Here Be Old Things

This week: the 2010 International Fine Art and Antique Dealers Show

Thursday I previewed Haughton's International Fine Art and Antiques Dealers Show, which runs this weekend through next Thursday, October 28. The promoters appealed to this blogger's vanity by sending me an invite to their press preview, so I slipped out of work and headed uptown for the opportunity to wear a press pass for the first time in my life. It was cool to stroll the aisles without the crowds and to appreciate the beautiful antiques without having to cower in my shabby boots next to the customers who could actually afford to buy these things. But what I really liked was watching the show go up. A sphinx stared at a vacuum, a box of trash bags was tossed at the feet of a leaping rabbit sculpture. Dealers bustled about, or bent down and polished the floor of their booth themselves. Haughton covered the experience in their blog entry "Moving In: The Grease Paint Behind the Glitter."

Events and Exhibits in New York City during Asia Week 2009

Matsuo Basho: Hibiscus with Haiku. At the Japanese Art Dealers

Bad news: Haughtons' International Asian Art Fair was canceled this year. Good news: now you won't have as much ground to cover. There's still a lot to see, and The Magazine Antiques has compiled an Asia Week "to-do list" of alternative events.

• March 14: Asian Art Dealers of Upper Eastside NY: Inaugural Open House, noon–8:00 pm
• March 14–18: Arts of Pacific Asia Show
• March 15–17: Arts of Japan: An Exhibition by the Japanese Art Dealers Association
• March 16: public symposium at the Japan Society: Japanese Art in America: Building the Next Generation
• March 17: opening at the Met: Art of the Korean Renaissance, 1400-1600
• Now at the Asia Society: Asian Journeys: Collecting Art in Post-war America
• Now at the Guggenheim: Noguchi: The Bollingen Journey 1949-1956

Reception for Razzia and the Art of Advertising at International Poster Center

The International Poster Center is holding a reception and party for its new exhibit, Razzia and the Art of Advertising, Thursday night (tomorrow) from 5 to 8. The artist will be there to sign posters. They say he's "synonymous with the retro-deco style of the 1980s." Yeah, I remember advertising in the 80s. First, no Photoshop, so art directors (like me) didn't have to do everything ourselves and could actually commission real artists like Razzia. Second, lots of drinking. Now everyone works too hard. Do I sound bitter? Maybe I'll go check this reception out, see if they have some free wine, and walk down memory lane.

Razzia and the Art of Advertising:

• January 15 to February 1
• Mon-Fri, 9-5; Sat/Sun, 11-6
• Opening Reception January 15, 5-8 pm
• 601 W. 26th St. (11th–12th), 13th Floor
• 212-787-4000

Toulouse-Lautrec sale and exhibition at the International Poster Center

Who doesn't love Toulouse-Lautrec? Now is your chance to view his rarest work at the International Poster Center in New York City through January 11, 2009. "Toulouse-Lautrec: 100 Prints and Posters" is the largest exhibition and sale of the artist ever assembled.

If you're one of those lucky people with change still rattling around in your pockets, ask them to gift wrap one of Lautrec's famous posters (seemingly ubiquitous, he created only thirty) and bring it home to hang above the tree. Or snag a rare piece of ephemera like this 1896 Christmas card, made for the performer Mary Belfort and one of only five known examples, two of which are in museums. Also on display are working proofs (including one torn in half by the artist and taped back together by his assistants), original drawings, oils, and a ceramic rendering of the star Yvette Guilbert.

The International Poster Center is at 601 W. 26th Street on the 13th Floor. Hours are Monday–Friday 9–5:00; Saturday and Sunday 11–6:00. Closed Christmas and New Year’s Day. 

The auction houses are taking a break from next week to early January. I've got some leads on some new flea market and auction stories, which I'll break after the holidays. Until then, I'm lapsing into a sugar coma, and I hope you are, too. In the words of Toulouse-Lautrec: "Joyeux Noel!"

Historic Hamilton Grange is moving

So what's up in your hood? Here in mine, they're moving a national historic landmark. The Hamilton Grange, designed by John McComb, Jr., and home to Alexander Hamilton, was moved a couple blocks once before, in 1889. Squeezed between an apartment house and a church it's lost some of its former bucolic flavor. But on June 6th it's being moved down to St. Nicholas Park, where it will enjoy a little more lawn.

For weeks now the neighbors have been hanging out watching workers dislodge the house from the wall next door, slowly hoist it up above the roof of the next door church, slide it out over the street, and finally lower it back to the ground. They've done all this by stacking lumber underneath it–and that's about as much as you'll get from me on the technical aspects. What's pretty cool is that the old windows are still in place. With all the construction accidents around the city, I'm holding my breath and hoping the Grange doesn't end up a pile of firewood on Convent Avenue . . . but so far, so good.

Things are Shakering at the Bard Graduate Center

The Bard Graduate Center always has something interesting going on. On Saturday the 31st, as part of their exhibition Out of This World: Shaker Design Past, Present, and Future, you can stop by and watch the making of a Shaker oval box.  Other events include a talk on the 29th called The Shaker Legacy: A Personal Prespective; and on June 6th there's a lecture and tour called Visions Made Tangible: Shaker Gift Drawings.

The whole "make a box" thing seems so not New York, so . . . I don't know . . . gentle.

But is it? “This exhibition is designed to shock people visually and intellectually and challenge preconceptions about Shaker design after 1820,” said show-organizer Jean M. Burks, the senior curator at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont. “The Shakers were not as simple as people think.” So now, with my suspicious New Yorker's mind, I have to wonder . . . what was in those boxes, anyways?

‘Tis a Gift to Be Complex [New York Times]

Coming up this weekend: British art pottery exhibition

Just ran across this one in the New York Times: Pascoe & Company, who appear to specialize in Moorcraft Pottery, is holding a New York Collectors Weekend at the Omni Berkshire Hotel, 21 East 52nd Street. The advertisement in the Times bills it as a British Art Pottery Exhibition and Sale, including artist demonstrations, master classes, and lectures by a UK historian. It starts today, 5–7 pm, and continues Saturday, 10–5, and Sunday, 10–4. Admission is free.

Coming up this weekend: The Aipad Photography Show, and flea market news

From the contemporary to the canonical, photography is on exhibit (and for sale) at the Aipad Photography Show at the Park Avenue Armory. The New York Times review says:

With more than 75 dealers from around the world, this elegant expo presents thousands of pictures representing nearly the full range of the history of photography. . . . Most galleries display miscellaneous selections from their inventories, which can make for an exciting experience. You never know what treasure might be hanging just down the wall.

The people who run the Reclaimed Home blog are tweaking their goods for the Brooklyn Flea. Last week: clean, refurbished handmade items at higher price points. This week: small, dusty, junky items for less than $20. Yeah! Bring it on!

Further out in Brooklyn, Metro Festival Productions runs a series of small flea markets. I haven't included them in my list on the resources page, because they say their focus is on "new and used." But check out their site, maybe it's worth taking a trip out to Neptune Avenue, Brighton Beach, or Avenue U some day. If you go, please report back!

Coming up this weekend

The much-anticipated Brooklyn Flea debuts on Sunday. Their blog includes a map on where to find them, subway directions, and even a weather map of the day of the event. I was a little worried they wouldn't have enough antique dealers, but as of today, there are 50 names under the "Antiques + Vintage Clothing" category. Yeah!

Today we head into the celebration of old books with the New York Antiquarian Book Fair at the Park Avenue Armory.

From Art in Review in the New York Times:

Wandering the aisles of the annual Antiquarian Book Fair, at the Park Avenue Armory, is like being a fly on the wall at the ultimate dinner party. Two hundred dealers are exhibiting rare books, manuscripts, first editions and ephemera related to a host of authors, artists and historical figures. . . .

Bits of gossip are mixed in with the polite literary conversation. Among the legal guides and treatises at the Lawbook Exchange are several 18th-century books illustrated with scenes related to famous adultery trials. . . .

Many older rarities can be paged through and pored over: 17th-century wall maps, at Martayan Lan; letters from Mozart and Beethoven, at La Scala Autographs; a Delacroix-illustrated version of “Faust,” at Ursus; even fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls, at Michael R. Thompson Bookseller. On Sunday the fair will sponsor “Discovery Day,” during which ticketed guests can bring up to five of their own treasures for appraisal.

Clarke Auction Gallery to Antiques Roadshow: valuation day? We got your valuation day right here.

Clarke Auction Gallery is now offering free valuations on Wednesdays from 1 to 5 pm.

That mystery piece in the garage that you've always fantasized about hauling out to Antiques Roadshow? You'll be missing your chance to appear on television with one of the Keno brothers, but on the other hand, at Clarke there's no long lines, and no chance that you'll be that shame-faced sucker who just got told in front of millions of viewers that the cherished family heirloom is a worthless reproduction.

Clarke once identified a suite of shabby chic furniture as 18th- or early 19th-Century Venetian, and sold it for $70,000. Get this–the owner hadn't been able to interest any of Manhattan's larger auction houses in the furniture. Oops.

There's a limit of three items per person, and you can bring photos instead of the actual object. Contact them at 914-833-8336 or email [email protected]. If you're pleased with what you discover, you can sell it to Clarke directly (if they're interested) or consign your prize to auction. Or bring it home and brag a lot.

If you're not happy, however, you can just slink away, blissfully anonymous.

What the...?! Clarke identified this unwanted piece of glass as a Livio Seguso sculpture and sold it for $1900.

Related: Clarke Auction Gallery: deals on estate furniture and mid-century modern

 

Coming up this weekend

Starting today, the New York Design Fair is at the Park Avenue Armory. And tomorrow, the Manhattan Vintage Clothing Show is back at the Metropolitan Pavilion. (See Shows + Fairs for details.)

The Clothing Show has someone who's a really good photographer cover the events and I always like looking through the highlight shots on their site. Here are a few from 2007.

This weekend, and coming up next week . . .

Elle Shushan's booth at the Winter Antiques Show; photo from the New York Times.

The New York Times has a good booth-by-booth blow-by-blow of the Winter Antiques Show and New York Ceramics Fair: For Collectibles, All Road Lead to New York.

Also, an article on the Aesthetic Movement, and where you can find examples at this weekend's Americana shows: A Movement That Brightened Victorian Lives.

Movie night at Sotheby's? That's this Sunday. Such a high-class outfit better be putting real butter on their popcorn: Special Screening of The Rape of Europa.

And coming up on Tuesday at Sotheby's: Special lecture, in honor of the sale of The Jeffrey E. Horovitz Collection of Italian Drawings.

Next weekend: the Outsider Art Fair. Check Show + Fairs for details.

Coming up . . . Americana Week in New York City

photo by Grufnik

Next week starts Americana Week in Manhattan. The New York Ceramics Fair gets things started on Thursday, followed by The American Antiques Show, Antiques Manhattan, and on Friday, the Winter Antiques Show, "probably the most prestigious antique show in America." (See shows and fairs for details.) All the auction houses are holding Americana-themed sales, as well.

Antiques Roadshow announces '08 tour: tiptoes past NYC

Is Antiques Roadshow steering clear of NYC for a reason?

Yesterday the Antiques Roadshow announced which cities it will be visiting in 2008. The closest they're coming to NYC is Hartford, CT. Maybe they fear they'd be barred at the bridges and tunnels by rioting antiques dealers: Antiques Roadshow is one of the main reasons dealers blame for the deminishment of their business. Antiques Roadshow has not just legitimately educated people as to the value of their antiques–it's also inflamed people's imaginations as to the value of their illegitimate junk. When dealers can't get a break at a garage or estate sale, their margins shrink. But if you've been wondering about any of your own old stuff, Hartford is only two hours north. Tickets are free but must be obtained in advance: check online for rules or call 1-888-762-3749. Just don't let a mob of angry dealers catch you sneaking out of town.

Antiques Roadshow 2008 stops and dates:

• Palm Springs, California: June 7
• Dallas, Texas: June 28
• Wichita, Kansas: July 12
• Chattanooga, Tennessee: July 19
• Grand Rapids, Michigan: August 9
• Hartford, Connecticut: August 23

Giving and getting: Bard considers gifts

"Thomas Jefferson remained deeply troubled by the practice of giving and receiving presents throughout his years in Washington, though it was a conventional aspect of diplomatic protocol."


photo by earthdog
Yeah, sounds like Christmas. While you're pondering intra-familial gifting inequities, and bitterly slashing names from next year's list, it might be heartening to consider gift-giving in the historical context. The Bard Graduate Center is presenting two lectures about gift-giving next week, and in the same theme, a concert. See the complete schedule here.

7–8:00 pm Monday January 7:
Negotiating Gifts: Thomas Jefferson’s Diplomatic Presents and Counter-presents

6–8:00 pm Wednesday January 9:
Fragile Diplomacy: Meissen Porcelain for European Courts

6–9:00 pm Thursday January 10:
Instrumental Offerings: Music as a Diplomatic Gift in 18th-Century Europe (concert)

Coming up this weekend...

November 16–19 Modernism, A Century of Style and Design

• approximately 50 exhibitors
• Gala Preview Thursday Nov 15, 6–9 pm
• Fri 12–8 pm; Sat & Sun noon–7 pm; Mon 11 am–5 pm
• Park Avenue Armory, 643 Park Ave. (66–67th Streets)
• 212.777.5218
• website

November 17–18 The Pier Antiques Show

• 500 exhibitors
• $15 admission
• Sat 9 am–6 pm, Sun 10 am–5 pm
• Passenger Ship Terminal Pier 94 12th Avenue @ 55th Street
• 212.255.0020
• website

The Pier Antiques Show is being held in conjunction with "Others," works of passionate and compulsive artisans, at Pier 92.  It is "designed to break new ground, showcasing dealers whose work was on the fringes, and pairing them with others that push similar boundaries."  (Old Show, New Show)

According to Irene Stella, the veteran show managment company, "it was time to take a bold step away from a traditional antiques show."  Just a few years ago,  the Pier Show was the Triple Pier Show, held over two weekends, and it occurs to me that "Others" might be an attempt to fill in some of the holes left when the Pier Show dwindled in size.

Check out the Shows+Fairs page for out-of-town shows.

Coming up this weekend...

The New York Antiques Show starts today and runs through the weekend. See SHOWS + FAIRS  for details, plus information on out-of-town events. On Sunday, Doyle reprises its "How to Buy at Auction" seminar.

Coming up this week ...

The International Fine Art and Antique Dealers Show starts today. The Times review had this to say: "How much money do you need to shop at the International Fine Art and Antique Dealers Show, the ostentatious jumble sale at the Seventh Regiment Armory through Thursday? Let’s just say that when a tureen costs $3 million, and a mirror is the same price as a one-bedroom Manhattan apartment, working folk beware."

The tureen they're talking about is the one I have pictured under the hi/lo report. (I wonder what the knives are now going for....) The dealer bought the piece on Saturday and is trying to turn it around for three times what he paid. Worth it? The only other in existence is owned by Queen Elizabeth.

Also this weekend: the Gramercy Park Antiques Show, the International Vintage Poster Fair, and (out of town) Atlantique City. Check the Shows + Fair guide for details.

If you're interested in old things as a career (in which case you'd probably need to refer to antiques with more respect) the Bard Graduate Center and Christie's are both holding open houses on Monday, the 22nd, from 6–8.

On Tuesday, check out Bard's lecture on authenticating silver, The Fake's Progress.

Coming up this weekend...

This weekend we have the  Manhattan Vintage Clothing Show and The Modern Show. Take a fall drive up to the Hudson to the Rhinebeck Antiques Fair, or out to Long island for the Antiques Fair at Oyster Bay. Check the Shows+Fairs Guide at right for more info.

Silver Authenticity: The Fake's Progress

A lecture on October 23 by silver specialist Alastair Dickenson will discuss forgery and how to tell the real from the fake. Learn how disreputable silversmiths and dishonest dealers might swindle you. Mr. Dickenson's resume includes acting as the silver expert on BBC's "Antiques Road Show." His talk, 6–8 pm at Christie's, will follow a seminar in silver fakes and forgeries being run all day at the Bard Gradate Center.

Doyle New York has a cure for auction phobia

Why are many people intimidated by auctions? Admit it–deep inside you're afraid that you'll sneeze or blink and voila! you're heavily in debt for Van Gogh's "The Fields." It's almost like we fear that auction houses fill quotas by pouncing on the unsuspecting.

I started to wonder if there was a movie or TV show, way back in our collective dimly-lit, black-and-white past, that somehow contributed to this sense of unease. I googled "auction phobia" and eureka! someone had the answer. In episode 64 of the Dick Van Dyke show, "The Masterpiece," Dick attends an auction where he pulls on his earlobe, scratches his nose, and nods his head, all the while wondering who is pushing the bidding up so high until–you guessed it–he's declared the winner.

Relax. It doesn't work that way. But if you're feeling any queasiness at all, Doyle New York is running four free informal sessions called "How to Buy at Auction." They will cover all procedures and provide the most basic step-by-step instructions. (Hint: you raise your hand or paddle.)

In addition, Thursday night, October 4th, Doyle is offering a "New Collectors Evening" that will preview the exhibition of the Doyle+Design auction. There will be specialists to answer your questions, and there will be wine to calm any lingering Dick Van Dyke-induced auction phobia.