Kamiya at the main reception area, while the metal sculpture by Takenobu Igarashi is reminiscent of windflowers. The all-day dining venue, Oasis Garden, enchants with its chic glen in the sky concept of steel tree trunks and framed, earthy mossy foliage. Meanwhile at the Japanese restaurant Souten, the crystalline ice motif is realised in objets d’art hung from the ceiling. Most impressive is the Levita sky bar with its jawdropping city views framed by a floor-to-
Left: The Prince Gallery occupies the top seven floors of Tokyo Garden Terrace. Below: Oasis Garden (left) and metal sculpture by Takenobu Igarashi.
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At each floor of the elevator lobby leading to the guestrooms are niches displaying whimsical glass sculptures, from abstract works to intricate organic forms and geometric butterflies. ceiling glass waterfall installation by artist Mari Noguchi that glows at night. At each floor of the elevator lobby leading to the guestrooms are niches displaying whimsical glass sculptures, from abstract works to intricate organic forms and geometric butterflies. Artworks such as metal sculptures and contemporary paintings adorn the plush guestrooms, and spacious daybeds that anchor massive windows afford iconic views of Tokyo. From my room, I was afforded a view of the imperial grounds, skyscrapers and on towards the snowcapped Mt Fuji. www.marriott.com
Above: objets d’art reminiscent of ice hang from the ceiling at Souten. Left: contemporary art works adorn the plush guestrooms.
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Hanoi’s Opulent Heart Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi is an expression of the city’s high points in the 20th century. By JOE KELLY
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B At La Terrasse, inspired by world-famous Parisian al fresco brasseries, visitors are seated in the heart of Hanoi’s bustling urban life.
uilt in 1901, Sofitel Legend Metropole in Hanoi, Vietnam lets you peel back the years with its complimentary in-house historic tour, taking you through the Metropole Wing and the newer neo-classical Opera Wing, the latter a contemporary, sleek addition to the building. The hotel is a landmark in the city. It is situated at a prime location within the French quarter and also lies in close proximity to Hanoi’s historic centre. Its charming French colonial architecture recalls the city’s past, with Hanoi Opera house, the scenic Hoan Kiem Lake and a collection of trendy restaurants and cafes, all of which you can take in over breakfast on the
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hotel’s Parisian-styled terrace of La Terrasse. The hotel has been sculptured and cultivated with a sophisticated grandness over the last century, yet all its 364 richly designed rooms and suites are equipped with modern facilities to meet the demands of the present. Celebrity personalities from yesteryear to present-day have been continuously attracted to the character of the hotel and a stay in the Charlie Chaplin Suite (65,906,843 dong per night) can heighten the special time spent at Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi. Outside, spiral staircases lead to a manicured rooftop garden that overlooks the lawns and heated
Clockwise from above: Graham Greene Suite; Le Club Bar; Angelina.
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pool. The hotel’s grounds act like a peaceful retreat from the hectic city, which can be enhanced with a pampering spa treatment (So Exhilarating Body Treatment, 1,900 dong) combining Vietnamese and Western therapies. You need not wander far to find traditional Vietnamese and Asian specialities. The hotel’s Spices Garden restaurant lays out a splendid gourmet spread for lunch, and for something truly unique, you can try Hanoi’s renowned Vietnamese Egg Coffee, which Sofitel Legend Metropole is said to have innovated. www.sofitel-legend-metropole-hanoi.com
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A Taste of Tomorrow
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A stunning array of flavours from China’s diverse culinary culture comes alive at JW Marriott’s Taste the Moment festival in Shanghai.
Photo by Jonathan Maloney
By RENYI LIM
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It was never going to be an easy feat to encapsulate the many nuances of China’s vibrant and varied culinary culture within just a few days, but that was the challenge JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts set for itself last December.
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ts Taste the Moment festival, which took place at JW Marriott Hotel Shanghai at Tomorrow Square, guided guests through the tastes and techniques connected with traditional and contemporary Chinese cuisine, and introduced them to Shanghai’s thriving food scene. On a frosty winter evening, the festival began with a gala dinner featuring the talents of JW Marriott’s leading chefs in China, each of whom specialises in a
From top: Alex Lu; Shuai Qiang; Kevin Ji.
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A five-course menu showcased classic dishes from Guangdong, Shanghai, Sichuan, Beijing and Hangzhou, all executed through the modern, futurefocused lens of the brand.
particular regional cuisine. A five-course menu showcased classic dishes from Guangdong, Shanghai, Sichuan, Beijing and Hangzhou, all executed through the modern, future-focused lens of the brand. Chef Leo Cao’s crispy Cantonese chicken, for instance, was accompanied by caviar and a chicken roulade, while chef Shuai Qiang of JW Marriott Hotel Chengdu served a spicy kung pao-style king prawn with mashed potatoes and pickled vegetables. A vein of tradition still ran prominently through the meal: chef Kevin Ji of JW Marriott Hotel Shanghai at Tomorrow Square paid tribute to his city’s seaport heritage by adding a cod fishball to a rich golden pumpkin soup. Pungent soybean paste, homemade noodles and braised Wagyu short ribs emphasised the heartiness of Beijing cuisine, just as a delicate osmanthus flower cheese tart served as an example of the light, subtle flavours that characterise Huangzhou desserts. During the gala dinner, live performances (including acrobatic platespinners and a mask-changing Sichuanese
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The event showcased the prowess of JW Marriott’s widely acclaimed chefs and their delicacies.
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opera artisan) combined with visual arts and videos of each chef’s personal culinary journey to create an immersive gourmet experience. Meanwhile, a series of workshops and chef masterclasses added to the festival’s sense of exploration and gastronomic experimentation, all of which took place at the Sky Garden of Shanghai K11 Art Mall. Beside wellness workshops and a lesson called The Art of Edibles, food photographer He Wen’an taught attendees how to capture, light and
edit images of their meals for social media, and Illy led an Italian coffee tasting session. While the festival made for a fitting end to the Taste the Moment celebrations, which debuted in Singapore and South Korea earlier in 2018, there are plans afoot for JW Marriott hotels in Greater China to extend their culinary adventures. The five JW Marriott chefs’ creations may soon feature in their own respective hotels, while a signature menu reflecting the Taste of JW activities will satisfy the curiosity of any gourmands who might have missed last year’s festivities. www.marriott.com
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Photo by Jonathan Maloney
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The Lion’s Share Europe’s youngest three Michelinstarred chef, Andreas Caminada, heads to The St Regis Kuala Lumpur to prove that fine dining needn’t be a solitary experience.
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By RENYI LIM
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sk Andreas Caminada if communal dining has a place within Michelin star-level cuisine and he’ll enthusiastically assure you that it does. The Swiss chef – who has the honour of being the youngest chef in Europe to hold three Michelin stars at Schloss Schauenstein in the Swiss Alps – also heads the one Michelin-
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starred Igniv by Andreas Caminada at Grand Resort Bad Ragaz. A firm believer in ‘fine dining sharing’, the Swiss chef brought his signature concept to The St Regis Kuala Lumpur, where he rounded off its Guest Star Chef Series for 2018. “Our aim is to create a sophisticated social experience, which is what appeals to the modern guest,” Caminada said as he and Marcel Skibba, head chef at Igniv’s second gourmet nest at Badrutt’s Palace Hotel, settled into The Brasserie’s kitchen. From 9 to 12 November, guests sampled Igniv’s sharing experience – a dinner menu (priced at RM438 per person or RM638 per person with alcohol pairing) featuring an array of dishes that kept people guessing and second-guessing. Each course arrived on a sharing
This and facing pages: Since 2015, chef Andreas Caminada’s one-Michelinstarred Igniv, the Rhaeto-Romanic word for ‘nest’, is where the unique concept of ‘fine dining sharing’ has been applied and honed.
Photos by Bonnie Yap
“Our aim is to create a sophisticated social experience, which is what appeals to the modern guest.”
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Hennessy once again collaborated with The St Regis Kuala Lumpur for another year of the hotel’s Guest Star Chef Series.
Photos by Bonnie Yap
layered with coriander sorbet, a caramelflavoured Egg Surprise (best described as an inside-out ile flottante), and an entire Candy Store spread capable of satisfying the most voracious sugar fiend. Meanwhile, Hennessy added its own special touch to the dinner with two Hennessy VSOP cocktails constructed by Hyde @53M, along with Moet Hennessy’s Cloudy Bay Te Koko 2014 and Ao Yun 2014, and Hennessy XO to finish. www.stregis.com platter or in small bowls and was placed in the centre of every table, encouraging diners to interact throughout the evening’s gourmet adventure as dishes crumbled, popped and melted in turn. Among the most memorable of Caminada’s creations was an eggshell topped with shredded lettuce and filled with a yolk and truffle mousse, and a starter of duck liver, yoghurt and physalis that was smeared with abandon on freshly baked brioche. A rich fish soup brimming over with seafood dumplings and lobster limbs – a highlight of Igniv – and a more unusual main course of lamb belly, harissa and sea buckthorn was greatly appreciated by guests. Equally startling combinations followed for dessert: mango slivers
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THE FRENCH TOUCH
Chef Walter Ishizuka pairs his French culinary training with his Japanese heritage to place the best of East and West on the tables of Prime at Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur.
Photos: Law Soo Phye
By RENYI LIM
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lassic French dishes and delicate Japanese flavours were united in a single menu when chef Walter Ishizuka made his debut at Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur’s award-winning restaurant, Prime, last November. Behind his bold, simple flavours was an impressive resume that offered an insight into his cooking. In his hometown of Lyon in France, he was mentored by the three Michelin-starred chef Paul Bocuse, then
Duck fillet with truffle polenta and blackcurrantpoached pear.
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artichoke and beetroot gnocchi. The gaminess of a duck fillet was lightened by a sharp ponzu sauce, accompanied by truffle polenta and pear poached in blackcurrant. Meanwhile, a sprightly yuzu and lemon tart came with hazelnuts, bite-sized meringues and mandarin ice cream. A velvety glass of Pascal Jolivet Sancerre Rouge Sauvage 2012 made for a well-chosen partner to the duck fillet, just as a golden-hued Carmes de Rieussec 2013 rendered a fig chutney and French cheese platter all the more delicious. www.lemeridien.com
“Food is evolving and restaurants are constantly moving, so it’s always good to have a guest chef. This is about sharing what I learned and what I know.” went on to hone his skills at Hotel Ritz’s L’Espadon in Paris and Brasserie Joel in London. “Food is evolving and restaurants are constantly moving, so it’s always good to have a guest chef. This is about sharing what I learned and what I know,” Ishizuka remarked. Of his lunch and dinner menus, his most indulgent offering – a seven-course dinner (priced at RM650 with wine pairing) – aimed for a harmonious fusion of two culinary cultures. Although Ishizuka’s starters were French in style, ranging from a cauliflower veloute to a mushroom and truffle vol-au-vent, he swiftly introduced elements such as miso to a main of salmon, baby
Chef Walter Ishizuka’s dishes feature bold, simple flavours cooked using only the very finest ingredients.
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To The Manor Born Fine dining has a new home in Penang and it’s at the Dining Room at Macalister Mansion.
Photos: Law Soo Phye
Previously the stately home of one of Penang’s grandest families, the halls of Macalister Mansion today bear witness to a different kind of ostentation.
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estored and reimagined by renow ned Singaporean firm Ministry of Design, it is as much an ode to its heritage as it is to contemporary design. The elegant Dining Room combines the classical charms of herringbone flooring and deep blue velvet banquettes with the whimsy of a white tree centrepiece flanked by Moooi Heracleum chandeliers. This eclectic fantasia sets the scene for recent appointee, chef Alfred Wee, to make it the fine dining destination the island has been waiting for. Drawing from
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oriental and occidental flavour profiles, Wee is passionate about bringing the best out of ingredients through imaginative combinations and meticulous technique. His resume lists the Michelin-starred Jaan in Singapore and Joel Robuchon’s Macau restaurant, a pedigree that may mollify diners when putting themselves in his hands for the chef ’s tasting menu (RM341). While many prefer the comfort of limitations, Wee thrives on the possibilities of the blank page and crafts an ever-changing menu based on the best seasonal and locally sourced produce available. The chef’s Malaysian roots are evident from the get go as dinner begins with a deftly executed canape medley of beehive cookies stuffed with dried fish sambal, candlenut samosas and lamb rendang tarts. An amuse bouche of Onion Royale served with a burnt onion bouillon and leek croquettes point at his fine French culinary training. Freshness in flavour and texture characterise the first two courses, a composed salad of three different tomatoes paired with a spicy tomato
Photos: Law Soo Phye
Offering a selection of modern cuisine, Dining Room is all about innovative gastronomy using quality ingredients.
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A duo of pasta parcels stuffed with saffron-infused veal sweetbreads are a warming autumnal treasure.
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Dining Room serves dinner only from Tuesdays to Sundays, with last orders at 10.30pm.
sorbet and a verdant terrine of Penang mud crab flavoured with karasumi paste and sealed with balsamic gel. A duo of pasta parcels stuffed with saffron-infused veal sweetbreads are a warming autumnal treasure, while the Asian-inflected dish of foie gras, abalone and fish head glands was inspired by the chef’s childhood growing up on the seafood-rich coast of Terengganu. A theme of delicate, flavourful balance resonates throughout the line-up. The two main courses comprised a pan-fried red snapper with a Thai veloute poured table-side, and the choicest parts of a roast spring chicken encrusted in a green peppercorn crust. Both of them were a masterclass of simplicity done right. Dessert courses are a lingering farewell which delighted in an ascending scale, starting from an invigorating champagne and guava sorbet followed by a bed of sake lees ice cream, pomelo and Kyoho grapes ethereally blanketed by osmanthus jelly and the sweetest finish of an indulgent 70.5 per cent chocolate concoction crowned with a cloud of chantilly baba. Eating well in Penang isn’t terribly hard, but top-quality fine dining is a harder nut to crack. However, if Wee’s tasting menu is anything to go by, the Dining Room is setting the bar in the same way that Macalister Mansion has set the benchmark for design on the island. www.macalistermansion.com
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SPICE TRAIL Isabel Restaurant & Bar is an adventure through Southeast Asia’s unique and complex cuisine. By JENNIFER CHOO
Robb Report
Photos by Law Soo Phye
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The smartest eateries in Kuala Lumpur tend to favour cuisine from Europe or Japan, but that convention has changed with Isabel Restaurant & Bar.
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Isabel takes pride in preparing all the spices and pastes from scratch. The crab curry is a mustorder – especially when the blue swimmer crab has already been shelled beforehand so that all you need to do is savour each aromatic bite. Also of note is the Vietnamese Style Roasted Short Ribs, which have been cooked sous vide to ensure maximum tenderness and glazed with an appetising sauce of tamarind and lemongrass. Desserts are not an afterthought here and the kitchen elevates the humblest of ingredients via refined techniques and exquisite plating. An extensive wine list and a concise range of signature cocktails inspire confidence. One could have a pleasant evening beneath the lazily rotating fans, knocking back creations like Hey Yoko, a sake vodka cocktail infused with a subtle shiso flavour and sweetened with an in-house syrup of red dates and longans. www.isabel.com.my
The menu is filled with contemporary dishes that are very much influenced by the countries in Southeast Asia.
Photos by Law Soo Phye
et in a 1950s house just off busy Changkat Bukit Bintang, the ambience is the result of a refurbished chic neo-colonial style radiating effortless elegance. On its menu, Isabel serves Southeast Asian food made from ingredients sourced locally and beyond, which are as authentic as they are delicious. Food is shared family-style so the dinner menu comprises small and big plates. While more commonly found dishes like Hor Mok (creamy flavour-packed parcels of steamed Thai-style curry custard with seafood) and Mango Kerabu (crisp raw young mango tossed in aromatics) are perfect for the less adventurous, it would be a great pity not to try Isabel’s more unusual small plates which take you on a journey of lesser-known regional produce. The Vietnamese Young Jackfruit Salad is a sophisticated composition of contrasting textures and bright flavours and it’s hard not to be beguiled by the Indonesian Urap Pucuk Manis Salad, which will convert the staunchest vegetable atheist with its wonderful balance of lightly blanched sweet leaf, torch ginger flower and beansprouts dressed with roasted coconut, peanut sambal and fried shallots.
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TASTE OF THE TROPICS The Glenfiddich 21 Year Old exhibits tropical finishing touches thanks to Caribbean rum. By WEI-YU WANG
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his is how you do a toast with Scotch,” instructed Struan Grant Ralph, global brand ambassador for Glenfiddich, at a Glenfiddich tasting dinner at Beta KL. “Hold it towards Scotland, and then say thanks for the whisky and the weather.” The sentiment is as heartfelt for the former as it is sarcastic for the latter. This could be why the Speyside distillery elected to inject a bit of tropical fervour into its range by way of the Glenfiddich 21 Year Old, which boasts of a rum cask finish. And not just any rum – it is manufactured in the Caribbean specially for Glenfiddich. After three years ageing in the tropics, it is transported to Scotland and into select first-fill American oak casks. There it spends another few months before it is decanted away – and it is in those casks where the 21-year-old single malt spends its final four months. The result is something worth lingering over. The 21-year-old has a nose loaded with vanilla and floral scents. On the palate, it has a rich and mature base with, of course, notes of tropical fruit such as banana and lychee. The finish is long, allowing an oaky wood character to come through. www.glenfiddich.com
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LARGER THAN LIFE Ce La Vi Kuala Lumpur’s breathtaking rooftop vistas are matched only by the dynamism of its distinctive Modern Asian cuisine.
N By RENYI LIM
ot for the faint of heart is Ce La Vi Kuala Lumpur. For starters, it’s on the 37th floor of Ilham Tower, which means it offers a 360-degree view of the city’s skyline, not to mention a daring al fresco seating section. Inside the restaurant, murals of women with animal tattoos are sprawled across the
grained marble and dark wood interior, while gold and silver koi circle the wall above the sushi bar from which premium assorted sashimi platters (RM388) frequently emerge. The Malaysian edition of Ce La Vi is a partnership between restaurateur and entrepreneur Modesto Marini and L Catterton Asia, which means that its menu is no stranger to the finer things in life (including a RM10,000 portion of Beluga caviar). The selection of contemporary Asian dishes includes an
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Ce La Vi Kuala Lumpur offers Modern Asian culinary adventures in a spectacular setting.
Certain club nights feature live mermaids and mermen lazing in the paddling pool on the outside lounge deck.
Photos by Ting Yang Shan
emphasis on Japanese classics like bento set lunches, richly marbled Kuroge Wagyu, a trio of matchainfused desserts, and cod baked with red miso and Negi onions. Even if you’re heading to the lounge or club section of Ce La Vi (or ducking into the cigar room), do consider stopping by to whet your appetite with the ice plant salad or Beijing-style duck koh-pau. Certain club nights feature live mermaids and mermen lazing in the paddling pool on the outside lounge deck, so you’ll certainly want a CLV Martini in your hand and something to nibble on while you’re taking in the view. www.celavi.com
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Clash Of The Titans
A day of driving and drives by the Ferrari Owners’ Club Malaysia and Maserati Club of Malaysia at the new Forest City Legacy Course.
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By KENNETH TAN
he third edition of the Ferrari Owners’ Club Malaysia (FOCM) versus the Maserati Club of Malaysia (MCOM) took place at the newly opened Jack Nicklausdesigned Forest City Legacy Course. A total of 17 f lights teed off across brilliant fairways in the afternoon in the spirit of friendly competition. Also in attendance were members of the Ferrari Owners’ Club Singapore (FOCS), who joined the fun.
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1) One for the camera; FOCM golfers in white, with FOCS participants in red and the MCOM contingent in blue. 2) The Maserati lineup at Forest City Golf Hotel. 3) Ferrari was amply represented as well with a fleet of prancing horses. 4) Denise Ng of Heavens Portfolio presenting Max Ng with the grand prize of a fourday stay with golfing at the Jack Nicklausdesigned course at The Lodge at Kinloch worth NZ$6,818. 5) The Macallan brand ambassadors at the tee-off. 6) PXG’s range of customisable golf bags. 7) Steven Mak was the lucky winner of the newly launched Honma TW747 irons set (RM6,900) by MST Golf. 8) Delicious drams and cocktails by Edrington and The Macallan. 9) The Macallan brand advocate Arthur Tan (second from left) leads the toast.
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To ramp up the excitement, Naza Italia offered golfers and non-golfers a chance to test drive the Ferrari GTC4Lusso, Portofino and Levante S. 2
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POST-EVENT
February - 2019
To ramp up the excitement, Naza Italia offered golfers and non-golfers a chance to test drive the Ferrari GTC4Lusso, Portofino and Levante S, which were parked nearby on one of the beautiful golf villas at Forest City. At the prize-giving dinner, The Macallan rolled out its spectacular single-malt whiskies, capping it with a toast of the Rare Cask. A host of prizes made the day a memorable one with highlights such as Ferraribranded merchandise by Naza Italia, Under Armour’s Tempo Hybrid 2 golf shoes, MST Golf ’s sponsorship of the first Malaysian batch of Honma TW747 set of irons and drivers and a four-day stay and golf package at The Ledge at Kinloch valued at RM20,000.
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1) Naza Italia upped the adrenaline with test drives of the Portofino and GTC4Lusso. 2) At Forest City Golf Hotel’s car park, the fleet of Ferraris assembled under dramatic skies. 3) The Macallan Rare Cask was among the drams on offer for dinner. 4) MCOM’s president Tan Sri Lau Boon Chea delivers his address. 5) Kenny Ng tees off for a chance at the hole-in-one prize by PXG and GolfSmart. 6) The winners’ trophies await. 7) Georgia coffee offered a welcome pick-me-up at lunch and dinner. 8) Three pairs of Under Armour Tempo Hybrid 2 shoes were among the sponsored lucky draw prizes.
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ROBB READER
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The Camera’s Eye Film director Prashant Nair tells us about his new film, Tryst with Destiny, and how it relates to his experiences of being caught in a cultural crossfire.
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Interview by RENYI LIM
rench film director, screenwriter and producer Prashant Nair was born in Chandigarh, India and was raised by his diplomat parents in Europe, Africa and Asia, which he describes as being caught in a “cultural crossfire”. Following a successful career as a social media entrepreneur, he took his first step into the film industry with his 2012 micro-budget Indian film, Delhi in a Day, which was released to critical acclaim. His first full-length feature film, Umrika, premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and won the World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award, making it the only Indian film to win a Sundance Film Festival award.
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and The Edison in Penang.
Robb Report
Being exposed to a multitude of cultures has always been a bit of a double-edged sword because while I’m technically a foreigner in every place I live, I’m also at home in many. It is the single most important influence in how I view the world, the subjects I’m interested in exploring and the choices I make. Being exposed to so many cultures and countries growing up has only strengthened my belief that the things we have in common are far greater than those that separate us. The films I’m most excited about for 2019 include Burning by Lee Chang Dong and Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I also can’t help but mention Carla Simon’s Summer 1993, which moved me with its simplicity and restraint when I watched it recently. I was in tears at the end of it and it’s stayed with me since. It requires a little patience, but gives you much in return. I directed a few episodes of Made in Heaven for Amazon, which will soon announce a release date now that the series has been completed. Created by Zoya Akhtar, it’s set in Delhi and I also had one of my episodes in Ludhiana. As it’s about wedding planners and each episode features a wedding, we had these pretty elaborate sets with lots of people on them. It was a lot of fun and different to anything I’d done before.
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“Life without music is so much sadder, so I’ll always bring my Bose Mini SoundLink II when I travel,” says Prashant Nair.
“Being exposed to so many cultures and countries growing up has only strengthened my belief that the things we have in common are far greater than those that separate us.” I’m currently filming my new movie Tryst with Destiny. It’s a co-production between Drishyam Films in India and Backup Media in France. I wrote it at the beginning of 2018 and never expected it would take off so soon, but Indian producer Manish Mundra read the script in May and greenlit it that same weekend. It’s four loosely connected and rather provocative stories that each take place in different corners of the country, and are about people struggling for control over their destinies. Tryst with Destiny is named after the speech Nehru gave on the eve of India’s independence in which he expressed his hopes for the newly formed nation and, in some ways, it’s a look at how far we’ve come since then, vis-a-vis his speech. It’s a deeply personal film that’s allowed me to explore my relationship with the country I was born in, but never lived in. My wife and I visited Malaysia for the first time in 2017 and stayed at The Edison in Penang, which we absolutely loved. We had a baby last November so travel has been more limited than usual, but filming Tryst took us to some wonderful locations. We spent some time in Satara in the state of Maharashtra, which was just stunning – absolutely gorgeous and pristine, with almost no tourism. We’ll also be heading to Reunion Island this year, which will be our daughter’s first trip.
Bottom left corner image by Andrew Cooper
February - 2019
STOCKISTS
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Arnold & Son Swiss Watch Gallery #2.51, Level 2 Pavilion Kuala Lumpur 03 2142 9977 www.arnoldandson.com Aston Martin Lot 1.3, Ground Floor Etiqa Twins 11 Jalan Pinang 03 2163 1196 www.astonmartin kualalumpur.com Azimut Yachts AB Yachts D5-2-10, Block D5 Publika Solaris Dutamas 03 6205 5177 www.azimutyachts.com BMW Auto Bavaria Kuala Lumpur 362 Jalan Tun Razak Kuala Lumpur 03 2056 4288 www.bmw.com.my
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Bulgari #2.23.00 & #3.25.00 Pavilion Kuala Lumpur 03 2145 6055 www.bulgari.com
Hublot Lot UG22, Adorn Floor Starhill Gallery 03 2148 0830 www.hublot.com
Patek Philippe #2.41, Level 2 Pavilion Kuala Lumpur 03 2148 8930 www.patek.com
Chopard #2.24 & #3.26 Levels 2 & 3 Pavilion Kuala Lumpur 03 2145 3611 www.chopard.com
HYT Watches UG19, Adorn Floor Starhill Gallery 03 2110 0366 www.hytwatches.com
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Quill 9, 112 Jalan Semangat Petaling Jaya 03 7960 2333 www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com
MB&F The Hour Glass #212, #226 & #227, Ground Floor The Gardens Mall 03 2201 7830 www.mbandf.com
Royal Selangor #3.11.00 & #4.11.00, Level 3 & 4 Pavilion Kuala Lumpur 03 2144 5282 www.royalselangor.com
Cvstos Sincere Fine Watches #2.01.07, Level 2 Pavilion Kuala Lumpur 03 2141 8418 www.cvstos.com Ferrari Naza Italia Lot 3, Jalan 15A/221 Petaling Jaya 03 7956 8599 www.ferrari.com Hautlence Cortina Watch #UG34, Adorn Floor Starhill Gallery 03 2144 1188 www.hautlence.com
Mercedes-Benz #E-G-16, Ground Floor TREC Kuala Lumpur 03 9212 3063 www.mercedes-benz.com MST Golf TPC Kuala Lumpur Jalan 1/70D off Jalan Bukit Kiara 03 2011 0945 mstgolf.com
TSG 1895 UG2, Adorn Floor Starhill Gallery 03 2110 1533 www.tsg1895.com Urwerk The Hour Glass #2.41.00 Pavilion Kuala Lumpur 03 2148 8930 www.urwerk.com
THE LAST WORD
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Robb Report
Where You Keep Your Watches Reveals More Than You Think... HIGH-ROLLING COLLECTOR
MR LOW MAINTENANCE
JUST GETTING STARTED
Is your collection worth RM500,000 or more?
Do you own more than 10 watches?
Have you been stalking Robb Report for your first big purchase?
YES
NO
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YES
NO
NO
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You don’t seem all that low maintenance.
NO
What should your watch say about you?
Then you’re not really that serious.
NO
YES
YES
We can’t help you. Best of luck. Ready to cash in on the ROI from that collectible Patek Philippe ref 2499?
Nothing. I can speak for myself.
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I’m a man of means and taste.
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NO YES
NO
NO
HELL NO.
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Tube sock YES
YES YES
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NO
Original manufacturer’s box Everest travel roll
Orbita watch winder Buben & Zorweg safe
Berluti watch box