What has been described as the joyous return of the leading antiques and fine art fair in the US will bring together 68 global exhibitors from Europe, South America and the US.
Global experts in fine and decorative arts will assemble for The Winter Show, which gets underway at the Park Avenue Armory in Manhattan ON January 20 and continues until January 29.
Time and tastes are changing and the eclectic mix at the Armory show is less rigorous in terms of antique timelines than would once have been the case. Alongside old favourites like a George II Chinese red lacquer bureau and stand (Ronald Phillips), an 1812 Parisian inkstand (Koopman Rare Art), The Judgement of Paris by Lucas Cranach the elder (Robert Simon Fine Art) and a favrile glass lava vase by Tiffany (Lillian Nassau LLC) there is furniture from 1969 and even 2019. Everything on offer, from Rodin to Tiffany to Frank Lloyd Wright, is vetted for authenticity and quality.
Maison Gerard of New York will exhibit a cabinet by Achille Salvagni created in Italy in 2019. Made of parchment covered wood and cast bronze, with gold plated bronze details this deeply layered piece bears all the characteristics of Salvragni’s work with material richness and craftsmanship. An avowed Modernist his work, with its emphasis on creating sophisticated residential and yacht interiors, draws on the architectural legacies of the 1920’s and ’30’s.In complete contrast is a sculptural, natural sandstone formation from France. Robert Simon Fine Art of New York will exhibit this piece which is around 30 million years old and weighs just over 97 lbs. Traditionalists will undoubtedly value a double portrait by the American born Anglo Irish artist John Singleton Copley (1737-1815) of Mary Montagu and her brother Robert Copley. Hirschl and Adler Galleries will exhibit this work, once in the collection of former New York Governor and Democratic politician Averell Harriman.
A 1969 free edged conoid table of Persian walnut and ten chairs by George Nakashima will be shown by Geoffrey Diner of Washington. The selection ranges from Victorian jewellery to African carving, Japanese folding screens and a unique late medieval/early Renaissance astronomical calendar at Daniel Crouch Rare Books.
If you love fairs and all this New York style sounds a bit beyond your league – and much of it is beyond the league of most of us – then console yourself. The two day National Antique, Art and Vintage Fair, billed as Ireland’s biggest, takes place at Limerick Racecourse on January 21 and 22. With ample space and easy parking the new venue for the fair at Limerick Racecourse has already proved to be hugely popular. Fairs are scheduled to take place there four times this year, in January, March, September and November.