Interview with Rafe Statfeld Recanati
Rafe Statfeld Recanati is an independent scholar of art history and aesthetics.
Buildings and Brunello
Contents
Max Raskin: You are one of the most aesthetically opinionated people I know; you are a total feinschmecker. You have a very strong aesthetic vision of things.
Of all the things that you care about, what do you think you've spent the most time on?
Rafe Statfeld: I would say art, because in many ways it's the most simple. It requires a visual eye and less thought.
MR: What would be next?
RS: Then it would be music, and then it would be architecture. The more thought you have to put into something, the harder it is to become an expert in it.
MR: And what do you think is the hardest thing you've become an expert in?
RS: I would say the business side of art — understanding that the business side is a very large portion and if you separate the business from the aesthetic, it's very hard to understand either.
MR: Is architecture harder to understand than fashion?
RS: I’m sure you could probably understand architecture on a basic level. But to really understand the history of why it looks like something and the thought process that a great architect uses, takes a very long time.
Fashion is much easier because it's still a human form. There's not as much you can do with it as you could with architecture.
MR: If you look in your closet, which store have you bought the most items of clothing from?
RS: Brunello Cucinelli. I'm a boring fashion person. What I wear as a man is rather limited — it’s rather limited what a man can wear, which is unfortunate.
MR: You study a lot about real estate, as well. What cities or neighborhoods do you think are undervalued and overvalued right now?
RS: Internationally or domestically?
MR: Domestically.
RS: San Francisco is undervalued.
MR: And what do you think is overvalued right now?
RS: The Sun Belt, Southern California, Florida.
MR: What is your taste in architecture? What do you think is good?
RS: I like things that are designed for where they are. If you're going to build a Palladian villa, it should be in the Veneto. If you're going to build a 1950s modernist house, it should be in Palm Springs. You shouldn't have structures out of place.
MR: What do you think about Soviet Brutalism?
RS: It was cheap for Russia, and it looks like Russia.
MR: And what about Bauhaus and Czech Modernism?
RS: It works very well in Germany, Austria, Czechia. But if you go to Israel or Miami Beach, it works terrible.
MR: You live in D.C. — what do you think about the buildings for our seat of government?
RS: I think they work perfectly for the Jeffersonian ideal of what an American government should be. But I wouldn't build that in New Mexico for the state capitol in Santa Fe.
Architecture is a byproduct of its place. You don't want to build an Italianate villa outside of Boca Raton and think that's architecture. Then you have terrible taste.
I think no architecture is bad. But I think that there are a lot of bad versions of every kind of architecture.
Arts and Crafts
MR: What is your favorite gallery to go to in New York?
RS: Show-wise, it would be Gagosian. The shows are the most interesting, then you have David Zwirner as the most serious art of the first tier gallery.
Gagosian is the closest to a real museum show you'll get privately, and the works are real and in good condition, even if you are overpaying and being ripped off.
MR: What about in Europe?
RS: Well these days who's still around? There are not that many that are still around. Hauser & Wirth is the most interesting shows in European galleries.
MR: What is the piece of art that you've spent the most time looking at in your life?
RS: I do like the more traditional things. That's my natural taste. Even if most of the world has moved to the very contemporary, I still have more of a classical taste.
MR: Who’s the first artist that comes to mind right now?
RS: I've always liked Titian. I like Raphael. I like Baroque painting, and I like later Renaissance, not as much of the very early Renaissance. Later 19th century also a favorite. Neoclassical and Rococo is undervalued and underrated.
MR: When you look at art, do you stare at it a long time?
RS: No. only Five seconds.
MR: And then do you stop looking at it completely?
RS: I go to something else.
MR: But when you choose to have something in your house, you're going to look at it a lot?
RS: Yeah. And that's something to be very careful with. And a lot of the time, you get tired and change it.
MR: Is there a piece that you have never gotten tired of?
RS: No. If you had enough money, you would trade up in a split second.
MR: There's nothing that you've always been attracted to?
RS: Never. No. And that's something I've learned from people who have masterpieces in their house. You get sentimental you start to make mistakes.
MR: What about music? Do you find yourself coming back to certain music?
RS: Music is different because you don't have to see it every single day.
MR: What opera is your favorite opera?
RS: I particularly like comedies and the later 19th century. I like the lighter Italian things, rather than the Wagner.
MR: Other than art, what else do you collect?
RS: furniture, antiquities, and African and Oceanic art.
MR: Is there anything that you used to collect but no longer do?
RS: Yes. Contemporary art that is now worth at most 20 cents on the dollar of its height ten years ago.
MR: And what's the most recent thing you started collecting?
RS: 19th century northern English furniture. It's relatively undervalued and you get good value for your money. You want to buy things that are on their way up, not things that may go up.
MR: This is an investment for you?
RS: Everything has to be an investment thing at these current prices. It’s no longer fun as it would've been 40 years ago, walking in Chelsea and buying a painting for $1,500. That world has long passed.
MR: What do you think about NFTs?
RS: It's a scam. They'll be worthless and people will lose their shirts. We've raised a generation on this idea that something that doesn't actually exist has value, and that's a very worrisome thing.
Stuff
MR: Do you ever just walk down the street and buy something you like?
RS: You do that once, sure. But then it becomes a habit. Then you have a house full of things that you can't get rid of.
MR: How do you get rid of things? Do you have a philosophy?
RS: You mean things of actual value, or things that are hard to sell?
MR: Things that are hard to sell.
RS: First of all, there's the giveaway to people who want it. Then there are these local auction houses and dealers that sell at decorative value for three figures, a $100 painting, a $300 drawing, that kind of thing.
It's much easier to buy than it is to sell a lot of this stuff, unfortunately.
MR: Do you feel like you have too much crap in your life?
RS: No, I got rid of the crap. And I'm trying to lower the speed at which it will be reaccumulated.
MR: How do you discipline yourself on that?
RS: It has to be a financial decision. You have to be careful. You have to think, "If I could never sell this for the rest of my life, am I okay with that?"
MR: In terms of clothes, do you buy any crap?
RS: No.
Getting to Carnegie Hall
MR: Have you ever had an urge to paint or compose?
RS: Yes, I did do painting. And I did enough of it to understand that I'd be a good painter, but I would never be a great one.
MR: And why couldn't you be a great painter?
RS: Because I don't have it in me. I'm not going to play the violin at Carnegie Hall either. It's something you're born with.
MR: Why would you say your painting wasn’t good enough to be great?
RS: It wasn't original enough.
Very few people have the real talent in life for anything. Few people are going to write a Great American Novel. Few people are going to play the violin at Carnegie Hall. And few people are going to have a show at the Moma
MR: Who has that talent today?
RS: We're talking really special artists, who are going to last the test of time? Peter Doig. Julie Mehretu. I would say you're talking about maybe 20 people in total.
MR: What about in music?
RS: I think music is really a pop game these days. And I think whoever sells the most is going to be the most important. my money's on Taylor Swift.
MR: Is there something that you haven't delved into that you'd really love to delve into?
RS: I've learned things in the last several years that I never thought I would. Classical music — from opera to the symphony. I've seen things I haven't. More theater, more comedy.
MR: Can you speak a foreign language?
RS: I understand, but I don't speak unfortunately.
MR: What languages do you understand?
RS: Italian, French, Spanish, and most of written art German.
MR: You have no desire to produce more art criticism?
RS: I've learned in many ways that being quiet is a rather helpful thing. You could get canceled on an article that somebody takes the wrong way.
MR: What's the longest thing you've ever written?
RS: I'm actually a terrible writer, ironically. I can put a book together. I can design the book and it'll look perfect.
MR: Putting the words together, that's the hard part.
RS: My flow starts to sound more technical art rather than nice.
MR: What do you think your next project is going to be?
RS: I think the market is going to hit a low and perhaps I’ll start buying things that I think are undervalued.
MR: Art specifically?
RS: Everything. Furniture and decorative arts
MR: Real estate?
RS: Everything. Real estate is going to take longer because people have notes that they need to service. They need to sell or go bankrupt
But they're going to sell the things to keep their homes. There are disastrous auctions every single day now. And I think if I wait, let's say, one more year, then I’ll start. But there’s got to be a fall and spring auction that have horrific sales. It's really bad. I watch them every single day, endlessly horrible auctions. Pass slots and low prices
Floss and Taste
MR: Do you floss?
RS: Yes, occasionally.
MR: Not regularly?
RS: No.
MR: What determines when you decide to floss?
RS: The dentist said it was causing my gums to recede, so I do it very rarely.
MR: There's no winning with these dentists.
RS: It was either that or a gum transplant.
MR: What do you drink during the day?
RS: Tea and a smoothie.
MR: What kind of tea?
RS: Just green tea.
MR: Do you have a particular green tea that you buy?
RS: Yes, several. One is an Italian Cherry rose green, which is red. And then I have the other one, which is not red. I traditionally like cherry blossom rose.
MR: But what's the brand?
RS: The brand is not can get easily. It has to be shipped and it's a pain. I use for ease Mariage Frères. That's the easiest one to get. It's not my main one, but you can get it in 3 days from Paris
MR: I see you're drinking out of a bottle. What do you drink out of the bottle?
RS: That's for when I run out of the tea; it’s Rose green, Ito En. It's water with tea in it. It's getting much harder to import almost anything into America these days.
MR: Do you wish you had easier tastes?
RS: That's like asking: if you're stupid, are you happier? Maybe, but I'm not stupid.