Fine Arts – Page 4 – High End Weekly™

SOFA New York, April 20-23, 2012

Sculpture Objects Functional Art Fair Celebrates 15th Anniversary in NYC

SOFA New York will be back at The Park Avenue Armory (at 67th Street) in the Spring of 2012. Get ready for some wonderful surprises, cutting edge design schemes and an exciting roster of fifty-five international dealers.

Merete Rasmussen

Red twisted Form, 2011, Stoneware, 17.5 in. h. x 19.5 in. wide x 11 7/8 in. deep

J. Lohmann Gallery

The 15th anniversary will kick off on Friday, April 20th through Monday, April 23rd. The invitation-only Opening Night VIP Preview is Thursday, April 19 from 5-7 pm, followed by a Public Preview from 7-9 pm by ticket purchase.

Donna Davies, Director of SOFA fairs in New York, Chicago and Santa Fe adds, “In celebration of SOFA NEW YORK’s milestone 15th anniversary, plans are underway to reinvigorate the design and aesthetics of the exhibition hall. We look forward to presenting an exciting group of new dealers this fair who are strong in international ceramics.” This year’s new comers are: Cultural Connections CC (Missenden, England), specialists in Danish ceramics. Erskine, Hall & Coe located in London’s Mayfair, specialists in 20th century and contemporary ceramics. Former director of the prestigious Galerie Besson, Matthew Hall established the new gallery with his partners in the same Bond Street location when seminal ceramics dealer Anita Besson retired in June. Flow Gallery, also from London: Yvonna Demczynska of Flow said, “Our international selection of artists will include Dutch artist Henk Wolvers, master of porcelain who creates colorful, subtle forms alive with movement and translucency. Wolvers’s work, Lines, was recently purchased for The Victoria & Albert Museum in London. The Museum of Arts and Design in New York also purchased a Wolvers piece for its permanent collection. Megumi Ogita Gallery (Tokyo, Japan), focusing on young Japanese and American artists remarkable “for their absorption and adaptation of traditional materials and techniques in startling new expressions.”

Of Note

SOFA Lecture Series, free with paid admission. Leading the way on this year’s docket is glass artist/designer Dan Dailey (Schantz Galleries, Stockbridge, MA), internationally-known for his vibrant, humorous sculpture and luminary art. AVIP Program for upper-level collectors and gallery clients will again offer VIP cardholders ultra-exclusive private collections and curator-led museum exhibitions tours. Over 400 VIPs participated in the program last year.

Friday Evening Savvy Soirée, April 20 for the 35 and under set. Last year’s enthusiastic crowd included alumni from the Institute of Fine Arts, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), School of Visual Arts, New York University, Cooper Hewitt Design Museum, Boston University’s MFA Program, Pilchuck Glass School, and Chicago Art Institute; young collectors groups from the Museum of Modern Art, The Smithsonian, The Whitney Contemporary, Fuller Craft Museum, and Christie’s and Sotheby’s auction houses; and young designers from the offices of Bradley Stephens, Jayne Michaels, Adrianne Neff, Jennifer Eisenstadt, Tamara Eaton, and Tim Button.

The 5th annual invitation-only Designer Breakfast Preview, Friday, April 20, planned in consultation with SOFA’s National Design Committee, which includes such notables as Alexander Gorlin, Amy Lau, Juan Montoya, Jamie Drake, Nancy Epstein, Steven Gambrel, David Ling, and Joyce and Maya Romanoff.

David Ebner
Oval Dining Table, Ovangkol, 35 x 55 x 96
William Zimmer Gallery

Photo: LuAnn Thompson

Hans Coper
Selected Works, 1960s – 1970s, stoneware, various sizes

Erskine, Hall, & Coe

The Weekender: Young Collectors

Lillian Bassman: Portrait of a Lady

What component of a photograph makes it beautiful to the viewer? Is it its sense of fantasy, mystery, or can it be its lucidness? For me, a great photograph lies in its significant form. Lines and colors combined in a particular way in order to create and stir aesthetic emotions. The photographs of Lillian Brassman evoke all these emotions, In truth, her photography is conceptional, which means that her subject matters are real, but it is strictly abstract. That is a good thing if you’re considering collecting art and willing to start with photography.

Artists like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Jeffrey Conley, and Martine Franck blend in very well with her work. Lillian Bassman is considered one of the last great women fashion photographers. A breed of geniuses, which I hope one day won’t become extinct. Her work is all about high contrasts between light and dark, the graininess of the finished photos and the geometric placement and camera angles of her subjects. Starting a photography collection is certainly a great start for any young collector, and usually, the price point isn’t prohibitive. The Peter Fetterman Gallery in Santa Monica offers a wide variety of some of the most renowned artists, and now, you can view a number of their collections when you visit them at the Winter Antiques Show which is still open to the public at the Park Avenue Armory. The show ends on Sunday, January 29th. Last night, I had the opportunity to go to the Young Collectors Night which offered guests a private viewing of one of the world’s most prestigious antiques, from English, European, and Asian fine art, to decorative arts dating from antiquity through the 1960s. Starting an art collection may not be an easy process, but thankfully, one has many choices to select from, when you visit a fair such as this one.

Lillian Bassman, It’s A Cinch, Carmen, Harper’s Bazaar, New York, 1951, gelatin silver print
Peter Fetterman Gallery

Lillian Bassman Photos (including Ms. Bassman herself, holding a camera)

Cover: Lillian Bassman, Charles James Dress, 1960, gelatin silver print

Lillian Bassman, The Cost of Living: Barbara Mullen in a Dress by Omar Kiam for Ben Reig,

New York, 1950, gelatin silver print

Lillian Bassman, Margie Cato, Junior Bazaar [White Dress and White Gloves], c. 1950,

gelatin silver print

Lillian Bassman, Anne Saint –Marie, Chanel Advertising Campaign, New York, 1958,

gelatin silver print

Lillian Bassman, Barbara Mullen, Flat Hat, Bare Back, c. 1950, gelatin silver print

Above images from Peter Fetterman Gallery

The Weekender: Alexander Calder

Art in mind…

Red Petals, 1942

Wire, sheet, metal, and paint

Left: Hair comb, 1940, dBrass wire. Right: Pinwheel and Flow, 1958, Oil on Canvas

Left: Pierced Stone, 1944, Bronze. Right: Kiki de Montparnasse (II), 1939, Wire

Rat, 1948

Sheet metal, leed, wire and paint

Left: Object with Red Ball, 1931, Wood, sheet metal, wire, and paint. Right: Four Woods, 1936, Walnut, and sheet metal

Left: Untitled, 1930, Oil on canvas. Right: Vertical Foliage, 1941, Wire, sheet, metal, and paint

Alexander Calder

July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976

NOTE: Please notify us directly, if you believe that certain images on this post are alleged to infringe upon the copyrights of others, according to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Thank you.

The Fine Art and Antiques Show

The Spring Show at the Park Avenue Armory

Now that the first New York Spring Show is out of the way, I can comfortably reflect upon how vibrant and well organized it was. Kudos Mr. Clinton Howell for pulling one of the most memorable fair – to date.

The opening night had such a great turn out that at some point, I even thought perhaps they were expecting a dozen head of states, but no, what was happening was the gathering of a great number of well dressed New Yorkers, who were gamed to enjoy some of the best art and antiques from around the world. I love how the show engaged its audience by having a variety of VIP tours. Just today, my husband and I were at a private tour over at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, enjoying the special exhibition Set in Style: The Jewelry of Van Cleef & Arpels. The museum’s curator, Ms. Sarah D. Coffin, adroitly directed more than a dozen attendees (more than all the other tours combined). Truly, I was puzzled that not many people took advantage of these VIP tours. Since this was the 1st Spring Show, perhaps more people will join in the fun in the years to come. The pictures above represent my key highlights, from Iliad Gallery, where classicism meets modernism, to those gorgeous carpets from Sonia Delaunay (there is a current exhibit of Ms. Dalaynay’s work at the Cooper-Hewitt until the beginning of June) at the Vojtech Blau to that not so beautiful easy chair from Alexander Cohane which happens to be one of the most comfortable seating you will ever have the pleasure of lounging in. The Spring Show had some earthly treasures for all those art and furniture lovers.

Park Avenue Armory
643 Park Avenue

New York, NY 10065
212-744-8180