When is a stager not necessary? When an apartment is already a work of art. That’s the case at the massive Flatiron District loft at 32 West 20th Street just listed by CORE’s John Harrison and Kirk Rundhaug. The 4,000-square-foot space was the home and studio of Lenore Tawney, who turned weaving into fine art and helped create the fiber art genre before passing away in 2007 at the age of 100. The Wall Street Journal reports today on Tawney’s live/work studio hitting the market, pointing out that the $3.95 million co-op is an artist’s loft in the truest sense of the term. Who says the best art in the world is only hanging in museums?
The preserved semi-raw space is still filled with Tawney’s tapestries and other works dangling from 11-foot ceilings. The Journal‘s Josh Barbanel writes:
She so filled the space with her art that it was decided to leave it looking more like an art gallery than a home.
“You can feel the spirit and the artistic life the loft has had when you come in,” said Kathleen Mangan, the director of a foundation set up by Ms. Tawney that will receive the proceeds of sale. “We thought it is kind of a nice benefit to have that special feeling during the sale.”
In some ways the loft itself has become a piece of art. The walls and wooden floors are gallery white, except for one column that has been covered in panels of gold and silver leaf, the silver now tarnished to a deep shade of black.
Tawney’s pieces will eventually be moved out to prepare the loft for a ready-to-renovate new owner, but for now this incredible light-filled space is one of the best hidden galleries in town, and further proof that every apartment in New York City has a story.