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Landscape Paintings
In a Nutshell: Tales of the Tusk
In the ancient world, ivory was an elite material for everyday items. Peoples across the world created small and large works of art by carving bone from the tusks of a walrus or an elephant. “Ivory has always been a very highly valued substance; there’s a universality of its usage from antiquity on,” says Steven Alpert, an expert, dealer and collector of traditional Indonesian art and the arts of the Pacific.
Books: Furnishing an Explanation
It’s unusual for a book about antiques to be published by a major literary house. But Maryalice Huggins’ Aesop’s Mirror is quite an unusual book, by an antiques insider who can tell a good story. It’s a “love story,” as the subtitle says, and the beloved here is an 8-foot-tall gilt mirror decorated with whimsical figures illustrating the ancient fable of the fox and the grapes.
Collecting: All in the Family
“La Maladie de Porcelaine” was what Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and king of Poland, called the obsession that led him to amass one of the world’s greatest collections of this decorative substance. Among his holdings were superb examples from China’s Qing Dynasty, including the beautiful and popular varieties known as famille rose and famille verte.
Elevating the Everyday
Storytelling helps us think about who we are, where we come from, what we value and why. The art is as ancient as the impulse to gather around a fire at night. While today it is more likely to be an HDTV screen than a glowing hearth, the experience remains crucial to 21st-century humans, who lavish multimillion-dollar paychecks on Hollywood’s leading lights.
Market: Drawing Them In
By: John Dorfman The small, clubby world of drawings enthusiasts gets more expansive this month as galleries all over the Upper East Side of Manhattan open their doors for Master Drawings Week, New York. Introduced in 2007 as an extension of Master Drawings Week, London (launched in 2001), the event involves New York galleries mounting…
In Perspective
EXHIBITIONS An Angle on Arbus: Diane Arbus: Christ in a Lobby and Other Unknown or Almost Known Works opens at the Fraenkel Gallery in San Francisco on Jan. 7 and continues through March 6. Sculptor Robert Gober selected the 48 photographs for the show. UPCOMING AUCTIONS Raise a Paddle, Raise a Glass: A wine-themed oil-on-panel…
Market: In With the Old
By: Jenna Curry More than 800 dealers from 22 countries will gather in Miami this month with one thing in common: antiques. Interestingly, that’s about as much as they have in common. The Original Miami Beach Antique Show, running Jan. 21–25 at the Miami Beach Convention Center, covers such a broad spectrum of objects that…
Market: California, Here We Come
By: Jenna Curry In December the art world looked with anticipation toward Miami’s multiple fairs; this month is Los Angeles’ turn to make its mark. The 15th annual Los Angeles Art Show, which takes place Jan. 20–24 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, is poised to attract more than 35,000 international visitors, and its organizers—KR…
Market: Winter Wonders
By: Jenna Curry The organizers of this year’s Winter Antiques Show have expanded their definition of the word “antiques.” The 75 exhibitors at the show, which runs Jan. 22–31 at the Park Avenue Armory in New York, will not only bring an array of exceptional Americana but also Ancient Greek, Egyptian, Roman, pre-Columbian and Chinese…
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