The New Newport Antiques Show

Middletown, Rhode Island

by Jeanne Schinto

"This beach is right out there," said William Vareika of Newport, Rhode Island. "We're overlooking it." He was pointing at an immense (40" x 72") oil on canvas of Sachuest Beach in Middletown, Rhode Island. Painted in 1891 by William Trost Richards, it was the centerpiece of his double booth at the Newport Antiques Show, held the weekend of August 8-10 at St. George's School in Middletown. More by accident than design, Vareika said, he had situated Richards's beach scene so it could have been a "window" showing the topography outside.

On the adjacent wall of Vareika's booth was a smaller seascape, Paradise Rocks, Newport, painted circa 1889 by John Henry Twachtman. It hung, like the Richards work, "exactly where it should be" relative to outdoors, said Vareika, who for the second year in a row was the show's presenting sponsor.

The rest of the show's 40 dealers brought comparably beautiful works of art and decorative arts, many of them with nautical themes. The result was an elegant summer antiques show in a region that has long deserved one.

The show's genesis occurred in January 2007 on a Winter Antiques Show shuttle bus in Manhattan, Vareika said. He, philanthropist Anne Hamilton, and American furniture and nautical artworks dealer Diana H. Bittel envisioned it as they rode to Antiques at the Armory on Lexington Avenue. Hamilton, past chair of the Philadelphia Antiques Show who summers in Newport, would be its chair. Bittel would be the show's manager. Vareika, as presenting sponsor, would "host my colleagues."

Four months earlier, there had been in Newport a precursor to this show. It had the same name and similar intentions but didn't quite come together. The new Newport Antiques Show debuted last year. The skills of Bittel, combined with those of Hamilton, "have made all the difference," said Ruth S. Taylor, executive director of the Newport Historical Society, which is a beneficiary along with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Newport County.

A clear success for the charities, last year's show raised more than $100,000 for each. This year, Taylor said, preliminary calculations are showing that they have equaled that achievement. Taylor made sure to credit the organizers of the forerunner to this event. The Newport Antiques Show has, however, been "totally revamped," she said. "It is an entirely different show and vastly superior." Bittel and Hamilton have "transformed it and made it everything that it is."

One of the most crucial changes has been the venue. The former Newport Antiques Show took place in and around two properties of the historical society. Not with the greatest of ease did attendees move between Great Friends Meeting House and Colony House in the city's congested center. Nor could either building accommodate a proper preview party. A tent was needed on an adjacent field.

The prep school is much more suitable. Just a few miles north of the historic city, it is easily reached and has ample parking. The school's ice hockey rink, carpeted and air-conditioned for the occasion, has high ceilings and spacious aisles.

Max Bohm's seascape En Mer, a gold medal winner at the 1898 Paris Salon, easily fit in the space. The 7' x 8' oil on canvas is essentially a closeup of three sailors on a small craft vigorously battling the sea. Offered by Boston's Walker-Cunningham Fine Art, it required its own truck for transport. The effort was well worthwhile. The painting, which caused such a sensation in Paris over 100 years ago that it reportedly required roping off to prevent damage to it, greeted attendees as they entered this show.

"This is the nicest summer show we've ever been in," said Alan Granby of Hyland Granby Antiques, Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, who brought plenty of his own eye-dazzlers. They included something rarely seen, a 30" globe by Weber Costello on its original, marvelously carved mahogany stand.

The quality of merchandise brings us to a second major difference between this show and its predecessor. The new leadership decided to go for a new market level, clearly high-end, and decided to go more formal and traditional than most summer shows on the circuit. Here, highboys are more common than painted chests. Trade signs are few, and none are apt to be for farm feed. (Cunha-St. John Antiques, Essex, Massachusetts, brought one that advertised a watchmaker.) For the country look, collectors will have to look elsewhere. Ironically, seeing this show after Antiques Week in New Hampshire, these more conventional room settings came off as refreshing, almost daring.

The third major change was the show's place on the calendar. The former show took place in mid-September. That may be a good bet weather-wise, but many people with summer homes in Newport have already gone elsewhere by then. August is more logical. The date also makes it easy for dealers to come directly from the previous weekend's Nantucket Antiques Show, which Bittel also manages, and this time 19 of them did.

Shows like these always open with a preview party. This one, sponsored by Sotheby's, attracted 650 attendees, Taylor said. In the show's program, under chair Hamilton's name, the committee list of other philanthropic heavyweights went on for five pages. It included as honorary co-chairs Hamilton's mother-in-law, Dorrance "Dodo" Hill Hamilton, whose grandfather founded the Campbell's Soup Company, and Mrs. John R. Donnell, whose family's money came from oil.

Asked how many on the list actually attended the party, Taylor said, "We had wonderful attendance from all of Newport's various social groups-people of all ages, from all walks of life, and certainly people who have great interest in antiques and the capacity to buy them were there."

As part of this year's show, the society organized a loan exhibit, Connected to the Past: Objects from the Collections of the Newport Historical Society. It featured a jeweled locket containing hair from George and Martha Washington, a Paul Revere teapot, and a piece of the drapery from the catafalque used for Abraham Lincoln's funeral. "Some people asked if they were for sale," said Taylor. "If they had been, it would have been the most expensive booth at the show."

For more information, see (www.newportantiquesshow.com) or contact the Newport Historical Society at (401) 846-0813 or see its Web site (www.newporthistorical.org).

Login or Register to post a Comment