LION’S DEN

In Manhattan’s West Village, painter Walton Ford lovingly touches up a historic town house—and reveals his true colors

SARAH MEDFORD

Walton Ford’s town house, in the meandering heart of Greenwich Village, is the one with the lion’s-head knocker on its front door. Of course it is: For decades now the artist has made a subject of animals, the more ferocious-looking the better, the ones people go on safari to ogle through binoculars. As depicted by Ford, these beasts are so close you can count the hairs on their knuckles. In his recent show at The Morgan Library & Museum, a monumental watercolor portrays a salivating male lion lounging by a swimming pool in the moonlight. There’s a story behind the painting, needless to say, and another behind Ford’s stout little house. The two-bedroom residence was built in the Federal style in 1830, a time when New York City was carving…

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Architectural Digest (Digital) - 1 Issue, December 2024

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