From overhead a view of the show just minutes prior to opening.
Review and Photos by Tom O’Hara
CHANTILLY, VA. – For its April 29-30 edition, the DC Big Flea & Antiques Market added the 34th Washington Modernism Show into the North Building, hosted by Jim Linz of the Art Deco Society, as it does once a year. Featuring about 50 dealers and several special exhibits, this event was combined with D’Amore Productions’ regular bimonthly event at the Dulles Expo Center, now in its 19th year with about 700 dealers in total exhibiting in the two contiguous buildings.
Malabar Enterprises, Washington, D.C.
The Modernism show was added a few years ago after losing its downtown location as a great complement to D’Amore’s event, adding special interest and enthusiasm for the shoppers, with only one admission for the pair. This show included a different style and taste from the traditional line of antiques and collectibles, highlighted by two modern trailers from the latter half of the Twentieth Century each outfitted with their own Modernism exhibits.
An Airstream offering Twentieth Century fashions was restored by Joe Valenti, Columbus, Ohio, who calls his business Flower Child, after the styles of the 1960s-70s. His product line centers on fashions from the last 50 years or so. Sales appeared to have been very good during the two-day show.
Nearby, a trailer from about 40 years ago was gutted out and refitted as a showroom by Jeremy Fair of Fair Auctions in Chantilly, Va., featuring furniture from about the period as when the trailer was new. Sales were brisk, and among the buyers was show manager Joan Sides, who was decorating a second home she recently acquired.
Also on view were collections of Art Deco lighting, Moderne furniture and Danish Modern styles from the 1950s. Antique Underground, Syracuse, N.Y., was offering an outstanding collection of early Twentieth Century art glass. There was some competition in that from Alain Fournier, Bowie, Md.
Poster art from the last 100 years was available and selling well at Vintage Poster Art of New Jersey. Dealer Art Finkel trades in the posters that were used to advertise many different forms of entertainment from circuses to movies and more.
The Deco Dazzle, Leesburg, Va., was there with a collection of electric clocks from the 1920s and 1930s and maybe even a few later years, all high style affairs.
Flower Child, Columbus, Ohio, restored an older Airstream trailer as its display.
Fashions and textile collections from the not-too-distant past were represented. Past Pleasures Moderne, Annandale, Va. offered fashions for hippies up to high-style evening outfits. The Airstream trailer was filled to the air vent with ladies garments.
This Modernism show had many of D’Amore’s regular dealers offering later décor and fashions as well incorporated into their own exhibits in the show.
Linz’s Modernism show has been a popular standard in the Washington area for many years, with a growing audience among young collectors and decorators. His exhibitors were from throughout the East, and it has found a good companion at the April DC Big Flea & Antiques Market where there is a combination of styles on offer for shoppers.
The DC Big Flea and Antiques Show was, of course, having its usual affair as well, with more than 600 regular exhibits of antiques and collectibles in the main building. There, the selling was good in the typical inventories of traditional home décor and design.
D’Amore repeats the show again July 22-23 at the Dulles Expo Center and will also host the Virginia Beach Antiques Show August 4-6 in the city’s convention center. For additional information, www.thebigfleamarket.com or 757-430-4735.
