With the LongHouse Reserve, Jack Lenor Larsen exhibits unique

PHOTOGRAPHY BY TK; ILLUSTRATION BY TK
With the LongHouse Reserve, Jack
Lenor Larsen exhibits unique works
of art, such as this 33-foot fiberglass
sculpture, Fly’s Eye Dome, designed
by Buckminster Fuller and
produced by John Kuhtik in 1997.
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Superlatives
LE
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PEOPLE, CULTURE, STYLE
SOCIAL STUDIES
common thread
AS THE LONGHOUSE RESERVE CELEBRATES ITS ANNUAL SUMMER BENEFIT NEXT WEEKEND, THE
PROPERTY’S FOUNDER, JACK LENOR LARSEN, LOOKS BACK ON HIS YEARS OF TEXTILE WEAVING, ART
COLLECTING, AND INSPIRATION FOUND IN GARDENING. BY R. COURI HAY PHOTOGRAPHY BY ERIC STRIFFLER
“I
’m more interested in the garden with the art in it,” says internationally acclaimed textile designer Jack Lenor Larsen of the LongHouse
Reserve, a 16-acre garden and outdoor art oasis he founded in East
Hampton. “Our light mold here is not to be reverent but to be relative and
to change with the times.”
Next weekend is the LongHouse’s annual White Night Summer Benefit,
which will honor local notables Richard Meier and (in memoriam) Lisa de
Kooning. Meanwhile, an exhibition by Alice Aycock facilitated by James
Salomon, of Salomon Contemporary, opens July 24, followed by a show of
gold-plated zodiac disks by Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei, opening on
August 2. “I like his originality,” says Larsen of Weiwei. “I think his mind is
freer than most, despite his captivity.”
Larsen first discovered the Hamptons in 1952, his “first hot summer in New
York” at the invitation of one his earliest clients, a patron who let him tag along
to all of the East End’s prestigious art events. After renting a chauffeur’s quarters on Lily Pond Lane, Larsen bought the neighboring 10 or 12 acres for
$2,000 an acre, where he built African houses inspired by one of his many
international trips (for example, Larsen’s upcoming trip to Japan will be his
40th visit to the country). Years later, he purchased the neighboring property
and built his current home, inspired by the Japanese Ise Shrine. The residence
is raised off the ground to improve the view and catch the East End breeze.
Born in Seattle in 1927, Larsen studied architecture at the University of
Washington and received his master’s degree from Cranbrook Academy
of Art. “I did not draw well, and I wanted to make models—my ideas were
better than my drawing skills,” he recalls of his architectural studies. “We
had to do a little weaving to understand textiles, and I was sort of a natural
at it and started doing more of it on the side. There were ‘old biddies’ teaching weaving, and they found a young man interested in weaving to be
intriguing, and they encouraged me.”
Florence Knoll, the most influential interior designer of the ’50s, once
turned down Larsen’s textiles because they were “too individualistic,” yet
two years later she was ordering his fabrics; later in her life, she bought
Larsen’s fabric and furniture for her own homes. “I’ll never fit her mold,”
says Larsen of the Knoll furniture cofounder. “But the fact that I was too
special for them wasn’t the worst thing to say.”
Over Larsen’s 61-year career, he has worked with such acclaimed talents as Frank Lloyd Wright, Dale Chihuly, and Marcel Breuer, and his
clients ranged from Pan Am and Braniff Airlines to Marilyn Monroe and
David Rockefeller. “If you have a legendary art collection like David
Rockefeller, you don’t want fabrics to compete with it but ones that were
obviously expensive and practical and rather interesting,” says Larsen,
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Migrating Pedmarks
by Lynda Benglis,
1998, is composed
of bronze with black
and white patina.
“The fact that I was
too special for
Florence Knoll
wasn’t the worst
thing to say.”
SOUTH FORK
SECRETS
*on his early gardens
“My first decade in New York I
didn’t do any gardening. Then, finally,
in Gramercy Park I had a roof garden.
I was weekending in the Hamptons
and bringing all this plant material
back. It was wonderful—I could get
away from the studio, where I was
used to working 100 hours a week,
and work in the garden.”
*on socializing with other
hamptons artists
“When I was first in New York,
the arts club was on Eighth Street.
I would go to watch de Kooning
and Pollock arguing, and Motherwell
was the referee. Then I would see
de Kooning in the Hamptons. He was
very handsome, magnetic. Hostesses
would love to invite him to parties,
and he would love to come.”
*on students at the longhouse
“We have about 2,200 come through,
one class at a time. We had a wonderful
art students show in June [with]
first grade cinematographers, high
school architects, and performing
artists—I’m proud of them.”
*on longhouse’s blooms
ABOVE:
Jack Lenor Larsen looks
over the grounds from Nico
Yektai’s Bench #4, 2007. RIGHT:
Elefandret by Miquel Barceló,
2007, is a whimsical addition
to the LongHouse gardens.
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“I planted a couple hundred thousand
daffodils over 30 years; they keep
dividing. I also like tulips. I don’t know
if it’s the gardening that keeps me
young, but I have no complaints.”
SCULPTURES COURTESY OF GALERIE BRUNO BISCHOFBERGER (ELEFANDRET ); CHEIM & READ GALLERY (MIGRATING PEDMARKS)
continued from page 43
who at the height of his career was manufacturing
fabrics in over 60 countries. “When Rockefeller got
five new offices by five different architects [in
Manhattan], they all chose the same Larsen fabrics
for him,” the designer remembers.
In 1992, Larsen founded the LongHouse Reserve,
which is also home to the artist’s vast collection of 2,500
textiles and contemporary Japanese ceramics. Outside, visitors can roam among azalea, redwoods, and tropical blooms and discover sculptures such
as Play It by Trust, by Yoko Ono, as well as works by
Buckminster Fuller and Sol LeWitt. “Most sculptures that
can be outdoors, look best outdoors,” says Larsen. “The
hardness against the softness of foliage, and direct sunlight
and shadow; it’s better than in a gallery. It’s also more
alive. It changes from morning to night and from month to
month and with rain on it or frost or snow.”
LongHouse, which has been set up to continue in perpe—JACK LENOR LARSEN tuity, may be the 85-year-old artist’s most everlasting
tapestry. “I see great similarity in that
they’re time-consuming and slow,” he
says of his two beloved mediums.
“Whether I’m making a fabric or making
a garden, it’s therapeutic. I think well
when I’m using my hands. The new concepts come when I’m working. Just sitting
around trying to solve a problem doesn’t
work very well for me.” LongHouse Reserve,
133 Hands Creek Road, East Hampton,
329-3568; longhouse.org H
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