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“The Waldorf Show” Features Photographs That Once Hung in the Legendary Hotel (You Could Own One!)

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Like a lot of things that happen in life, one thing leads to another…

In 2014, The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City was sold to a Chinese company for $2 billion.

Last summer the entire contents of the hotel were auctioned off in an massive sale. When my brother Tad visited me in New York a few years ago he decided to get a suite at The Waldorf just for a couple of night… for fun.

When the Kaminski‘s auction came up, I got lost in a wormhole of 20,000 items looking for something my brother might like. Next thing I knew, I had acquired twenty five photographs that once hung in the legendary hotel, including photographs of Queen Elizabeth, Lord Moutbatten, President Eisenhower, Joan Crawford, Elizabeth Taylor, Lucille Ball as well as events, room decor & more.

Another 20+ photos taken at the hotel were acquired through collectors of The Duke & Duchess of Windsor, Princess Margaret, Cole Porter, Elsa Maxwell, JFK, Frank Sinatra, Tony Benett, Duke Ellington, Ginger Rogers, Cary Grant, Paul Newman & more as well as rare books, ephemera & artifacts from the historic hotel.

That is now an exhibit at my gallery, 2 hours north of NYC in the Catskill Mountains.

PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE LEGENDARY WALDORF-ASTORIA HOTEL • JUNE 12 – JULY 11, 2021 • GALLERY 52

Also on view & for sale on Artsy.net

Installation shot, The Waldorf Show, Gallery 52
The Royals displayed at The Waldorf Show
HHR, the young Queen Elizabeth speaking to a gathering of 2000 in 1957
Queen Elizabeth arrives at the Waldorf in 1976
Upper left, Mrs. Douglas MacArthur lived at the hotel for nearly 50 years
Joan Crawford, with her husband Franchot Tone, leaving the hotel in 1935
The 50th anniversary of the hotel featured a 21 foot tall cake, 1981
Elizabeth Taylor with Dina Shore in the 80s
The Starlight Room, with its retractable roof, was the “summer restaurant” in the days before air conditioning, circa 1930s
The Grand Ballroom set for NYE sometime in the 1950s
A gold mirror reflecting the exhibit once hung in the Waldorf. (It’s for sale!)
The Duke & Duchess of Windsor attending a testimonial dinner for Clare Booth Luce in 1957. They later lived at the hotel for a time.
Actress Beatrice Lillie & Gloria Swanson at the Knickerocker Ball, 1951
Cole Porter (who lived at the hotel for 25 years) with party gal of the day Elsa Maxwell whose early events put the hotel on the society map
Frank Sinatra (who took over Cole Porter’s suite) presents Cary Grant with Friar’s Club “Man of the Year” award in 1982
The Palm Garden entrance
Film star Gordon MacRae (rm 34G) had cocktails and tea with Hollywood gossip Hedda Hopper in 1961.
(In today’s dollars, $3.74 is about $40)
A rare booklet, Behind the Scenes at the Waldorf is one of the many artifacts in the exhibit that runs through July 11
The International Paper Company’s 50th anniversary in 1948 shows the Grand Ballroom from the stage. One of the great rooms in NYC, the ballroom is landmarked & is currently being restored for the hotel’s reopening in 2023.

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