A visit with artist Nancy Bacich & Eve Kitten at historic 24 Fifth Avenue. By Glenn Belverio

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Above: Eve Kitten warms up for her entrance into Cafe Bohemia. Illustration by Nancy Bacich

 

Dear Shaded Viewers,

Last week, New York’s #1 dandy, Patrick McDonald, took me to visit his friend the artist Nancy Bacich, who lives in gorgeous 24 5th Avenue in Greenwich Village.

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24 Fifth Avenue was built in the late 1920s and for decades was a grand hotel. Nancy moved here back in the ’70s when she was a student at Parsons School of Design (with Anne Klein Scholarship), and used to hang out with Stevie Wonder in the hotel’s ground-floor restaurant, Feathers.

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The stunning lobby is the same as it was in the ’20s.

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Artist at work! Nancy’s desk in her cozy apartment.

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Nancy and one of the many incarnations of Eve Kitten–Surrealist Eve. The illustrated character of Eve Kitten was created by Nancy in 2005, and has appeared in a series of glamour-fueled tales based on her life in the big apple. She soon evolved into a series of dolls and what I like to call “a freelance glamour puss” where she has joined forces with a variety of brands: MAC Cosmetics, Jason Wu, Stephen Knoll and chocolatier Fritz Knipschlidt.

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“Whatever happened to Fay Wray? That delicate, satin-draped frame…” She’s been replaced by Eve Kitten!

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The sewing corner. Nancy designs handbags and jewelry that has been sold at Henri Bendel, Saks, Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, Joyce and Corso Como.

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Partnering with Stephen Knoll, an Eve Kitten-branded hair mascara was a hit in South Korea.

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Eve Kitten is also a time traveler. Here she is hanging out at the Factory.

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Patrick McDonald models one of Nancy’s mesh handbags.

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One of the limited-edition Eve Kitten chocolate bars created by chocolatier Fritz Knipschlidt that caused a stir among Manhattan’s chocoholics. (The New York Times called it “the most inspired chocolate design at New York’s Fancy Food Show” in 2006.)

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Nancy and Patrick. Nancy’s curtains remind me of some of the gauzy scarves Marilyn Monroe was draped in during the notorious Bert Stern photo session.

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Nancy and her trophy bottle of White Diamonds.

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In 1927, Mae West arrested for the crime of “indecency” as a result of her Broadway show SEX. Her day in court was in this building, the Jefferson Courthouse, now the wonderfully preserved Jefferson Library on 6th Avenue at 10th street, just a block away from Nancy’s apartment building. After the trial, Mae headed straight for the bar (a speakeasy, as this was during Prohibition) at the Hotel Griffou, just a few doors down from Nancy. Edgar Allan Poe also used to drink there.

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Mae West’s day in court at the Jefferson Courthouse in February 1927. She was charged with indeceny and sent to the women’s jail on Welfare Island.

 

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Nancy’s donation to my Mao Room in my apartment: Eve Kitten in radical graffiti artist mode! Now she’s an occidental woman in an oriental mood for love…

Thanks for reading.

Love,

Glenn Belverio

Glenn Belverio

Glenn Belverio is a writer and New Yorker. He has been reporting for ASVOF since 2005 and currently works at The Museum of Modern Art as the Content Manager for MoMA Design Store.