Pop Culture

Waters Rise at the Hamptons Fine Art Show

Rain is ravaging the northeast. The Pacific is swallowing islands whole. Wildfires and their traveling smoke seem to cover more of North America than not these days, and the sea creatures are fed up. But who will think of the Long Islanders? Those harried folk at the end of a long peninsula who, for at least three months of the year before they head back to their classic six on a different island, face the effects of this changing world more fully than anyone. Yes, more than anyone, I said. Who will think of them? 

Page Six always will, thank God. They will always report from the dunes at the end of the world. Their latest? The art shows are in danger. The Hamptons Fine Art Fair, where fine art aficionados can go to possibly add to their private collections, was subject to flooding over the weekend. The whole place was evacuated, though the art was left on the walls, which was deemed safer than exposing it to the torrential downpours outside. 

Not since the great art-endangerment-on-yachts discourse of 2019 has water threatened our finest fine art so severely and with such menace. And I don’t want to be glib about something so culturally significant. There was a Renoir, a Van Gogh, a Matisse, some Norman Rockwells in this show. We can joke because the worst was avoided. The waters rose, but the art was hung high enough that likely none was sunk.

To underscore the doomsday feel of it all, Page Six reported that as people evacuated, an opera singer let loose in the watery grave. Art will generally find a way. (Although, R. Couri Hay, legendary publicist who was rep’ing the event, said that the pro bono vocalist was asked to stop.)

Anyway, in the following post, occasional Hamptons visitor Martha Stewart appears to be talking about damage to her Maine property, also affected by the rains, but I think her words apply to this situation as well:

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“I just don’t want you all to think I sit around feasting on caviar and black truffles every day,” Stewart said on Monday. “In fact today was a disaster!!! Eight inches of rain!! Road washced [sic] out down to surge stone level! Trees hit by lightning. Trees falling into other trees because of weakened footing due to so much water vegetables rotting in the garden because of so much water. And what are we doing as a nation to remedy this erratic weather and global warming?? Think about it and start to act responsibly please!!!!!!!!”

She added, “I do not know where you get the private jet stuff. I rarely fly private except to make a deadline or a special event.”

So think about that, and also think of the Long Islanders.

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