Displaying items by tag: desk

On January 25, 2014 Sotheby’s will hold the auction Visual Grace: Important American Folk Art from the Collection of Ralph O. Esmerian in New York. The sale includes over 200 works including watercolors, portraits, pottery, painted furniture, weathervanes, carvings, needlework, sculpture and scrimshaw. Together, the collection marks the most important assemblage of American folk art to ever appear at auction. The sale carries a pre-sale estimate of $6.4 million to $9.5 million.

Nancy Druckman, Head of Sotheby’s Folk Art Department, said, “Ralph Esmerian is known for his profound connoisseurship, discernment and passion for the best in American folk art. Each of the examples in the collection is distinguished by the highest quality in design, pattern, color, texture and form. A pervasive respect and understanding of the inspiration and expertise of the various makers is present in each of the pieces, as they represent both the traditions and inventiveness of American art.”

Highlights from the sale include a drawing of a man with a plough by outsider artist Bill Traylor, an important Federal paint decorated slant front desk attributed to Johannes Braun and a rare fireboard with a view of Boston Harbor from 1825-35.  

The Ralph Esmerian collection will be on view in Sotheby’s York Avenue galleries during Americana Week in New York beginning January 18, 2014.  

The Dr. Susan Weber Gallery is now open at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Designed by the Scottish firm NORD architecture, the gallery houses the museum’s expansive furniture collection that was once relegated to occasional displays and temporary exhibitions.

The museum’s collection spans more than five centuries and features over 200 pieces of British and European furniture as well as guest pieces from America and Asia. The V & A’s holdings are varied and include classic works by historic names like Thomas Chippendale and George Bullock as well as modern and contemporary pieces. Special attention is paid to the process of furniture making and the gallery’s display emphasizes the materials and techniques responsible for each masterpiece. The vast collection allows patrons to see how such things as joinery, turning, carving, veneering, marquetry, and upholstery have changed over the years.

Highlights on view include a 17^th-century scagliola table, Patrick Jouin’s “One Shot” folding stool, which is the earliest example of contemporary digitial manufacturing, a painted Tyrolean cupboard from 1776, and a 15^th-century desk-cupboard made from oak that was sources from 1,500 miles away. The new gallery also features touch-screen interfaces, short films that explain fundamental techniques, and audio commentary by furniture-makers and historians.

The gallery was funded by and named after Dr. Susan Weber, a graduate of London’s Royal College of Art. Since 1991, Weber has served as the founder and director of Bard College’s Graduate Center for studies in the decorative arts, design, and culture in upstate New York.