Taylor B. Williams, a well-known Chicago area specialist in American and English furniture and English enamels, ceramics and glass, died suddenly in the early hours of March 31. Stella Show Mgmt Co. completed another Triple Pier Antiques show on St Patrick's weekend, March 18-19, overcoming one of the most difficult obstacles yet. The invitations to 45 select buyers went out only a few days in advance. A private collection of folk art, decades in the making, was to be offered on March 20 in New Haven, Conn. Rescued from the floodwaters of New Orleans, rare relics of the Beat Movement sparked the interest of collectors, dealers and veterans of the Beat generation at PBA Galleries' auction. The painstaking stitchery of exquisitely wrought schoolgirl embroidery is the subject of the new exhibit "A Proper and Polite Education: Girlhood Embroidery of the American South" at The Charleston Museum. In honor of its 50th anniversary, the National Museum from Musical Clock to Street Organ, will present an exhibit of "Royal Music Machines," opening April 13 . David Rago and Nicholas Dawes of Rago Arts presented their first exclusively art glass auction with an exception 200-plus lot collection. Cut glass objects that include color are rare finds, but visitors to The Corning Museum of Glass will be able to view exceptional examples starting April 11. Bigger is not always better and sometimes more is too much. This line of thinking may very well been factored into the decisions made by the Wilton Historical Society for its March edition of the Wilton Antiques Show. "It's a dream come true," said Melinda Zongor, in discussing the establishment of The National Museum of the American Coverlet. In its 21st year, St Matthews Church's Spring Antiques Show was conducted at the Rippowam Cisqua School on April 1-2, featuring 34 top-drawer exhibitors. Marking the 31st year in business, the popular Elephant's Trunk Country Flea Market opened for business for the 2006 season this past Sunday, April 2. A rare Mason Decoy Co. factory tack eye Robin Snipe in untouched original paint and fine condition brought a record-setting $11,500 at a Frank and Frank sale. The Eleanore Segel early lighting collection brought strong auction prices at Hesse Galleries amid a highly charged and competitive atmosphere. The highest ever total for a postwar and contemporary art sale in Europe was achieved at Christie's when 58 works of art realized $64,557,234. The Peabody Essex Museum will present "Painting Summer in New England," which opens April 22 and runs through September 4. A salute to Twentieth Century American music is being composed at the National Heritage Museum via the photography exhibition "Gershwin to Gillespie: Portraits in American Music" on view April 15 through September 17. Although the facility had opened back in December, the River Stone Antiques and Design Center formally opened its doors with a gala grand opening on March 25. What does the future hold for the historic Seventh Regiment Armory in New York City and will antique shows continue to be a staple in this landmark building? A broken sprinker system helped fuel a devastating fire that snuffed out a Stamford, Conn. antiques center and, perhaps several livelihoods, on Monday, April 3, fire officials said Hyland House was once again the beneficiary of the Guilford Antiques Show & History Exposition for the 37th consecutive year. As if transformed from a diamond in the rough to a sparkling jewel, the New Britain Museum of American Art (NBMAA) has undergone a monumental metamorphosis. Moonlight magic prevailed at Northeast Auctions' recent sale as the previously unknown Fitz Henry Lane painting "Moonlight, Owl's Head, Northeast View, 1851" sold for $913,500. Taking place for ten days annually in early March, The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF), or Maastricht, bills itself as the "Nirvana for Art Lovers" and "Best of the Best." The Manhattan Vintage Clothing & Antique Textile Sale completed another successful run in the Big Apple, with a 20 percent spike in attendance from the fall. The Manhattan Vintage Clothing & Antique Textile Sale completed another successful run in the Big Apple, with a 20 percent spike in attendance from the fall. Featuring primarily Chinese, Japanese, Indian and Southeast Asian material, the New York Arts of Pacific Asia show has always felt like a work in progress. As New York's Asia Week gets bigger each year, its hallmark show, the International Asian Art Fair, at a crossroads, is reinventing itself.. Kenneth C. Schultz, 67, a world-renowned antiques dealer regarded as a pioneer and leader in the field of ocean liner memorabilia, died on April 13 at his home. It was not held in a major metro area, and its target audience is tightly focused, but the York Toy, Doll and Advertising Show still managed to attract nearly 1,000 attendees. At the Renwick Gallery's Grant Wood exhibit, visitors can learn more about the painter behind the iconic "American Gothic" and the fascinating body of work he produced during his relatively brief career. R.M. Smythe's recent 1,00-plus lot auction of US colonial, copper, silver and gold coins realized over $1,000,000. Neal Auction Company showed it's back to business as its first post-Katrina auction in New Orleans had nearly 1,500 registered bidders from all over. Fourteen paintings of birds by Jamie Wyeth are on view in the Bayard and Mary Sharp Gallery on the third floor of the Brandywine River Museum. On Wednesday, May 10, at 9 am, the gates will swing open for the 75th time at Heart-O-The-Mart's opening in Brimfield, Mass. The "John Jeliff Comes to the Hower House: The American Renaissance Revival" exhibition will be on view May 1-June 30 at the Ohio museum. Weschler's auction of European and American furniture saw an Aesthetic Movement Minton tile inset burl wood and walnut side cabinet sell for $97,250. Found during a house call, a rare early stoneware penny still bank recently sold for $33,000 at Blyth's Auction. Just prior to press time this past Monday, Antiques and The Arts Weekly learned of the passing of Long Island antiques show promoter Elias Pekale, who died on Friday, April 21, after a brief illness. A new addition to the 2007 version of Americana Week will come from abroad. The British Antique Dealers' Association (BADA) has announced a new fair that will take place January 17-21. Michael Ivankovich's March 10-11 auction once again proved that despite a softer antiques and collectibles market, good merchandise will still bring top prices. Atlantique City Flourishes At Convention Center The 23rd Street Armory Antiques Show, which has been staged at three locations over the years in Philadelphia, is now back at its original location, "and we are there to stay," show promoter Frank Gaglio says. The Long Beach Museum of Art will present "Ruth Duckworth, Modernist Sculptor," in the first US retrospective of this acclaimed ceramic artist, from May 5 through July 2. An exhibition of 39 rarely exhibited drawings of the Hudson River School from the collection of Dia Art Foundation is now open at The Frick Art Museum. An exhibition of the dynamic ceramic figures and fashion by Virgil Ortiz (Cochiti Pueblo) will open at the National Museum of the American Indian in New York, the George Gustav Heye Center, on May 6. The first Mastro Auctions sales event of 2006 proved the auction giant is picking up this year, right where it left off last year - at the top, with a recent event grossing more than $2 million. When Michael R. Corcoran runs an auction, people come from all over to crowd into his gallery in search of fine estate material as well as for the colorful show Corcoran presents. With the debut of its $106 million addition on April 29, the 82-year-old Morgan Library - whose 350,000-piece collection remains one of the great assemblages of Western history, art and literature - enters a new era as a museum, historic landmark and research center. "Everyone wants a show at Navy Pier. So let's do it," York, Penn., promoter Jim Burk told Barry Cohen of b4rTIME, Inc. For more than 20 years, Connecticut collector Terry LaCrosse scoured the countryside in search of automobilia, advertising items and automobile related toys and trucks. As dangerous as superlatives are, it's tempting to say that this year the Philadelphia Antiques Show earned the right to call itself the best show anywhere for American antiques. |
