THE SURREY

NEW YORK, NY

While located just steps away from New York City’s finest cultural institutions, The Surrey, an iconic luxury hotel located on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, is a popular art destination in its own right. The Relais & Chateaux property is home to an intimate collection of modern art, providing additional ways for guests and locals to engage and interact with art while on property.

The impressive collection includes special pieces by established names, including two photographs, You Are My Own and But the Myth of Love, by American conceptual artist, Jenny Holzer. In a hidden niche between the lobby and the bar is an interactive video piece by South African artist, William Kentridge.

London-based artists, Jimmie Karlsson and Martin Nihlmar, best known as Jimmie Martin, were commissioned by Rottet Studio to custom design playful residential furnishings such as an ornate armoire and a customized chaise lounge.

The mainstay of the collection is a tapestry of fashion icon Kate Moss by portrait artist Chuck Close, which takes center stage in the hotel’s lobby. Close has created portraits from countless media, most notably his work has been included tapestry, a classical and difficult medium possessing Close’s signature tension between abstracted units and a legible, unified surface.

Acclaimed interior designer Lauren Rottet felt that this piece was a great focal point for the lobby, almost drawing guests down the hall. While Chuck Close has done quite a few similar celebrity pieces, Rottet believes this piece is not about Kate Moss herself, but about how Close perceives her and her overall image. https://www.thesurrey.com/