Wendy And FADA Team Up To Present A Spectacular Fair

NEW YORK CITY

:Amid a glittering display of quality that rivaled the festively lit Christmas trees outside on Park Avenue, Wendy's December Antiques & Fine Art at the Armory opened to unprecedented waves of anticipation.

In an effort to shake out the market, Meg and Diane Wendy partnered for the occasion with Jay Perkins, publisher of Art and Antiques Magazine. The strategic alliance paid off with a dynamic national ad and PR campaign that targeted traditional collectors, designers and younger, newer entrants to the market. It also yielded a stunning vendor turn out that turned the Wendy show into a top-flight affair.

As one regular showgoer commented, "This is the best looking Wendy show I've ever seen."

Meg Wendy, who orchestrated the four-day show, was pleased with the preopening buzz. "We've been working towards this type of a show for years," she said. "Of the 77 international dealers present, 22 are new and 39 are members of FADA [Fine Art Dealer's Association]." Wendy then hailed the fair as unique, calling it a "show within a show".

As the opening night crowd filed in, luminaries such as society decorator Mario Buatta and members of the Board of Directors of the Boys Club of New York were seen shopping. The gala raised $100,000 for The Boys Club of New York.

At show's end, no overall gross figure was available, but several dealers reported sales in the seven- and six-figure range. MetroArt Gallery of Boca Raton, Fla., sold four Marc Chagall paintings for an undisclosed amount.

A.M. Marks Ltd of London had success with a dramatic silver nef, circa 1895, the largest ever seen by the seller. Its three masts were rigged with silver lines, and from the rudder clung a small figure. So intricate was the detailing of the table ornament that the asking price of $495,000 was appropriate.

And, DeVos Gallery, Paris, sold a bronze sculpture by Jean Lambert-Rucki (1888-1967) entitled "La Foule (the crowd)" for more than $100,000. The dealer also reported that a large Raul Dufy, "(after) La fée électricité 1937-1953," a series of ten lithographs, "is on hold".

These big sales not only couch the show in success, they hint at the diversity of collecting and gift niches represented. From Joseph Henry Sharp's (1859-1953) refined and precise painting entitled "A Crow Encampment On the Little Big Horn," 1906, offered by Nedra Matteuci Galleries of Santa Fe, to the 1976 Steuben Glass sculpture "Cityscape," in the booth of Jeffrey Purtell of Portsmouth, N.H., that appeared to foretell one of the original designs for the new World Trade Center, everything appeared geared to appeal to the broad range of collectors expected.

Dealers who were not tied to narrow genres or focused on a tight historic time-line prepped accordingly.

Christine A. Berry, associate director at Spanierman Gallery, New York, showcased two Albert Bierstadt paintings, "Rocky Mountain Sheep," circa 1882-83, and "Mt Shasta, California," circa 1863, but also hung a representative sampling of works by artists of the Hudson River School, European Impressionists and Modernists. The goal for the show, she said, "Is to meet new collectors." After the show, Berry remarked, "We saw a lot of our regular customers and met quite a few new collectors. Having a diversity of work was the way to go. We're very pleased."

Joe Rehs, of Rehs Gallery in New York City, also offered a reaction that reflected a departure from the predictable. "Most of our sales were in the contemporary arena, something you don't usually see in a show like this." Two acrylic on canvas still lifes, "5 Jonathon Apples" and "Green Pears," both by John Kuhn (born 1948), sold on the same day. Even with red dots attached, they continued to draw interest, so Reh replaced them with another Kuhn, which sold the following day. "Women on a Beach," oil on canvas by Sally Swatland (born 1946) underscored the popularity of contemporary art in this particular venue.

Gallagher-Christopher of Connecticut divided its booth into two periods, midcentury modern and traditional furniture. Featured among the former was an outstanding credenza of black lacquer and mahogany by California designer Paul Laszlo, priced at $4,200. A pair of nickel plated hexagonal end tables with lightening bolt legs, in the $4,000 range, went quickly, as did a French Art Deco pallisandre wood buffet cabinet, with a marble top and unusual tiered ornamentation at the sides.

Fleur, the Mount Kisco, N.Y.-based specialist in "faux bois," had showgoers wondering how the massive late 1800 stone table on a stone pedestal got from Lyon to the Armory. (It takes five men to move it.) Weighing in at an undisclosed amount, the table bore a tag for $15,000. It is now destined for a private garden.

QuestRoyal Fine Art, New York City, displayed a range of American paintings, including "Winter At The Farm" by Edward Moran (1829-1901) and "River Sunset," by Jasper Francis Cropsey (1823-1932). A spokesperson for the gallery said collectors picked up on several of the offerings in the $20,000 to $40,000 range. She added that interest in an important work in the $200,000 range is still strong.

The fascination with oils and acrylics continued across the board, with remarkably little overlap in artists.

Waterhouse and Dodd, London specialists in European art, offered something for everyone. Among these, "Le Quai de Beynac" by Gustave Loiseau (1849-1892) and "The Artists' Model I" by Bill Jacklin (British, born 1943).

McColl Fine Art, Rhode Island, featured "Maison Paysanne près de Labastide-du-Ver," an oil on canvas by Henri Martin (1860-1943), one of the key figures in the Post Impressionist movement.

William Karges Fine Art, Carmel, Calif., showed a selection of paintings that ranged from $35,000 down to $9,500. Included were two by Paul de Longres (1855-1911), "White Roses" and "Pink Roses with Butterfly." "An English Cottage" by Theodore Wores (1859-1939) and "Foothill Farm" by Jean Mannheim (1863-1945) rounded out the booth.

Roughton Galleries, Dallas, offered two stellar Guy Carlton Wiggins Manhattan winter street scenes including "Fifth Avenue Storm, Fifth at Forty-Fifth" that was priced at $225,000.

Thomas Nygard Gallery, Bozeman, Mont., centerpieced an N.C. Wyeth (1882-1945) titled "Riders." On a far wall, Nygard displayed ten Phillip Russell Goodwin (1864-1926) naturalist illustration watercolor studies of chance encounters, predicaments that pit man and beast. It was Nygard's first appearance at the Wendy Show.

Schiller & Bodo, New York City, featured a magnificent suite of Nineteenth Century French paintings. Among them, "June Fille de la Rochelle," a study for "La Gue," 1895, by Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905), as well as "La Coquette" by Jules-Adolph Goupil (1839-1883) and "Summer Days at Giverney" by Ferdinand Heilbuth (1826-1899).

Manhattan dealer Godel & Co. showed Mortimer Smith and Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait, among others. A Thomas Moran (1837-1926) work, "Grand Canyon," 1921, was among its chief offerings.

For a change of pace, Charleston Renaissance Gallery featured a charming William Aiken Walker (1868-1940) scene, and a galaxy of Southern artists. Other highlights from the stand included William deLeftwich Dodge's oil "Moonrise" that was priced at $85,000, and a stunning Rockwell Kent titled "America, Land of Our Fathers" that was priced at $245,000.

Elsewhere, in that vast domain that exists beyond fine art, and with which fine art must eventually meld in harmony, the show featured an assortment of unusual, ethnic, quirky and unique categories.

Boccara of New York City hung high its offering of art rugs. Carpets after Albert Gleizes (1881-1953) the French cubist painter and Serge Poliakoff (1909-1969) were just a few among the many on display.

Elizabeth Gann, of Gann Ltd Collections, Long Island, showed a treasury of unusual and rare chess sets. The only female in the business of specialty chess sets, Gann also brokers the custom-made sets of Oleg Raikis. Gunn was another first-timer at Antiques & Fine Art at the Armory.

David Morris, London, stunned beholders with a lavish display of tastefully designed jewelry. Contemporary designs by Jeffrey Morris, of emeralds, diamonds, rubies, all set in platinum, intermingled with the occasional estate piece.

Another London-based jeweler, Hamshere Gallery, filled tall vitrines with a portion of what it claims is the "largest stock in the world of canine, equestrian and sporting fine antique jewelry."

Gemlike in their glow, Tiffany lamps lighted viewers' way to Harvey Weinstein Fine Antiques. Once there, they could either marvel at the artful leaded glass or allow themselves to be distracted by a portrayal of George Washington at Valley Forge, praying. The painting by Lambert Sachs (1818-1903) was valued at $375,000.

Galarie Afroidit, from Ankara, Turkey, decorated a corner booth with carpets and remarkable examples of ikat and suzani. A Uzbekistani robelike garment, circa 1870-1800, of handwoven silk ikat, tagged $3,500, bore a shiny, chintzlike finish that Moustaffa Bulgurolu explained was obtained by the use of an egg white mixture. The recipe, Bulgurolu lamented, is no longer known. A large hand embroidered silk suzani (the Iranian and Tajik word for needle) used by the peoples of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan as nuptial spreads, funeral drapes and wall hangings, was priced about $3,000.

Speaking of the Middle East, The 19th Century Shop, New York City, showed one of the most compelling items of the entire show. Handsomely displayed on the wall was "The First Printed Map of the Holy Land," Lubeck: Brandis, 1475. According to Stephen Lowenthal, proprietor, it is one of just eight or ten in the world. Ironically, the map was positioned next to items from the Apollo space mission. But, as Lowenthal attests, "We sell rare books and manuscripts of all ages."

Furniture of all design stages and styles was in full flower.

From her shops in France and Israel, Danile Giromini brought a selection of Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century furnishings to this, her first Wendy show. When asked how she fared, Giromini said, "We are very pleased. We met a lot of collectors. And, I must tell you, they were all very knowledgeable. Oui, Americans know their antiques."

Two Zero C Applied Art, London, modernist and architectural designs of all disciplines, featured a Carlos Bugatti (1856-1940) camel skin covered corner cupboard, a Raymond Subes (1891-1970) door suitable for a wine cellar or front gate, as well as several other outstanding examples of 1930s French design.

In the final hours of the Antiques & Fine Art at the Armory, Marion Harris, of Mar!on Harr!s (sic), New York City, an antiquarian who specializes in the human form, from Plato to Picasso, from Michelangelo to Man Ray, declared, "It was a good show. We sold a lot. The big items went to collectors. The small things to gift givers."

Asked about the future, Diane Wendy, matriarch of the Wendy show empire, grinned. "Everyone has signed up again for next year," she said.