The 2016 Winter Antiques Show Integrates the New with the Old
- The 2015 Winter Antiques Show. Image courtesy BFAnyc.com.
As its 62nd edition approaches, the Winter Antiques Show -- long considered the country’s leading fair for classical art and design -- is proving that innovation has no age limit. This year, the show, which opens with a gala preview on Thursday, January 21, at the Park Avenue Armory, will expand its offerings to include contemporary material. As a fair that has always championed the historic, this new endeavor speaks to the Winter Antiques Show’s forward-thinking spirit as it broadens its reach to embrace the future classics as well as those that have already withstood the test of time.
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In keeping with the show’s rigorous standards, all contemporary material will be thoroughly vetted by the fair’s committee of 160 experts from the United States and Europe. Part of the vetting process requires that all living artists represented must be featured in several major public collections. This prerequisite ensures that all contemporary objects are up to snuff with the rest of the show’s exemplary offerings. According to Catherine Sweeney Singer, the Winter Antiques Show’s Executive Director, “This requirement is similar to that of other major fairs that do not focus on contemporary art.” Among the modern and contemporary dealers who have been added to the Winter Antiques Show’s inimitable exhibitor list are Todd Merrill Studio Contemporary, a dealer of unique, handmade studio works, who will be exhibiting pieces by studio furniture master Paul Evans, contemporary sculptor Beth Katleman, and Belgian weaver Jan Yoors, among others; 20th century decorative arts and design specialist James Infante; Donzella, a dealer of American and European post-war and contemporary design; Galerie St. Etienne, the oldest gallery in the world specializing in self-taught artists; modern ceramics and glass dealer Sylvia Powell; and Kagedo Japanese Art, which offers Japanese art from the early to mid-20th century. Michael Goedhuis, a specialist in Chinese contemporary ink art and Chinese and Japanese bronzes, will be returning to the show after a brief hiatus. Singer adds, “An unprecedented range of material this year includes objects and disciplines rarely or never exhibited at the Winter Antiques Show, from contemporary Chinese paintings (Michael Goedhuis) as well as modern and contemporary Japanese design (Joan B Mirviss Ltd and Kagedo Japanese Art) to Italian postwar design (Donzella), modern Italian artists' jewelry (Didier Ltd), Italian midcentury glass (Glass Past) and Italian, Finnish, and American studio glass (Michele Beiny), Wiener Werkstatte silver and other decorative arts (Historical Design and James Infante), traditional and contemporary portrait miniatures (Elle Shushan). A pair of stained glass windows commissioned for Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney's MacDougal Street studio (Conner Rosenkranz) and a nine-foot-tall marble statue after the Vatican Museum's 1st century Augustus of Prima Porta (Barbara Israel Garden Antiques) and a late 12th Century French bronze bell (Thomas Heneage Art Books) are among this year's highlights.”
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As usual, Americana will have a significant presence at the Winter Antiques Show, with one-third of the fair’s exhibitors specializing in historic American furniture and decorative arts. Longtime Americana exhibitors such as Hirschl & Adler, C.L. Prickett, Tillou Gallery, Elliott & Grace Snyder Antiques, Peter H. Eaton Antiques, Joan R. Brownstein, Frank and Barbara Pollack American Antiques & Art, and David A. Schorsch - Eileen M. Smiles American Antiques will return to the show, as will Bernard & S. Dean Levy and Kelly Kinzle, who began exhibiting at the show in 2015. Other notable exhibitors include mid-20th-century fine art and design dealer Lost City Arts; Adelson Galleries, specialists in modern and contemporary art; 19th and 20th century American art dealer Gerald Peters Gallery; American sculpture dealer Conner Rosenkranz; Arader Galleries, specialists in antique works on paper, paintings and rare books; 19th and 20th century paintings dealer Schwarz Gallery; vintage and contemporary photography gallery Throckmorton Fine Art; 19th century art dealer Thomas Colville Fine Art; European and American antique jewelry and objets de vertu dealer A La Vieille Russie; fine jewelry dealer Kentshire; and arms and armor specialist Peter Finer. First time exhibitors include Gemini Antiques Ltd., a dealer of American and European antique toys, still and mechanical banks, lead soldiers, and dolls, as well as the foremost art book dealer, Thomas Heneage.
- Interior designer Ellie Cullman.
Another major development at this year’s show is the introduction of the first-ever Honorary Design Chairs. Ellie Cullman, Alexa Hampton, Markham Roberts and Nate Berkus have all been selected for their prominence in the industry and expertise in decorating with antiques. According to Cullman, who founded the preeminent firm Cullman & Kravis in 1984 and has been attending the Winter Antiques Show her entire adult life, “I am very honored to be one of the first group of designers selected to be honorary chairs of the show. The show is such an important resource for me personally and professionally - I am delighted that my ongoing participation has been recognized in this way. The Design Chairs will add an important element to the show because we can identify how items can be used in a home, and how items work with each other. I think it is very hard for ‘privates’ to see all this without professional help, and thankfully - this is why we are needed!”
The inclusion of Honorary Design Chairs builds on the Winter Antiques Show’s engagement with designers during the show’s run. The Winter Antiques Show will continue with its popular Young Collectors Night -- an exciting, high-energy event for new collectors, emerging philanthropists, interior designers, and art and antiques enthusiasts. The event, which will take place Thursday, January 28, is helmed by the Winter Antiques Show’s Interior Design Committee, which includes over seventy of the country’s top designers. A Designers Brunch is slated for the show’s opening day, giving designers and clients an early glimpse of the floor.
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While at the Winter Antiques Show, be sure to catch the loan exhibition Legacy for the Future: The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, which celebrates the Wadsworth Atheneum’s magnificent collections. The institution, which is America’s oldest continually operating public art museum, recently completed a major renovation and reinstallation, restoring nearly 60,000 square feet of gallery space to its historic splendor. Approximately forty objects, including works by Ellsworth Kelly, Thomas Sully, Artemisia Gentileschi, Marcel Breuer, Alexander Calder, and Frederic Edwin Church as well as American and European decorative arts will be on view, illustrating the awe-inspiring breadth and quality of the Wadsworth’s holdings.
The Winter Antiques Show will run through Sunday, January 31. Proceeds from the event will benefit the East Side House Settlement, a leading social services agency that provides quality education and technology training for students in South Bronx and surrounding communities, which celebrates its 125th anniversary this year. Visit www.winterantiquesshow.com for more information.
