Open the door, look up and there they are: birds darting, preening, gazing down, cartwheeling, looking around. Hudson Valley birds, mind you; very specific breeds. All were painted by a Dutch artist, Peter Korver. One is a red-tailed hawk, favourite of the home owner’s ‘hippie sister’. ‘You can only see the tail, really, but that’s fine,’ he says, referring to the hawk’s inclusion within the faux-coffered ceiling mural, which greets visitors to his Manhattan apartment.