Click here to subscribe to M.A.D.

Santa Monica, California

The Los Angeles Antiques Show

by Blanche W. Moss

The Los Angeles Antiques Show, a much anticipated event, returned for its 11th annual presentation of antiques, elegant décor, design, and fine art, April 28-30. A gala preview on April 27 with a $300 ticket price, benefiting the Women's Guild of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, saw a dazzling display by 66 dealers.

On opening night, the look among the 1200 attendees was confident, handsome, and upbeat; live music resounded up and down the aisles. In addition to intermittent buying, people who came to party gave furtive glances to the antiques as they stood by tables piled high with hard-to-resist hors d'oeuvres followed by a gourmet buffet. Bear in mind, all this gives artistic pleasure while providing comforting escape from worldly woes. "Art is cheap psychotherapy," said Winston Churchill.

Greeting attendees as they entered this smorgasbord of antique wonders and beautiful design was a first-time-ever loan exhibit of groupings of chairs assembled by Ray Azoulay of Obsolete, Venice, California. From the structural framework of a George III period wing chair in mahogany and beech loaned by Richard Gould Antiques, Los Angeles, to the aluminum and bent beech of a circa 1980 chair designed by Japanese high-fashion star Rei Kawakubo, function and art were depicted in this everyday object.

About seven months before the opening, under the direction of Azoulay, a discussion began about how to make the entrance to the show something other than box hedges, flowers, and trees. "We wanted something more interesting and dynamic," said Azoulay, "and decided to take an item of everyday use and show how it was used across the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. We thought that every year we could curate an exhibit of ordinary items and use it to serve as the entranceway. You get to see how dynamic chair design actually is."

They started with the carcass of a chair from Sally Gould Wright of Richard Gould Antiques and a wildly imaginative Italian Carlo Bugatti chair from 1909. Carlo's son, Ettore, was into cars; the father was an incredible craftsman, furniture maker, and designer who created a series of chairs and furniture that was totally ahead of its time.

It is said of Rudolph Schindler that he put luxury and modesty together. Luck was with Azoulay in getting Schindler chairs from the Kings Road House, children's chairs, canvas-backed chairs, and redwood chairs made from 1922. Schindler not only created a house but the unusual, simple, and extremely comfortable furniture that went into the house. His genius was in taking ordinary, economic materials from over-embellishment to simple and functional, giving them enduring appeal. The most valuable chairs are the plain Schindler chairs. Displayed in hallway cases were miniature chairs, bottle-cap chairs, miniature Adirondack chairs, rockers, a twig rocking chair, and half a dozen chairs in bottles loaned by exhibitor Bonnie Grossman of Ames Gallery, Berkeley, California.

The show is vetted by a group of specialists, which helps customers buy with confidence. It also hosts a by-invitation-only "no sale" first look at the booths with a tony party for the area's designers, architects, and media, making the point that the Los Angeles Antiques Show is in sync with the social and aesthetic trends being set in the design world.

It was almost impossible not to spot tradition as well as whimsy in most of the show's exhibits. One minute you would be marveling at Hamshere Gallery's collection of antique dog paintings (the London dealer has the largest collection of period and antique canine, equestrian, and sporting jewelry in the world). The next minute had you engaged by New York City dealer Greg Nanamura's fine silver and furnishings, all in sleek 20th-century design. French antique posters were another design attraction-"not for Francophiles only"-in the booth of Sarah Stocking of San Francisco. The variety of forms was endless.

Aaron Richard Golub, a bicoastal private collector, said he felt the quality was not as consistently high in Los Angeles compared to New York City's Armory show but that there was a bigger variety here, noting that the West Coast shows more Chinese contemporary as well as Chinese antiquity pieces. Confirming this trend were at least eight dealers specializing in Asian art, a number of whom had memorable sales.

Erik Thomsen of Bensheim, Germany sold a Zen painting to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in addition to bamboo baskets that went home with several collectors. In contrast, 18th- and 19th-century European furniture was not particularly strong.

First-time exhibitor Michael Ogle of American Garage, Los Angeles, was understandably excited. Specializing in American folk art, he came with no expectations. "Sales were not brisk but even and steady," said Ogle. They were very well received. People who vaguely understood the look of Americana complimented them on the distinctive style and pieces in their booth, saying it was a very refreshing variation to the show.

Ogle sold to collectors and decorators, to known and new clients. On preview night it seemed that people were looking for something they could take home for a thousand dollars or less. "We sold several items like that, then it stepped up to the five-thousand-dollar range, and I actually have a few ten-thousand- to twenty-thousand-dollar items pending, and usually one of those in a show like this will pan out." (One did, at $20,000.) Because they are local dealers, some new clients had already purchased objects at their shop. The Tuesday following the show, American Garage hosted 25 members of the Los Angeles Folk Art Society.

Dealer Steven Weiss of Gemini Antiques, Bridgehampton, New York, cheerfully proclaimed that he "had a much better response this year than last, although not a heavy flow, but really fine people, knowledgeable, wealthy, and some inspired to spend." His experience is a good measure of the show, as he's done it for the past 11 years.

"Last year was a disaster," said Weiss, and he hesitated about coming back after what he called a "debacle." To offset such poor sales, he set a goal, and this time surpassed the goal substantially. For him, Los Angeles is second only to The American Antiques Show in New York City, producing very important new clients-"that was the best of all." The attendees asked good questions, and those who wanted to follow through did.

First-time exhibitor Charles Pollack of New York City was a welcome addition, showing fine American furniture. An exceptional highboy with a Leigh Keno provenance was priced at $195,000; it came from the Allen family. "Everyone has been very kind, good clients, good business, and a lot of interest," he said. Pollack sold a number of small things to several new clients, finding that most people here collect all sorts of artwork, with not as much interest in Americana as on the East Coast, but people responded well to his booth.

"The Los Angeles Times is one of the hardest papers to get into," commented one dealer, adding that he didn't know what you had to do to get Christopher Wright, the art critic, to review a show. Outside of Los Angeles, the shows are reviewed in four or five publications. A small paragraph in the Times commented on one chair being exhibited, creating frustration on the part of dealers and management.

"Half the value of doing a show is in sales, and half is in advertising, and there was tremendous buzz," commented dealer Sullivan Goss, who has galleries in Santa Barbara and Montecito. Although people took a lot of information, sales for Goss were "underwhelming," and he felt that attendance was off from last year. (Actually, the gate was up 8% from last year.) The gallery is wondering whether this show is worth doing, its major piece having been a done deal before opening night.

Famous faces always turn up in the crowd. Look sharp but don't stare, there goes Barbra, and, yes, there are the Martin Sheens, and Mark Harmon, Pam Dawber, and Penny Marshall. And the Malcolm McDowells were spotted toting their new addition to the family.

Adding to the dimension of the show were lectures that attracted big crowds. One was given by Mary Levkoff, curator of European painting and sculpture at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, who spoke on "The Real Treasure of Citizen Kane." An internationally recognized authority on Renaissance sculpture, she is the author of Rodin in His Time. She captivated the audience, most of whom were familiar with the Hearst Mansion, with her presentation on "the unfamiliar collections of William Randolph Hearst."

This jewel of a town couldn't get enough of the presentation by Gilles Rousseau, a vice president of Van Cleef & Arpels. Tapping into nostalgia, as part of the series, Jean H. Mathison and Jonathan Joseph captured the essence of William Haines, the legendary Hollywood decorator.

The secret to a successful antiques show is as hard to crack as The Da Vinci Code. Like life, an antiques show is a mass of contradictions and extremes, and the extremes are success and failure based on multiple sales and disappointing sales. But this is the show that tenacity built, and there is enough satisfaction here that most dealers say, "See you same time, same place next year."

Manager Caskey-Lees may be reached at (310) 455-2886; Web site (www.caskeylees.com).