NORTHWOOD, N.H. — The Antiques Dealers Association of America (ADA) has named Lita Solis-Cohen the winner of its 2026 Award of Merit. Senior editor of the monthly publication Maine Antique Digest (MAD), Solis-Cohen will be lauded at a dinner in her honor at the Delaware Antiques Show, scheduled for Friday, November 6, from 6 to 8 pm at the Chase Center on the Riverfront in Wilmington, Del.
“For more than 50 years, Lita has been covering the ins and outs of the decorative arts world for MAD and along the way she has reported on all the movers and shakers — from dealers to auctioneers, and collectors to museum leaders. Her impact on the field has been substantial. We here in the ADA are excited to see her receive this award,” said ADA executive director Judith Livingston Loto.
A Philadelphia native who studied at Bryn Mawr, Winterthur and the University of Pennsylvania, Solis-Cohen began writing about antiques for The Philadelphia Inquirer in 1973 and soon joined Maine Antique Digest, over the years working closely with founding editor and publisher Samuel Pennington and current editor Clayton Pennington. Some of her most memorable reporting is reprinted in Maine Antique Digest: The Americana Chronicles, edited by Solis-Cohen and published by Running Press in 2004. She is a 2020 winner of the Wunsch Award for Excellence in the American Arts and the 2023 Speaker’s Choice Award from Historic Trappe.
“I’ve done everything I can to make people look carefully. I’ve learned as much from the trade as I have from academics, and I’ve read every book I’ve reviewed from cover to cover. I’ve had a wonderful time. I suppose it’s the thing that’s kept me living so long,” Solis-Cohen told Antiques and The Arts Weekly.
For tickets and information, www.adadealers.com or 603-942-6498.
