New York Design Fair Is 100 Percent Design

NEW YORK CITY

:Imagine an antiques show as Cirque du Soleil and you get a sense of the New York Design Fair, which wrapped up its 2006 edition at the Seventh Regiment Armory on March 13.

Challenging the show's approximately 75 dealers to push the creative envelope, Meg Wendy, president of Wendy Show Management, and creative director Lou Marotta succeeded in mounting a five-day event that was sui generis - a colorful and stimulating mélange of antiques and contemporary design sensibilities and styles.

"We gave everyone a free rein," said Wendy, just before the opening of the gala preview, a benefit presented in cooperation with Departures magazine for Project ALS, which raises money to find a cure for Lou Gehrig's disease. "There was no set requirement except to do what they do best - and everyone stepped up to the plate."

Wendy explained that the concept for the show, now in its second year, is to illustrate that it is not heresy to mix and match different styles, and that antiques can radiate their own timeless energy when placed in a modern setting. "It's about finding your individual style. You don't have to stick to any one period," she said.

Indeed, even the guests at the preview party were a mix of young and old collectors - and that, too, created an energy that both dealers and show attendees commented on.

As with last year's inaugural show, Wendy Management utilized the foyer of the exhibition hall to build a design set piece. Artfully arranged by creative director Marotta and his staff, who incorporated dealers' merchandise into the exhibit, "100 Percent Design," was guaranteed to kick start one's entry to the show.

"Fun" is a word that Wendy uses a lot to characterize the event - and that was borne out in many of the dealers' booths. Marion Harris, whose space is always a fun house, bristling with folk art objects that the New York City-based dealer describes as having "wit and style to appeal to your funny bone," assembled an olio of items that included metal doll head molds that had been rescued on their way to salvage, a French Eighteenth Century Madonna mannequin holding the signature cherry and a veterinary horse model of wood and gesso, France, 1890. Harris said she sold across the board, including, among other things, a salesman's sample diner, circa 1940s, that created in miniature a diner interior with various samples of Formica and vinyl. "Children especially loved it," said Harris. "One little girl adorably described it as 'a cafe in a suitcase.'" As for the show itself, Harris said, "Meg and Lou have reinvented the wheel instead of doing an ordinary show."

"It's a good-looking show," pronounced first-time exhibitor Alastair Crawford, as he surveyed the aisle leading to the entrance from his back wall space. "There are interesting exhibits, all very light and decorative, affordable without being intimidating." With a shop on Madison Avenue, the silver dealer specializes exclusively in Georg Jensen silverware. In addition to the showstopper fish dish designed by Henning Koppel in 1954, Crawford displayed an arsenal of flatware in patterns like Blossom, Acanthus, Beaded Pyramid, Cactus, Caravel and Rope, along with napkin rings sugar castors and other gleaming items.

"The show worked well for us," reported Crawford when contacted afterward. "It was our first year and we were impressed by the number of visitors. Although we are on Madison Avenue, we deal privately from a fourth floor showroom, so it was great to meet many old and also potentially new customers who all seem to like the fact that we are a permanent presence in New York. We had a lot of interest in our range of sterling Georg Jensen flatware, we sold some great Georg Jensen jewelry, including an important 18K gold bracelet for $15,000, and we are following up on a number of Georg Jensen hollowware enquiries."

Another silver dealer, The Silver Fund of London, also showcased examples of Georg Jensen silver, among them an icon of Twentieth Century Art Deco candelabra. "We call it the 'coat hanger,'" quipped principal Michael James as he displayed a six-arm candelabra designed by Sigvard Bernadotte in the 1940s. "The show, I thought, was a huge success," said James. "Great attendance, good business and not too serious - very approachable by all budgets. We sold a good centerpiece bowl by Georg Jensen that was in the $30,000 bracket."

"The New York Design Fair - in a word fantastic," enthused Suzanne Cassano of Vol. 1 Antiques, who with her partner, Karen Quinn, was exhibiting at the show for the first time. "This show was a terrific example of innovative, out-of-the-box thinking; a credit to Meg Wendy and Lou Marotta. Because the focus was on great design, rather than period or style," she continued, "the sensibility of the show was unlike any show one has ever attended. In essence, the show presented art as great design and design as a new form of art. I believe customers were thrilled with the outcome and were constantly surprised as they wandered through the show."

In addition to meeting many customers, including interior designers, architects, other dealers and retail clients, the Sharon, Conn., dealers' sales exceeded expectations, including one exceptional sale. "We were privileged to be selling - on behalf of the owner - a collection of six aquatints by Robert Ryman," said Cassano. "These prints were an edition of 50, and our six were one of 15 artist's proofs - it is rare to have the entire collection of six. They were done in 1975; printed by Crown Point Press and published by Parasol Press. Although only in our possession for a short period of time, we enjoyed having them and we enjoyed selling them and know that their new owner is now thrilled to have them."

Nearby Vol. 1's white-on-white motif, John and Paulette Peden of Dawn Hill Antiques had turned their booth space into a Scandinavian movie set. "It's all about design," said Paulette Peden. "Our Swedish pieces are examples of great design, so we've created a still life of each." Indeed, Mole-Richardson cinema lights from the 1940s and 1950s spotlighted Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century painted furniture, such as chairs, tables, commodes, cupboards and benches.

The Preston, Conn., dealers displayed a rococo wooden settee, a tall case clock and a phalanx of chairs seemingly ascending the booth's walls.

Fine art was spotlighted at ProArte Gallery, Miami, where works by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Marc Chagall and Alexander Caldwell were highlights. A sampling of paintings and works on paper on view included Picasso's "Avant La Pique," linocut on Arches, 1958; Matisse's "Tete de Nadia," 1950, pencil and charcoal on paper; and Calder's "Black Crags," a gouache on paper, 1973.

Not only was it Doerte Neudert's first New York Design Fair, it was the first time that she had attended any fair in the United States. In business for 12 years in Nantucket, Mass., Neudert said the booth rent and furnishings were a big investment for her, but the flair and design put into her Art Cabinet booth received much attention. "Many collectors and designers came to the booth and there was not one single day, even at the opening night, that I didn't sell," said Neudert. "The biggest days were Friday and Saturday, but on Sunday and Monday customers came to confirm and pay."

Neudert sold two of the pieces that Marotta and Wendy had placed outside her booth. A sculpture, "Open Your Heart" by Billy Sherry, which was chosen by Marotta and placed at the end of one isle, was sold to a designer. Later, an art collector from the Upper East Side wanted to buy it, too, and invited the artist to his house in order to commission a large piece.

"Some of my old clients around New York visited my booth and bought, but also new collectors came. I had a special customer from the Upper East Side who came on Thursday night, on Friday and on Sunday, and bought two special pieces of my own collection - American Abstract Expressionist John von Wicht, an artist who immigrated in 1922 to New York." The client who bought the two von Wichts also purchased four large pieces by French artist Charlotte Culot, and a woman, a new customer, bought five of Neudert's largest paintings. "It was one of the happiest, positive business events I can think of," concluded Neudert about her experience at the show.

Italian rococo painted furniture conversed with Victorian hall chairs and regency console tables at Milord Antiquities of Montreal, Canada. Owner Francis Lord, commenting that he found the show to be a "wonderful mix of looks and textures - something for every generation," pointed out a couple of notable items in his booth.

One was an Orientalist-influenced three-door cabinet made in Germany in 1886. The main wood was walnut, with ebonized accents of darkened walnut, mother-of-pearl inlays on the side doors and the center panel featuring mother-of-pearl and bone inlay. Another rare piece was a Revolutionary style burled walnut and ebonized secretaire-abattant from France, circa 1800.

In assessing the qualities that made this show a "fabulous" event, Wendy credited Marotta for his creative leadership and the participating dealers themselves, who were, she said, "pre-vetted by being very decorator-oriented." So whether one marveled at the lighting wonderland created by Bruce Phillips of Fair Trade, Inc, Shelburne Falls, Mass., with many examples of Nineteenth Century hall lanterns, or wandered in the fantasy architectural garden at Joseph Stannard Antiques and Design, Norfolk, Conn., attendees could clearly see that Wendy Show Management has hit upon a successful formula to transition such shows into a new phase in the industry. "You have to think differently," said Wendy.

Wendy Show Management's next event is the Spring International Arts & Antiques Show, which will be conducted at the Seventh Regiment Armory on April 28-May 3. For information, 914-698-3442 or www.nyinternationalantiquesshow.com.