Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Velvet Glove
But some of the more successful artists, at least the ones who paid their rent on
time, have a very different story to tell about Stanley Bard. If you had earned a
place on his good side, his purely benevolent Dr. Jekyll side, he would do most
anything to help you out. And let's not forget the big picture—in the history of
the world, how many landlords have bent over backward to help struggling artists
have a place to live and create? How many landlords looked the other way when
a month's rent check never made it to his office? How many landlords accepted
artworks—sometimes of questionable value—in lieu of rent?
DAVID LAWTON
I mean, we made fun of Stanley a lot, but obviously there's something very, very
unusual about the Chelsea Hotel and what he did with it.
JUDITH CHILDS
Once, when one of Bernard's exhibits was coming along, we didn't have enough
room at the Chelsea. At that time, we were thinking that we should buy a loft in
SoHo and fix it up, because they were very cheap. So we went to Stanley Bard,
our leader, and we told him of our plight with space. Stanley didn't want us to
leave.
He said, “No, no.We'll fix it up.Youcan have the room next door.We'll cut a
hole in the wall between them.”
He really adored Bernard. Finally, there was a space available upstairs, and
Bernard mentioned that if he could have it permanently it would be great. So he
tookit, fixed it up,broughtinalicensed electrician with the help ofJulius Krauss,
who was one of the partners at the time, and who was fascinated by what Bernard
was doing mechanically, technically. He wasn't an aesthete, but he loved the way
Bernard worked with his hands.
Then we needed more space for the paintings, so we rented the room across
the hall. We had three places here—going and coming, going and coming—at the
same time. This was how Stanley got us to stay instead of leaving for SoHo. He
made it affordable. The rooms were in terrible shape, but that didn't matter. Bern-
ard got what he needed and we never complained because everybody was so nice.
Those were the kinds of things that Stanley Bard did. We always paid our rent
on time—that was never an issue. But he made it possible for creative people to
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