IS IT BETTER EMPTY OR REALLY FULL?

Today, Marc Balet is one of the most sought after and esteemed art directors on the world scene. His first job? Art director for Interivew at Andy Warhol's side.
His house: A triplex and 2 terraces on Broadway.

"I bought this house 17 years ago. There was an ad in The New York Times and I was the first to get here. It was a dance school then. The owners, a married couple, were separating and they were in a hurry to sell it. I made a really low offer but they took it immediately, as they seemed to want to get away from each other.

Is it also a work place?
"Yes. On the first floor there are two large separated spaces: one of them is my office, Mixed Business, and the other is an open space with the kitchen, dining room and living room. The second floor contains a meeting room, bathroom and a guest bedroom and lastly, the third floor, my bedroom stands between 2 terraces one of which faces Broadway and is outfitted with a barbecue for dinners and a lot of parties."

There are a lot of works of art...
" Essentially photographs. A lot of photographers with whom I've worked have given me their images as gifts, the Warhols are gifts as well.

How did you meet Andy Warhol?
I was introduced to him in 1975 by Fran LEbowitz. I had just gotten back from Europe. The art director of Interview had just died and I was the first one they offered the job to. I worked with Andy until his death, I didn't earn a lot but I was introduced to many people and I began to work for Giorgio Armani, Yves St Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld.

Did you meet a lot of celebrities?
"Every day. I learned what I had to do to get the best out of difficult celebrities on photo sets. Diana Ross was incredible, Cher was unbearable, Grace Jones continued to provoke me while I was oiling her body for that celebrated photo where she is on Dolph Lundgren's shoulders. Aretha Franklin was afraid to leave her house so myself and the photographer Albert Watson joined her in Detroit. I remember that it was during the World Series and I was watching TV, then she came in with curlers in her hair and we began to dance to her song Pink Cadillac. Naturally the photographer didn't lose a minute and began to shoot: the photo ended up on the cover.