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The
Fairest of the Fairs
The Connoisseur's show features the top U.S. dealers
and
will benefit the renovation of the Pierpont Morgan Library.
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By
Diana Mehl |
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The
West Room of the Morgan Library. |
Exterior
of the Gramercy Park Armory. |
Model
of the Madison Avenue side of the expanded Morgan Library. |
Guy Carleton Wiggins, Wall Street, Winter (Looking
toward the Treasury Building), oil on canvas, 20
x 24. |
There
are many opportunities to view and pick up remarkable antiques
in New York City; and, from November 19th through the 22nd,
the Connoisseur's Antiques Fair at the Gramercy Park
Armory will draw savvy antiques enthusiasts for the third
consecutive year.
The fair will open with a gala benefit on November 18 to support
the Pierpont Morgan Library, home to the rare book, drawings
and manuscript collection of the renowned art collector and
connoisseur Pierpont Morgan.
Launched by the Art and Antique Dealers League of America,
the oldest antiques and fine arts organization comprised of
more than 100 elite U.S. dealers, the fair has earned a solid
reputation among collectors in just two years. “We're
confident that we can build upon its initial success as an
important destination fair,” says George Subkoff, owner
of George Subkoff Antiques and chairman of the fair.
The fair sets itself apart in several ways. “It is the
only all-American dealers show in New York City with vetted
material, presented by fine dealers of great variety,”
explains Helen Costantino Fioratti, owner of the antique gallery
L'Antiquaire and the Connoisseur. Each of the fair's
53 exhibitors is a member of the League and, as a result,
subject to its extremely exacting standards. “Membership
is difficult to obtain, and the group has an enormous amount
of expertise, connoisseurship and experience,” says
Ira Spanierman, owner of Spanierman Gallery. “This show
is called the Connoisseur's show because the exhibitors
are connoisseurs, ever ready to pass their knowledge on to
the collector.”
The diversity of the art and antiques on view is a reflection
of the wide range of time periods and specialties represented
by League members. The fair will showcase museum-quality antiquities,
Medieval and Renaissance art, and European, Asian and American
artwork and antiques from the 17th through 20th centuries
– including drawings, paintings, sculpture, furniture,
rare books, antique carpets and tapestries, ceramics, porcelain
and jewelry. The League prides itself on maintaining the highest
ethical standards, and all pieces on view are rigorously vetted
for quality and authenticity.
This year the fair will also benefit from its first Decorator's
Committee, co-chaired by the award-winning designers Mario
Buatta and Bunny Williams. “New York already has many
great shows, but this show is a great addition to the scene,”
says Mario Buatta. The show affords both aspiring and existing
collectors the opportunity to “see top dealers you wouldn't
see at other shows.”
It is more than fitting then that the gala will benefit the
Pierpont Morgan Library. Tony Blumka, owner of Blumka Gallery
and president of the American Art & Antique Dealers League
of America, says, “We look forward to a long and successful
association with this important cultural institution.”
The
gala promises to draw the elite of New York society through
the efforts of its honorary chairs, Mr. and Mrs. S. Parker
Gilbert, Mr. and Mrs. James R. Houghton, Mr. and Mrs. Richard
L. Menschel, Mr. and Mrs.
Oscar de la Renta, Mr. and Mrs. Eugene V. Thaw and Mr. and
Mrs. Charles E. Pierce, Jr.
Originally conceived as the private library of the great financier
Pierpont Morgan, the Morgan Library was transformed into a
museum and research center by Morgan's son, J. P. Morgan,
Jr., in 1924, 11 years after his father's death.
The
Morgan's unparalleled collections are concentrated in
six areas: drawings and prints, Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts,
literary and historical manuscripts, music manuscripts and
books, ancient Near Eastern seals and tablets, and printed
books and bindings. Among the many highlights are the largest
and best collection of Rembrandt etchings in the U.S., the
Charles Dickens manuscript of A Christmas Carol, the illuminated
manuscript Hours of Catherine of Cleves, three Gutenberg Bibles
and the world's most comprehensive collection of Gilbert
& Sullivan scores.
Over the years, the Morgan Library has expanded its campus
twice to include three historic buildings in order to accommodate
its growing collections, its renowned research facilities
and its expanded role in providing first-rate concerts, lectures
and school programming. The original 1906 library, a magnificent
Renaissance-style palazzo that houses the East Room and Pierpont
Morgan's study, was designed by Charles McKim of McKim,
Mead & White and is considered to be his masterpiece.
The 1928 annex, designed by Benjamin Wistar Morris, was added
to serve as the Library's
new entrance and houses the main exhibition gallery and the
Reading Room. The Morgan was further expanded in 1991, when
the Library purchased J. P. Morgan, Jr.'s 19th-century
townhouse (the Morgan House) and incorporated it into the
other buildings through the construction of a garden court.
In
2000, the Library realized that a more comprehensive expansion
project would be needed to enable it to meet its future goals.
It chose the Pritzker prize-winning architect Rienzo Piano
and his Building Workshop to preserve the three historic buildings
and integrate them with a new steel-and-glass structure that
will be divided into three pavilions. The Morgan closed to
the public in May of 2003 for the extensive construction.
The
refurbished Morgan, with an additional 75,000 square feet,
will feature an expanded entrance in the largest of the three
pavilions on Madison Avenue. This entrance will lead into
a spacious central court from which access will be granted
to new and renovated galleries, a modern performance hall,
a larger café and shop, a new Reading Room and much-needed
space for collections storage. In addition, a new landscaping
design will enhance the parklike setting of the Morgan campus.
Tremendous
thought and care has been given to the design to assure that
the new structures will blend
harmoniously with the existing
buildings.
 |
| Clockwise
from top left: Buddha with Attendants, Eastern India,
circa 6th-7th century C.E., Gupta period terra cotta,
15 1/4 x 20 x 6; Kneeling Nude Seen From Behind, red
chalk, 12 3/4 x 8 3/8. Attributed to Francesco Salviati
(Florence, 1510–1563); Enthroned Madonna and Child,
France (Paris), second quarter of the 14th century,
sandstone, 65.5 cm (25 3/4 in.); antique pastoral tapestry,
Flemish, 17th century, 7 ft., 10 in. x 6 ft., 4 in. |
 |
| Clockwise
from top left: William IV brass-inlaid and mounted rosewood
side cabinet, circa 1835; John F. Herring, Preparing
for the Hunt, oil on canvas, 16 x 24; important
gilt classical convex mirror with an eagle surmount,
well-carved dolphins on the sides, double-sconce arms
and a well-carved lion's head in the base, American
or English, circa 1815; glazed earthenware baluster
jar with cover. Venice, Cozzi porcelain factory, circa
1770-1775. 18 1/2 x 6 ¼; early-18th-century red-lacquer
bureau with well-fitted interior, circa 1725, 35 ¾
x 17 3/8 x 39½; Chinese carved ivory tea caddy
with three wooden interior containers, circa 1780; set
of six Regency carved rosewood side chairs of klismos
form with broad crestails centering foliate rondels
above padded backs over drop-in seats. Sabre legs richly
carved with double-leaf capitals and lotus capped feet. |
Extensive
underground construction
will provide additional
space allowing
the new pavilions to maintain the scale of the existing buildings.
Additionally, the glass walls of the main pavilion at the
south and east ends of the new courtyard will finally allow
visitors to see the side and back of the magnificent McKim
building.
In early 2006 the Pierpont Morgan Library is scheduled to
reopen in a new setting to encompass its treasures, one that
the elite exhibitors and true connoisseurs who helped finance
it – directly and indirectly – will surely salute.
Event
Information |
Opening Night Preview
Thursday, November 18, 6 – 10 pm
Tickets: Connoisseur, $500; collector, $300; friend,
$150; brigadier, $100
Reservations: The Morgan Library, 212.590.0325
Antiques
Fair
Friday, November 19,
11 am – 8 pm
Saturday, November 20,
11 am – 7 pm
Sunday, November 21,
11 am – 6 pm
Monday, November 22,
11 am – 5 pm
Admission ticket: $15, includes an illustrated
catalog
Location: Gramercy Park Armory, Lexington Avenue
at 26th Street, NYC
Contact: 212.532.1516
Show Managers: Caskey-Lees, Topanga, CA; 310.455.2886;
www.caskeylees.com
Show Sponsors: Art and Antique Dealers League
of America, NYC; www.artantiquedealersleague.com
Lectures
Saturday, November 20, 10 am
Pirate or Benefactor? Public Perceptions
of Pierpont Morgan's Collecting.
Lecturer: Robert Parks, Robert H. Taylor curator,
Literary and Historical Manuscripts, Morgan Library
Sunday, November 21, 10 am
Morgan and the Dealers: The Art Market
in the Gilded Age. Lecturer: Jennifer
Tonkovich, associate curator, Drawings and Prints,
Morgan Library
Admission ticket: Tickets to lectures include
same-day admission to the fair.
Reservations: The Morgan Library Public Programs
Office, 212.590.0333
Installations
The
Morgan Library: Library, Museum, Masterpiece
The Morgan Library: Restoring, Renovating, Expanding |
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| Diana
Mehl is the editorial director of Panache. |
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| Photo
credits: West room: Todd Eberle. © Todd Eberle, 2004.
Armory: Courtesy of Caskey-Lees. Model of Morgan Library:
Photography by Todd Eberle. © Todd Eberle, 2004; Buddah:
Arnold H. Lieberman; Chalk Drawing: Mia N. Weiner; Madonna:
Blumka Gallery; Tapestry: Vojtech Blau Inc. cabinet: Hyde
Park Antiques; Preparing the Hunt: Rehs Galleries; mirror:
George Subkoff Antiques; jar: L'Antiquaire & the Connoisseur;
bureau: Charlecote; tea caddy: Sallea Antiques; chairs: Kentshire
Galleries; Wall Street, Winter: Spanierman Gallery. |
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