The Art and Antiques Dealers League of America debuted “The Spring Show NYC” at the 67th Street Armory on April 27 with a preview benefit for the ASPCA. Among those at present were co-chairs Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, publisher of The New York Observer.
Aided by a boost from Mayor Bloomberg, who had earlier in the season proclaimed the entire week “Art & Antiques Week,” the exhibiting dealers clearly had hopes for a rousing round of sales.
The displays were as quietly elegant as you would expect from a high-level show but punctuated by moments of jaw-dropping drama.
The first of these was provided by Peter Rosenberg of Vallin Galleries, CT, who greeted showgoers with a pair of massive Buddhist lions in a predominately blue glaze. Between them, a Japanese-style seven-story bronze pagoda rose about four feet off the floor.
Nearby, Carlton Hobbs of New York stopped traffic with a wall-sized tile kitchen mural from 18th Century Valencia, Spain. Attributed to Vincente Navarro, the mural is composed of 108 polychrome glazed tiles and depicts two liveried servants carrying platters laden with whole lamb and chicken. Although kitchen art of the period is rare, in silk-rich Valencia Navarro’s tile paintings were highly prized and stylistically changed to reflect the changing fashions of the times.
With international trade at an all-time high during the 18th Century, it was fitting that Robert Simon Fine Art, Tuxedo Park, NY, mixed Italian Old Masters and Latin American colonial art of the Cuzco School. The focus, however, was on Florence maestro Onorio Marinari’s “Pertinent Magdalene.”
Charles Cheriff Galleries, Ltd. offered a Linke desk that had been shown at the Paris Exposition Universelle, 1900. The Exposition is where talking films and escalators were first publicized. It was for this that Francoise Linke chose to create “Le Grande Bureau,” a sculptural writing desk (with a chair). The bombe-style desk is made of tulipwood. The front of the desk features gold metal female figures representing Science and Art protecting a spectacular bronze figure of Abundance. The latter is shown as a young woman casting aside jewels. In the background are scenes of Agriculture and a galleon, which symbolizes Commerce, sailing into the sunset.
From the looks of it, The Spring Show NYC has easily won a place on the engagement calendars of collectors.
Urban Art & Antiques 