More than 2,100 people were reported to have come through on opening night and aisles were crowded.
Review & Onsite Photos by Madelia Hickman Ring
NEW YORK CITY — Futuristic style met blue chip design traditions at the 13th Salon Art + Design fair, which took place at the Park Avenue Armory from Friday, November 8 through Monday, November 11. The presentation followed a glittering opening night party on Thursday, November 7, that attracted more than 2,500 guests. Post-event feedback from show organizers Sanford Smith + Associates noted that attendance had increased by 10 percent from 2023, with 20 percent more tickets sold. By the time the show closed, more than 12,000 visitors had passed through the gleaming booths of the 54 exhibitors present.
“We’ve created a fair that’s vibrant, engaging and inclusive — a platform for dialogue that reaches across the art and design worlds. Connecting galleries and clients, artists and collectors, enriched the broader design discourse, sparking new collaborations and perspectives,” said executive director, Nicky Dessources. It was Dessources’ debut in the position, succeeding Sanford Smith, who passed away in May 2024.
Luminaries spotted on opening night included Lora Appleton, Martin Brudnizki, Candace Bushnell, Amy Fine Collins, Robert Couturier, Wendy Goodman, Nathalie de Gunzburg, Anthony Ingrao, Dominique Lévy, Peter Marino, David Netto and MaryKate and Ashley Olsen, among many others.
Several exhibitors made their first appearance at Salon. Galerie Anne Jacquemin Sablon (Paris), Bossa (New York City & Sâo Paulo, Brazil), Crosta Smith Gallery (London), Elisabetta Cipriani | Wearable Art (London), Fernando Jorge (London, Sâo Paulo and New York City), Galerie CC – Castelin Cattin (Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, France), Ippodo Gallery (Tokyo & New York City), Room 57 Gallery (New York City), Thomas Colville Fine Art (Guilford, Conn., & New York City) and Weinberg Modern (New York City).
Thomas Colville Fine Art. Guilford, Conn., & New York City.
For his first time at Salon, Colville featured a selection of Japanese ceramics by artists represented by New York City dealer Joan B. Mirviss including Nakashima Harumi and Kino Satoshi, paintings by Warner Drewes and some Elie Nadelman polychromed papier-mâché figures.
Nearly a dozen long-time exhibitors, who have been regular participants at Salon, were out in force. These were Bernard Goldberg Fine Arts (New York City), David Gill Gallery (London), Donzella Ltd. (New York City), Galerie Marcilhac (Paris), Galerie Chastel-Maréchal (Paris), Gallery FUMI (London), Liz O’Brien (New York City), Maison Gerard (New York City), NILUFAR (Milan, Italy), Todd Merrill Studio (New York City) and Twenty First Gallery (New York City).
Donazella’s booth could be described as “sculptural,” with even practical pieces like furniture and lamps having a bold dimensional aesthetic. A circa 1955 glass-topped dining table attributed to Pierluigi Giordani played nicely with a “Triumphant” glass topped cocktail table by Philip and Kelvin Laverne. Flanking a two-door cabinet made by Osvaldo Borsani and Lucio Fontana for ABV were a pair of lounge chairs by Ico Parisi in puce-colored upholstery. A large scale cabinet by Osvaldo Borsani, made in Italy in 1945, was the perfect support for a circa 1971 cast bronze homage to Alberto Giacometti by Philip and Kelvin Laverne and two contemporary sculptural glazed stoneware bowls by Dena Zemsky.
Donzella, Ltd., New York City.
Galerie Marcilhac hung René Buthaud’s “Le Triomphe d’Amphitrite,” a circa 1930 pastel sketching of Amphitrite, over a circa 1945 marble and gilt metal console table by Louis Süe and Emilio Terry to anchor one wall that received a lot of attention. Also on offer in the booth were a curved bookshelf, made circa 1933 by Eugène Printz, a pair of circa 1938 stools by Jean-Michel Frank, Alberto Giacometti’s Feuille floor lamp and a pair of circa 1935 armchairs by Paul Dupré-Lafon.
Nineteenth Century design was in comparatively short supply but present, nonetheless. A pair of chairs, made circa 1898 by Carlo Bugatti were on hand with Mathivet Gallery while Bernard Goldberg had a pair of inlaid armchairs and an inlaid side table, all by Mackay Hugh Baillie Scott, that dated to 1900-1903. Going back to the early Nineteenth Century were a pair of Empire Fauteuils d’Officier armchairs with lion heads, made in Budapest, circa 1805-1810, that were with Karl Kemp.
Kemp had one of the largest booths in the show, towards the back of the show and adjacent to the bar. Aldo Tur’s dry bar from the 1970s, a table and chair in bent steel and fired dot decoration by André Dubreuil, a unique library cabinet made by Masanori Umeda for OAK Design, an unusual mid Twentieth Century Italian floor length mirror with boldly carved beech frame and a contemporary French black ceramic vase by Poemu were some of Kemp’s stand-out offerings.
Aldo Tur’s dry bar from the 1970s with goat parchment veneer, a French black ceramic vase by Poemu (2023) and Christiane Wachter’s “Monte I” mixed media on canvas, which sold at the show. Karl Kemp, New York City.
Chicago-based Converso Modern had several impressive things, including two Alexander Calder tapestries, a group of seven Mogens Koch bookcases and a carved tulip poplar and walnut sofa made by Wharton Esherick in 1958 for Lawrence and Alice Seiver.
Thomas Fritsch and Artrium had a large selection of small objects: ceramics, lamps, bottles and vases, by makers including Michel Anasse, Jacques Blin, André, Roger Capron, Pol Chambost, Jean Derval, Denise Gatard, Georges Jouve, Peter Orlando, Suzanne Ramie, Jacques Pouchain, Jacques and Dani Ruelland, Valentine Schlegel, Jean Lerat and Pablo Picasso.
A pair of armchairs by Jean-Michel Frank, made circa 1927 of rosewood that had originally decorated Robert Chevalier’s mansion in Epinal, France, anchored the booth of Galerie Chastel-Maréchal alongside a nest of three oak tables also designed by Frank and made by Chanaux & Co.
Galerie Gabriel sold a Tour Eiffel console by Jean Royère, a sideboard by Maxime Old, a curved sofa and two armchairs by Joaquim Tenreiro and ceramic pieces.
Two pieces on Galerie Gmurzynska’s outside wall were irresistible to fairgoers: Tom Wesselman’s “Rosemary Lying on One Elbow,” a 1989 enamel on laser-cut steel silhouette, and Marjorie Strider’s 2013 “Open Mouth,” an acrylic on board three-dimensional piece of a pair of red lips that had come from the estate of the artist.
“Rosemary Lying on One Elbow” by Tom Wesselmann and “Open Mouth” by Marjorie Strider. Galerie Gmurzynska, Zurich & Zug, Switzerland & New York City.
Ippodo Gallery titled their display “Growing Roots: The Next Generation of Japanese Art,” and featured works by 14 contemporary artists working in gold and silver shibuichi; mother-of-pearl; marble; wood and lacquer; cinnabar and charcoal ash; mulberry paper; blown glass; forged iron and clay.
Etienne Moyat’s sculpted panel, titled “Dunes,” shared Negropontes Galerie’s booth space with Erwan Boulloud’s 2023 Yareta II sofa with an adjoining end cabinet, Ulrika Liljedahl’s 150-inch-tall nylon installation called “Crystal,” a pair of cast bronze and portoro marble side tables by Gianluca Pacchioni and Benjamin Poulanges’ vivid blue and white acrylic and ink on canvas composition titled “Aurore.”
Two Italian circa 1930 Circus console tables by Vittorio Dassi dominated the booth of Maison Rapin but did not overshadow Kam Tin’s amber wood and brass cabinet, Franco Asco’s 1957 bronze sculpture “Forma Evoluzione” or any of the five coral heart mirrors made by Robert Goossens circa 1980 in bronze, Mediterranean coral and mirrored glass.
On opening night, Lobel Modern sold a unique Philip and Kelvin Laverne center table and a large circa 1960s Waves motif mirror.
Lobel Modern made an attractive display of a Philip and Kelvin LaVerne Chan dining or center table with four hand-carved walnut stools by Michael Coffey and four travertine and brass candleholders by Karl Springer, circa 1980s. New York City.
Books as well as furniture, decorative arts and fine art were part of the presentation by Weinberg Modern. The New York City dealer had Arthur Collani’s plywood Modern chair, a framed screenprint textile by Angelo Testa, jewelry by Hosken and a framed design for a spray form house.
Tuleste Factory featured figures from Jerry Ross Barrish’s “Static Animation” series, which made an interesting and whimsical presentation. According to the artist’s statement, his works “invite viewers into a rich tapestry of narratives, weaving together themes of memory, identity and human experience” by exemplifying both “the complexity and contradiction inherent in artistic expression… while being crafted from materials synonymous with environmental degradation.”
African art and artifacts have long been an inspiration for modern and contemporary designers, and Pace African and Oceanic Art brought a good supply of original pieces, including masks, headdresses, carved figures and two colorful Aboriginal paintings.
Pace African & Oceanic Art, New York City.
Two dealers paired ancient design from a variety of cultures with more modern representations. Ariadne showcased a circa 386-530 CE Chinese standing Buddha with a First Century Southern Arabian inscribed stele, a Fifth Century Byzantine cup, a circa 470-460 BCE red figure Attic Greek column krater and Southern Arabian alabaster head of a man, dating to the Third Century BCE to First Century CE, with an openwork bronze window by Rhonda Roland Shearer that was made in 1988 and titled “Diamond Grid #2.” On the other side of the fair, Phoenix Ancient Art had a selection of ancient works from jeweler Fred Leighton’s private collection, including a Fifth Century BCE Greek Medusa necklace and a Hellenistic rock crystal ribbed ring from circa 200 BCE.
For visitors who missed the event, a pop-up exhibition on the seventh floor at Manhattan’s Bergdorf Goodman (754 Fifth Avenue) will take place from January through April, featuring select galleries.
Salon Art + Design will return to the Park Avenue Armory November 6-10, 2025. For information, www.thesalonny.com.
