“Exclusive: The Line Makes a Bid for the Art World”
by Kristin Anderson
Having barely marked its six-month anniversary, The Line just got one step closer to offering a 360-degree curated life. Vanessa Traina Snow and Morgan Wendelborn’s immaculately edited concept shop has partnered with online database Artsy (which counts Larry Gagosian and John Elderfield among its advisers) to venture into the world of art dealing.
Beginning today, The Line will offer a selection of artworks by the likes of Jeffrey Hoone, Werner Bischof, Sandra Iliescu, and Lauren Seiden. In keeping with the brand’s pared-back approach to lifestyle, the initial collection will be just seventeen pieces. The impetus, as Wendelborn tells it, was an organic one: “We opened [brick-and-mortar counterpart] The Apartment by The Line with our favorite pieces from partners, friends, and family and were getting an overwhelming response from customers who wanted to purchase the works. We’ve always seen [the brand] as an experience our community and customers can engage with on their own terms, so offering art makes [it] that much more holistic.”
As to walking the often-perilous line between aesthetics and commercial viability, Wendelborn added, “We used our values, stylistic framework, and POV to incorporate the works into the space, so even though we are selling these pieces, it was very important for all of them to have a story, have meaning, and align with the aesthetic of The Apartment by The Line.”
All seventeen pieces will be available for purchase at theline. com and artsy.net, but for those who are just browsing, an installation of the pieces will be on display at The Apartment by The Line beginning today. The exclusive images debut here.
The Apartment by The Line, 76 Greene Street, 3rd Floor, New York City.
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“Vanessa Traina’s the Line is Now Selling Art”
by Véronique Hyland
At the Apartment, the I-wish-I-lived-there store on Greene Street operated by Morgan and Kate Wendelborn and Vanessa Traina, everything from the toothpaste in the bathroom to the Pallas tuxedos in the closet is up for grabs — with one exception. The artwork hanging on the walls has been on temporary loan — but starting today, a partnership with art-world website Artsy means that works like the Tony Scherman canvas shown above will be for sale. The full assortment (photos by Jeffrey Hoone, Werner Bischof, Chip Hooper, and Nicholas Alan Cope; drawings by Sanda Iliescu, and sculptures by Lauren Seiden) will be exhibited in the store for the next six weeks and is available for purchase at the Line, the online emporium that houses all of the Apartment’s wares. Because there’s nothing like a wall-size painting to go with your Mansur Gavriel bucket bag.