American furniture

Some folks like to do things in a big way.  They enjoy the spotlight, and blossom with a little extra attention.  We’re sort of that way, too, so we understand.  Even when it comes to selling an antique or collectible, we think it’s always more fun to make a splash.  Why do anything the conventional way when you can make it fun? Do you remember that Super Hero Auction we had last year?  We had national news coverage for that event, plus plenty of local headlines and spots on our local news networks.  Our own John discovered he looked good in ...

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  If antiques are items torn from history, then auctions are the vehicles that place them once again within the context of personal history.  As surely as Curtis Jere's fanciful wire sculpture "Three Birds in Flight" or Nathan Wasserberger's nude on blue reflect today's sensibilities, two 19th C. French bronzes-Jean-Paul Aube's "Allegorie de le Pientre" and Auguste Peiffer's Allegorical Bronze Group-echo with a timeless beauty.  It will be a joy to see all find new owners. Surveying the wealth of designer modern furniture in our gallery at 80 East 11th Street, I can almost see the set of six ...

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A few days ago, a Chinese collector came into the gallery to inspect a piece of Orientalia. He brought a black light, a jeweler's loop and a translator. After thoroughly inspecting the item, the collector remarked that the nuances and subtleties were all but missing on the Internet. That's why Robert and I spend so much time staging the Roland Auction exhibitions. The preview that opens Thursday, October 13 features more than 400 lots in the October 15 sale. Catalog descriptions are, at best, curatorial and academic. We don't editorialize. We don't "sell" in the catalog you view on ...

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If I had to pick three great names in 20th Century design, I think they would be Frank Lloyd Wright, George Nakashima and Isamu Noguchi.  I was coming of age when they had already achieved a certain agelessness. Their names and work continue to endure.  We're lucky to have items by each in our September 17 auction. Frank Lloyd Wright's last project was the Guggenheim Museum on Fifth Avenue. Who can forget Isamu Noguchi's sets for the Martha Graham modern dance company? And Nakashima's offspring continue in his tradition. I won't say Roland's looks like a museum these days, but when you see ...

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 As I write this, the Roland Auction team is staging the preview for our monthly auction on August 13.  As you know, we have two showrooms in  our 80 East 11th Street, NYC, headquarters. Both are worth taking a look at during the Preview on Thursday, August 11 and Friday, August 12 because the Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Summer Auction is loaded! As usual, we're putting art up front and leading with Israeli abstractist Zvi Mairovich. The floral still life is characterized by strong contrasts between dark and light. Mairovich was a member of the New Horizons movement anad won the Dizenoff prize of ...

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As co-founders of Roland Auctions, Manhattan's newest auction house, my brother Rob and I face a recurring challenge. As soon as the property in the monthly auction is picked up, we have to start filling the gallery again.  It often takes weeks of intense appraisals and negotiations before we are able to offer high caliber fine art, antiques and decorations from Manhattan's premier apartments and estates. That's why I say we're in the business of building relationships. For instance, it required strong relationship building and negotiation skills to bring three exceptional collections to ...

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SANTA FE, N.M. – December is the best month to be in Santa Fe. Snow sugars the old town and farolitos – occasionally still the paper bag and candle variety of childhood memory – climb stepped adobe walls. Pinon scents the night air. At the nearby pueblos, feast day dances bind the generations in spiritual traditions as old as time. A first stop is Coulter Brooks Art & Antiques at 924 Paseo de Peralta.  Jan Brooks and Lane Coulter  –  who is known for such well-thumbed references such as New Mexican Tinwork, 1840-1940; Navajo Saddle Blankets: Textiles to Ride in the American West and ...

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The joy of instant gratification, combined with that pleasurable buyer’s rush, all mixed up in a compact four-hour sale mean that I can go to the auction, see my pals and bid on great area rugs and end tables and still make it home in time to pop dinner in the oven before running off for some afternoon errands. Now, my days of obtaining and taking home furniture have just become a little easier. Dan Ripley and my friends at Antique Helper have decided to offer weekday auctions where folks with the urge to purge can unload alongside the hunters and gatherers who crave some change.I ...

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The three most-read press releases on ARTFIXdaily, published in the ArtWire section between September 1 and December 31, 2009, highlighted museum exhibitions: 1. Art and Illusions, Masterpieces of Trompe-l'loeil from Antiquity to the Present. On view through January 24, 2010, this major exhibition at Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, Italy, explores the art of optical illusion with 140 artworks. From Roman antiquity to Old Masters to present-day painters, artists whose work masterfully "fools the eye" seems to perenially delight viewers. 2. Paintings by Jay Connaway on view at Portland Museum of ...

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Following the media-frenzy associated with the Michael Jackson auction that never happenend, Los Angeles-based Julien's Auctions once again offers up a dazzling celebrity cache. Fine and decorative arts from award-winning star Barbra Streisand’s New York, Beverly Hills, and Malibu residences will be auctioned on October 17 and 18 at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. Proceeds will benefit Streisand's humanitarian foundation. The 400-lot selection features 19th-century American furnishings, Art Deco fixtures, Oriental rugs, Native American baskets, and Barbra's personal Yamaha Baby Grand ...

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