The Epic Art History in the Smithsonian Archives of American Art

Artists at Mr. Chow's, 1986. Photo: Smithsonian Archives of American Art; Carol Saft, photographer

Dear Lucy,

The enemies of women's liberation in the arts will be crushed.

Love,

Nancy

- Letter from painter Nancy Spero to art critic Lucy Lippard, October 29, 1971

Get ready to burn a lot of time. The Smithsonian Archives of American Art (AAA) have been expanding their online holdings, and the results are massive. These are our favorite picks from what we've sorted through so far:

• A 1949 letter from Andy Warhol to Harper's Magazine managing editor Russell Lynes with biographical information. "My life couldn't fill a penny postcard," he writes in wavy script. "Now I'm in NY City moving from one roach infested apartment to another."
• This 1986 photograph of Katz, Warhol, Arman, Hockney, Clemente, Basquiat, Chamberlain, Schnabel, Scharf, Heizer, Mapplethorpe, Shafrazi, and many others (including two women) hanging out at - no joke - Mr. Chow's. I can not believe this is real.
• A face collage constructed on a letter for Lucy Lippard from Ray Johnson in 1969. The whole Lucy Lippard section is pretty great.
• The Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner Papers, which were just added. Goodness knows what is buried in them.

Secret Restaurants Part 2 (and Luxury Art in Luxury Hotels)

The Times reports on the continuing proliferation of secret restaurants, doing a better reported, more extensive version of the piece I wrote a few months ago and posted on here recently. To Milk & Honey, La Esquina, and The Back Room, they add the Waverly Inn and - interestingly - the Gramercy Park Hotel's Rose Bar, which contains literally millions of dollars of art, replete with at least one piece by Prince, Twombly, Warhol, Basquiat, Hirst, and Schnabel (who helped design the $200 million renovation). What's most remarkable is that the GPH is not alone in its pricey wall hangings. The Hotel Ganesvoort has also generated quite a bit of buzz over its art collection, anchored by a large Warhol / Basquiat collaboration piece.