Gilding NYC

12/05/2025

The story continues with a visit today after the tree lighting. The fountain is filled and the water jets are on. The splashing water in the afternoon light make the gold even more luminous. This is my fifth large scale gilded sculpture. While the other four were by no means ordinary, this resonated with me on a personal level. My experiences at Rockefeller Center early in my working life in the 80’s , being a native New Yorker, and my grandparents enthusiastic embrace of the Center. it was shockingly surprising when I came across a 1937 photo of my grandparents at the base of the fountain , my grandfather took the picture so he’s absent, but my grandmother is front and center. I’m dedicating my work and effort in this project to her. She was a huge influence on my life, giving me encouragement, attention, and that “ something” that only comes from someone born in 1912. Here’s to you Natalie Rossman Babe’

12/04/2025

As a native New Yorker and as a gilder, gilding Prometheus was my mountain top. My connection started long before I was born with my grandparents.They lived in Manhattan during the depression, from the late 1920’s to the mid 1930’s. I had heard stories of their early years in the city. My Grandfather Bill lived on the site that is now Radio City Music Hall, in row house walk -up. Having been evicted, he moved his belongings down 5th Avenue in a horse-drawn cart. On New Year’s Eve 1934 he proposed to my grandmother Natalie. He always boasted that it was at the famous Rainbow Room on top of Rockefeller Center, only to be quickly corrected by my grandmother reminding him that it was at the less glamorous Rainbow grill. In 1982 while I was employed at Christine Roussel Inc. in art conservation I had the opportunity to work on several sculptures in the Center. Notably, the two figures at the end of the Channel Gardens also by Paul Manship titled ( Maiden and Youth).I was very fortunate to work with Marc Roussel again ,on the re-gilding this Fall. This was the third large scale project we gilded together. I would like to thank my team Kristen Reyes -Marion and Alexa Davis whose focus and dedication contributed greatly to the project. I would also like to thank the other gilders Marc Roussel, Ben Leo, Christian Roussel and Jean -luc Roussel. Merry Christmas New York City 2025.

09/30/2025

Adam Cvijanovic’s vision was realized as an integration of painting, gold leaf and architecture. My gilding team and I protected the painted areas and skillfully applied the mica elements first. We later applied a total of 4,000 sheets of gold leaf section by section as planned. To achieve this task required true teamwork. Kristen Reyes, Alexa Davis and Amanda Guest , were with me every step of the way, both physically and emotionally.After our work was completed it was handed over to Fig House, who meticulously mounted the unstretched canvas onto their very large supports without any damage to the gilded surfaces. The work spanned from July 2024 to August 2025. Throughout that entire working time, their intensity and focus never waned I want to share some of these moments with the studio photos captured by the very talented photographers James Porchnik and Samoa Jodha.

09/28/2025

In 2024, the artist Adam Cvijanovic entrusted me to translate his proposed gold elements in the maquette into genuine gold leaf for the final mural.I embraced his vision for the project and accepted the role. I personally identified with its message and narrative, as the son and brother of police officers, a descendant of immigrants, and someone who has lived in New York City my entire life.For these reasons the imagery resonated with me , as I am certain it will for others. #911 # firefightersofnyc

09/27/2025

I am sharing my part, as the gilder, on Adam Cvijanovic’s mural "What’s So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding ". Commissioned for St. Patrick’s Cathedral by his eminence, Timothy Dolan. This monumental artwork continues in the historic tradition of gilding within religious painting. It brings together painting with abundant elements of gilding ,echoing the legacies of Chimabue,Duccio,and Giotto. Photo credit James Porchnik

05/28/2024

AT&T’s Golden Boy, gilded in 2020 in Dallas Texas with Marc Roussel of Roussel Studios. Originally named the Spirit of Electricity, sculpted by Evelyn Beatrice Longman in 1915. Its first location was on the top of 195 Broadway in downtown NYC. It was moved in 1983 to the lobby of Phillip Johnson’s AT&T building. The third location was in Bedminster NJ , where I first gilded it in 1991 , while working for Christine Roussel Inc. The sculpture is cast bronze 24 feet tall weighing 16 tons. Gilding a sculpture of this scale requires gilding in sections in 7 different sessions. We used Lefranc 12 hour oil size , and 23.75 karat loose leaf over a newly primed surface.

12/20/2022

Since the early 70s, the tree at the American Museum of Natural History has been dedicated with paper ornaments. This year it features origami critters—beetles, butterflies, and grasshoppers—that represent exhibits past, and attractions coming in the new year. Read on for the newest opening, in February: http://nyer.cm/zoYcb9g

12/15/2022

Last month, we asked our audience to tell us how they stay connected to their late loved ones. They tell us about the objects they keep, the altars they built and how they pay their respects.

12/14/2022

Claes Oldenburg operated “The Store” from December 1, 1961, to January 1, 1962, out of a storefront he rented at 107 East Second Street in downtown Manhattan. Oldenburg converted the back of the space into a studio; the front became a shop where he sold paint-and-plaster reconstructions of everyday household items, including the women’s undergarment seen here, to both art-world initiates and curious passersby. As Oldenburg explained at the time, “I am for an art that takes its form from the lines of life itself, that twists and extends and accumulates and spits and drips, and is heavy and coarse and blunt and sweet and stupid as life itself.”

Later in 1962, he exhibited some plaster commodities from “The Store” alongside new soft sculptures made in collaboration with his then-wife, the artist Patty Mucha, at the Green Gallery on West Fifty-Seventh Street. Fashioned out of canvas stuffed with rubber, objects such as ice cream cones, hamburgers, and calendar pages were transformed into lumpy, unstable sculptures that encouraged viewers to play an active role in reinterpreting familiar forms.

See “Braselette” currently on view in the exhibition “New York: 1962-1964.” Plan your visit: https://thejm.net/3uJURks

🎨: , “Braselette,” 1961, Muslin, plaster, chicken wire and enamel. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY. Gift of Howard and Jean Lipman (91.34.5) © Claes Oldenburg, courtesy Pace Gallery.

12/13/2022

The French-Caribbean artist Julien Creuzet has been selected to represent France at the 60th Venice Biennale in 2024.

12/13/2022

“I have always said that I only make tofu because I am a tofu maker. One person cannot make so many different kinds of films. It is possible to eat many different types from around the world at a restaurant in a Japanese department store, but as a result of this overly abundant selection the quality of the food and its taste suffers. Filmmaking is the same way. Even if my films appear to all be the same, I am always trying to express something new, and I have a new interest in each film. I am like a painter who keeps painting the same rose over and over again.” – Yasujirō Ozu

Remembering the great filmmaker on his 120th birthday. 💜

12/12/2022