Welcome to the T List, a newsletter from the editors of T Magazine. Each week, we’re sharing things we’re eating, wearing, listening to or coveting now. Sign up here to find us in your inbox every Wednesday. You can always reach us at tlist@nytimes.com. |
Explore London’s Greatest Trees |
 | | Right: the Royal Oak in London’s Richmond Park is estimated to be 750 years old.Courtesy of Blue Crow Media |
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During Paris Fashion Weeks past, which now feel like ancient history, I’d spend spare time between shows consulting a map of local Brutalist architecture that a dear friend had given to me and check out the closest landmark. Published by the U.K.-based Blue Crow Media, the “Brutalist Paris Map” is part of a guide series that includes versions for London, Sydney and Washington, D.C. And now, in the era of social distancing, the founder, Derek Lamberton, has added a new kind of map to the Blue Crow lineup: “Great Trees of London,” by the journalist Paul Wood, highlights a range of trees, from the very old to the forgotten-in-plain-view, including a surprising giant redwood at the New Cross Gate railway station. (For those of us in New York City, a “Great Trees of New York” map is already in the works.) Lamberton says shifting from concrete towers to nature was easy, thanks to his father, who “taught him how oddly satisfying it is to explore and identify trees while wandering.” $10, bluecrowmedia.com. |
Jazz Playlists Crafted by Furniture Designers |
 | | Left: an undated photo of Coleman Hawkins. Right: Count Basie in 1957.Left: William Gottlieb/Redferns/Getty Images. Right: Mirrorpix/Courtesy Everett Collection |
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While working from home these past few months, I’ve found that music — jazz, in particular — has become an integral part of my daily routine, helping me focus on the task at hand. Recently, browsing Spotify, I came upon a number of playlists curated by Ralph Pucci, the owner of his eponymous gallery in New York City. Pucci is a longtime enthusiast of the genre: Every January, he hosts the annual Jazz House Kids benefit concert in his gallery, which this year featured the performers Christian McBride and Diana Krall. On Spotify, his playlists are arranged mostly by intuition or feeling, reflecting his current state of mind more than any particular motif or historical sensibility. In a recent compilation, Pucci was drawn to the music of Coleman Hawkins, Thelonious Monk and Count Basie. He also asked furniture designers Eric Schmitt and Chris Lehrecke to contribute their own playlists to his project; the dissimilarity between Schmitt’s and Lehrecke’s design aesthetics carried over, evidenced by the songs they selected (Schmitt started his list with “Tighten Up” by Archie Bell & the Drells; Lehrecke ended with John Prine’s “When I Get to Heaven”). Today, Pucci has uploaded a new set of tunes selected by the furniture and lighting designer Jim Zivic, who has an uncanny ability to find music that aligns with his raw and beautiful designs. spotify.com. |
Never-Before-Seen Personal Photographs by Karl Lagerfeld |
 | | Left: a self-portrait of Karl Lagerfeld in 2008, holding a Fuji 645, in his studio on Rue de Lille in Paris. Right: an inspirational copy of Adolph Menzel’s 1852 painting “Voltaire in the Court of Frederick II of Prussia.”Courtesy of Karl Lagerfeld |
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“I got to see him without the sunglasses a lot,” says Caroline Lebar of her 35-year tenure working for Karl Lagerfeld, which included a decade casting shows for his eponymous brand. The famously private designer was known for rarely letting his guard down, but as it turns out, he was actually quite forthcoming when it came T Magazine’s Profile in Style, published in 2008, when Stefano Tonchi was the magazine’s editor in chief. In his research for the story, Lagerfeld compiled a 19-page booklet with personal photos and captions handwritten in his elegant scrawl. One depicted a candlelit dinner party, while others focused on design choices in his various homes, from gray walls hung with large nudes by Helmut Newton in his 1980s Monte Carlo apartment to the heavily upholstered furniture he described as “very Weimar Republic” in his ’90s Berlin apartment. Sorting through an armoire earlier this year, Lebar stumbled across the compilation and was struck by how intimate it was. She originally intended to keep the cache to herself, but after Covid-19 arrived, her thinking changed: At a time when people are self-isolating, why not share a glimpse into the life of a man who took such delight in the idea of home? The project, aptly titled “At Home With Karl,” was recently published on Lagerfeld’s website. Karl.com. |
Paul Chan’s Left-Handed Wittgenstein Drawings |
 | | Left: Paul Chan’s “Die Auskunft, Auskünfte (Information)” (2020). Right: the artist’s “Der Satan (Satan)” (2020).Courtesy of the artist and Greene Naftali, New York |
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Ten years ago, the artist Paul Chan heard a rumor that the Austrian-English philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein had once written a textbook for children. Curious, he began investigating, and learned that in 1921, Wittgenstein — then already famous — left Cambridge to be an elementary schoolteacher in rural Austria. There, Wittgenstein decided to create his own dictionary to help his students, as what existed was either too expensive or poorly made. The text, “Word Book” — which will be published for the first time in the English language (translated by Bettina Funcke with Catherine Schelbert) by Chan’s independent press, Badlands Unlimited, later this year — is a compelling artifact of a brilliant philosopher. Chan describes it as “a testament to what it means to change one’s mind, if one is willing to let go of a certain idea of who one happens to be.” The artist chose to illustrate the new edition with drawings he made with his (nondominant) left hand, explaining: “It’s rather the notion that one’s strength is really one’s weakness, which makes possible the idea that one’s weakness — given the right circumstances or frame of mind — may be one’s real strength. I also like how the concept of the ‘left-handed path’ is synonymous with alternative forms of belief, like mysticism and ‘black’ magic. Yes, I’m a witch.” A portion of the drawings are currently on view at Greene Naftali gallery’s online viewing room, and two others will debut this fall at Gladstone Gallery and the Drawing Room, respectively. greenenaftaligallery.com. |
Jewel-Toned Clothes for Summer |
It’s no secret that fashion took a proverbial back seat after the pandemic arrived earlier this year: The act of getting dressed, once an outlet for self-expression, turned into a mundane if slightly anxiety-ridden task of choosing which comfortable T-shirt to wear, once again. But as various phases of reopening begin across the country, and as people start to think more creatively about virtual meetings, new sartorial opportunities have emerged. Bright, shimmery jewel tones — such as emerald greens, ruby reds and sapphire blues — were featured prominently in this season’s various collections, on a high-waisted, deep amethyst-hued skirt from Gucci, for one. A pair of straight-leg emerald Christopher John Rogers pants and a flaming yellow Tory Burch pussy-bow blouse might lend a sense of professionalism for your Zoom meetings, while both Issey Miyake’s and Victoria Beckham’s diffusion lines offer warm-weather options (such as Miyake’s bright pink top and Beckham’s red stretch-crepe shorts) that are perfect for a socially distanced picnic. Simple silhouettes can make a statement by virtue of color alone. |
Nicholas Nixon’s Pandemic Photographs |
 | | Nicholas Nixon |
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A few months ago, on a whim, the Boston-based photographer Nicholas Nixon (@nbbnixon) began taking black-and-white portraits of himself and his wife, Bebe, wearing masks. The project grew from there, encompassing an ever-wider circle of those affected, in one way or another, by the pandemic. And yet, we know that black populations have been affected disproportionately, and that knowledge necessarily changes how we read Nixon’s images, making the series as much about human fragility and resilience as it is about human wrongs. “Some of the pictures were made in an all-black housing project where I have volunteered for 20 years,” says Nixon. “The disparities in just about everything — health care, housing, employment, education, nutrition and even public life — are to me our great sin, and, lately, they’ve been especially visible.” See more of Nixon’s photographs on T’s Instagram — and follow us. |
In last week’s T List, we misidentified the area of Chicago where Theaster Gates was born and raised; it was the West Side, not the South Side. |
And if you read one thing on tmagazine.com this week, make it: |
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