Happy Haunting

A hidden painting, a better brunch, worthwhile art, a win for the city

“Do you want to go to the unveiling of an old painting in Chinatown?” I texted Joey on his birthday. I’d been invited to the “special preview and catalogue launch of The Triumph of the Night (ca. 1765) by Fedele Fischetti” at Apotheke, a bar I hadn’t been inside in years, on Doyers Street, which is famously more of a footpath. We wondered how they were going to get that seemingly massive, recently rediscovered relic in there, brought all the way down from Christopher Bishop Fine Art on Madison and 80th.

The answer: they didn’t. A smaller projection of the painting lit one stone wall, the catalogue sprawled open on that glowing marble bar. “The insurance alone was a nightmare,” said a publicist, implying the transport was at one point part of a plan, at least. The art’s absence was maybe something the follow up email invite could have mentioned? Luckily, our next stop was close enough—the apartment, I’m almost positive, where Laura shoots much of her Magasin content.