REMEMBERING HAROLD SACK
By
Harold
Sack, with pen and paper in hand, after bidding $12.1 million
for the Nicholas Brown secretary at Christie's in 1989. That
number still stands as an American furniture auction
record.
Harold Sack was born with a knack for leadership, but the role of
guide and mentor was one he assumed from his father. Israel
Sack's immigrant beginnings on Charles Street in Boston had
everything to do with his passion for antique American furniture.
In its formal strength and simplicity, he perceived this
country's founding principals and core ideals. He bequeathed
those beliefs to his sons, Harold, Albert, and Robert.
We owe Harold Sack a great deal. He taught us to look at American
furniture and to love it for its wordless grace. He made us time
travelers, linking the past with the present in a lively
continuum of expression. Drawing dealers, curators, and
collectors together in a common bond, he made Americana
collecting a vital pastime.
In his professional conduct, Harold Sack taught us integrity,
decency, discretion, and restraint. He taught us abandon as well.
We'll never forget the crackling heat at Christie's the morning
that Harold, seated in the front of the salesroom, raised the
barely perceptible tip of his gold pen to win the Nicholas Brown
desk-and-bookcase for $12.1 million, a record for American
furniture unbroken today.
Of all the virtues Harold Sack taught us, the most overlooked are
patience, persistence, and a humble dedication to calling. To
read Harold's memoirs, American Treasure Hunt, is to be
reminded that the Sack firm stared down defeat more than once
over the last century. Reverence for the past, steely
determination in the present, and untarnished hope for the future
kept the dealer going.
Harold Sack in 1983 with a Newport kneehole desk he purchased
for $687,500.
The files at Israel Sack Inc. bulge with correspondence from
legendary collectors like C.K. Davis, president of Remington Arms.
"Collecting was a struggle for him, and it was a struggle for us,
too. Many of the letters involve Harold pleading to be paid,"
Albert recently recalled with a laugh. To the scores of tributes in
the Sack archives, and to the many more at institutions such as
Winterthur and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, we add these words
from a few who knew Harold Sack well and will miss him dearly:
"In the Depression, Harold and I had taken over this disaster
area where we had consignments and no real inventory in a
five-story building. We had consigned some Indian baskets and
ironwork by a man named Connors. He was partially crippled. He
had a cane that opened so that he could sit on it. He'd come in
and watch his wares, and was the most boring man you'd ever meet.
For years, every time we got a slack period Harold would say,
'You watch, Connors is going to come.'
"Once a Congressman gave a Philadelphia highboy to the Governor's
Mansion in Kentucky and Harold was invited to make a
presentation. He flew down and was met by the governor's wife.
When he arrived, people were waiting for this marvelous gift to
be presented. They unveiled the highboy and Harold saw that it
was a Centennial piece. Searching for words, he said, 'This is a
wonderful, unique piece that requires much further study.' He
promised to get back to them, then left."
- Albert Sack
"Harold drove my mother to the hospital when I was born. He was
16 years my senior, and I always looked up to him. My father
was on the road a lot, and so was Albert. But Harold was right
there. When Harold was married, I was 13 and the rabbi asked me
what I thought. I said, 'I think it's great that the Sack name
will go on and on.' I was right. Harold produced four
sons."
- Robert Sack
"My uncle was as sharp as a tack, and the best closer of a
deal I've ever seen. He gave customers the courage to step up
to the next level. If Harold felt there was a pulse there, he
didn't let customers get away. And they loved him for it!
Sooner or later, they saw that they were buying great things.
Even when Harold was ill he was pulling together magnificent
deals. He was an amazing man, a very strong individual. He's
one reason you're seeing prices at the level they are today.
Of course, it took competition from John Walton, Ed
Nicholson, Doris Duke, and others. I've had a great education
and tremendous experiences with my father and Harold. I'm
very thankful for all of that."
- Donald Sack
"Harold and I were kindred spirits. I don't know how we got
started on furnishing the Diplomatic Reception Rooms, but
it was our mutual project. I never made a trip to New York
without visiting Israel Sack Inc. on 57th Street, and he
never came to Washington without visiting me. Harold became
my mentor. I knew nothing about secondary woods and didn't
want to learn. He kindly guided and encouraged me in the
right directions. I counted on him for decisive advice. It
was worth every penny."
- Clement Conger, Curator Emeritus, Diplomatic Reception
Rooms, US Department of State
"I think of Harold as of the same generation as the late
Charles Montgomery. They were very close. Like
Montgomery, Harold was an unabashed promoter of American
furniture. He was fond of saying that it was in the line
and the proportion, not in the ornament, that American
craftsmen excelled. He was from a generation that valued
the Americanness of objects. It's a little old fashioned
today, but it was necessary at the time so that American
decorative arts would be treated seriously by scholars
and museums.
"Forty years ago, Harold was a founding member of the
Friends of the American Wing, when it was the first of
such friends groups at any museum. Twenty years later,
just after the American Wing opened its big addition to
the 1924 building, Harold and his brothers made a
contribution to the American Wing which resulted in the
redesignation of three spaces devoted to Federal
furniture as the Israel Sack Galleries.
"We've purchased a number of things over the years from
the Sacks. One recent purchase, in 1996, was an oversized
Federal demilune pier table from Salem, Mass., with
turned, straight legs and an extraordinary, light and
dark rayed, inlaid top. The table was wonderfully
untouched. I consider it one of the masterpieces in the
Sack Galleries, and it was one of the last pieces Harold
saw in the galleries a few months ago. He and his sons
had lunch here. It was a festive occasion, the idea of
Melanie Gill and Martin and Ethel Wunsch. After lunch we
went into the Sack Galleries and to the table. Right
above the table is a branded Stephen Badlam mirror that
we purchased from the Sacks. It seems very fitting to
have it there. The Sack name is synonymous with American
furniture. Harold, Albert, and Robert can be credited
with carrying on the tradition for nearly a
century."
- Morrison Heckscher, curator, Metropolitan Museum of
Art
"Although many extraordinary dealers have recently
passed away, Harold was a very decent person with great
knowledge and judgment. If you checked with Albert
about the merits of a piece, then checked with Harold,
between them you had the answer. They were keen on
finding out what they could about the origins of the
work, and that is the beginning of scholarship. They
were always strong on pedigree, and still are, for that
matter.
"The antiques market can be intimidating to the novice,
but I've never felt uncomfortable in the Sack
establishment. That's where a lot of young curators
learned. Harold and Albert always had wise smiles on
their faces, as if they had a secret they wanted to
share with you. They made you feel special. There's no
doubt that successive curators at the Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston, were very much indebted to Israel Sack
Inc., for information and knowledge, and for sometimes
pointing them to a person who had something the museum
needed."
- Jonathan Fairbanks, Antiques America; Curator
Emeritus, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
"My background was not in Eighteenth Century American
furniture, and I have to admit that as a young
curator I was terrified of going to Israel Sack Inc.
I once told Harold so, and his mouth dropped. He
said, 'If you'd been coming in, think of how much
you'd know by now.'
"Harold Sack, Wendell Garrett, Martin Wunsch, and I
had a tradition of going to lunch together. We
gossiped about what was up for sale. And we laughed a
lot. Harold was very funny. He loved what he was
doing, and his enthusiasm never waned."
- Dianne Pilgrim, Director Emeritus, Cooper-Hewitt
Museum
"Harold was a longtime supporter and a very devoted
friend. He was always very interested in young
people and their careers. He introduced me to
people he thought I should know, such as George and
Linda Kaufman. I will never forget a meeting of the
Friends of the American Wing at the Met. Harold
insisted that I meet Martin Wunsch, because I was
at the Brooklyn Museum and Martin was a Brooklyn
boy.
"Harold was an exceedingly intelligent person, a
Dartmouth graduate and Phi Beta Kappa, but very
humble about it. He would have blushed if you
mentioned it. He was passionately enthusiastic
about the things he loved. When I was working on
the 50th anniversary of the Girl Scouts Loan
Exhibition, which became 'In Praise Of America' at
the National Gallery in 1980, Harold was dogged in
seeing the project through.
"In 1996, Harold, Albert, and Robert received the
H.F. du Pont Award for Outstanding Contribution to
the American Arts from Winterthur. They've been an
amazing family - amazingly supportive of
institutions, students, and young people. In
Harold, we've lost a great pair of eyes, and a
great person."
- Wendy Cooper, Curator, Winterthur Museum
"When I first started at the Philadelphia Museum
of Art, Harold and Albert would invite me up to
look at things, or they'd come down here. I've
very much enjoyed that two-way kind of think-tank
we've had. It's been a nice working relationship.
We've just acquired through bequest a set of
Duncan Phyfe dining chairs, ten sides and two
arms, that had been in the collection of Mrs
Henry Breyer, who bought heavily from the Sacks.
They've really been wonderful in directing people
to us. It's the norm now that dealers are
scholars, or present themselves that way. The
Sacks were the first to be scholar-dealers, and
they were doing it in the 1950s. They started the
trend."
- Jack Lindsey, curator, Philadelphia Museum
of Art
"Harold Sack was a great mentor to so many
museum curators, but he was also a great
friend. He had a wonderful sense of humor, and
a great interest in subjects other than
antiques. He loved sharing his knowledge and
was extremely generous for over 30 years. He
had a great role in helping to form the
collection of the Diplomatic Reception Rooms,
which is now valued at over $95 million."
- Gail Serfaty, Director, Diplomatic
Reception Rooms, US Department of State
"Harold had an uncanny and flawless memory
for each and every stick of furniture he had
ever seen (and that number must tally into
the tens of hundreds if not thousands). If he
said, 'I've only seen four like that one and
this one is the best,' you didn't doubt this
definitive pronouncement. He often said that
a piece of furniture 'spoke' to him, and if
it were truly exceptional it 'sang.'
"In addition, Harold knew the names of the
most prominent families (and many of their
descendants) in American history better than
movie fanatics know film stars. His passion
for tracing the provenance of a piece of
furniture and his encyclopedic knowledge of
the contents of private and institutional
collections of Americana enabled him to place
each piece he studied in perspective.
"The firm Israel Sack has the nearly singular
distinction of having advertised in every
issue of The Magazine Antiques since
it debuted in 1922. For decades many
remarkable pieces the company has handled
have been published on our inside cover,
thereby making their finds the second thing
our readers observed after each issue arrived
in their mailbox. I know my predecessors
Alice Winchester and Wendell Garrett relied
on Harold as both a generous and loyal friend
and for his advice as a seasoned
professional. That tradition carried on
through to my tenure at the magazine. Over
the course of the last two decades it was a
joy to work with him on articles he
contributed to our pages.
"Harold was always a convivial companion,
full of wit, charm, and that utterly impish
smile that started in his sparkling eyes and
ended up in his completely contagious,
riotous laugh. Everyone marveled when he
successfully bid $12.1 million for the
Nicholas Brown desk-and-bookcase in 1989 and
congratulations came in from four corners of
the country. I was but one of those callers
and I joked, 'Harold, I bet it was fun.' He
replied, 'It sure was.'"
- Allison Ledes, Editor, The Magazine
Antiques
"I interviewed Harold over many years, from
about 1976 to the present. I was struck by
his old-time inclination to make friends of
his clients. He loved having real
relationships with them. Of all the dealers
I have known, none has had more devoted
clients. It really set Harold apart. He
lamented that the whole tradition of
collectors coming into town, spending a day
at the galleries, and going out to lunch or
dinner with their dealers was gradually
disappearing in the second half of the
Twentieth Century."
- Elizabeth Stillinger, author, The
American Wing and The
Antiquers
"What always amazed me was Harold's
willingness to share. He loved to talk to
an appreciative audience. I'll never
forget the twinkle in his eye and the
boyish smile that spread over his face
when he spoke of objects he loved and
people he cared about. It made him seem
like a young man. He was a very good
friend to many people."
- Elisabeth D. Garrett, Antiques
America
"I will miss Harold very much. I met
him in 1969 when I was a Winterthur
Fellow. Right after that, I was at
Bayou Bend in Houston. Harold played
such an instrumental role in helping
Miss Hogg form that collection. His
name came up in almost every
conversation at Bayou Bend.
"Harold and I have spoken regularly
since I've been at Christie's. He
always asked, 'What's new? What's
happening? What do you have coming up?'
He came in last January to have lunch
and look at the sale. A sideboard was
upended in the gallery, but even with
his eyesight failing he recognized it
as one that his father had had in his
shop. He had an incredible mind for
objects, to the end.
"He was a very good friend to American
museums and collections. Without
Harold, I'm not sure that the State
Department collection would have taken
off the way it did. He was generous to
the Metropolitan Museum of Art. When I
organized 'Long Island Is My Nation' in
1976, Harold drove out to attend the
opening. It meant the world to me to
have him appear.
"I never came away from a session from
Harold in which I didn't learn
something, whether from the business
side or the object side. That made him
special in my mind. Albert always loved
looking for the object, but as a
salesman Harold was hard to beat. It
was Harold who convinced Robert Bass to
go after the Nicholas Brown
desk-and-bookcase. Harold called me one
day and said, 'Dean, when are you going
to sell the piece?' I said, 'I was
thinking of putting it in the afternoon
session.' He said, 'Sell it in the
morning. That piece is going to make
history and Rita Reif needs enough time
to get it on the front page of The
New York Times.' As if that hadn't
been enough of a clue, the Sack family
was in the sales room when I came in
that morning. They had come to see the
defining moment."
- Dean Failey, Christie's
"The antiques field has changed in
many respects, but through a half
century of enormous growth Harold
Sack spoke with optimism and an
eternal belief in the greatness of
America. We're going to miss that.
While each generation looks to the
past as the golden age, and regards
the present as one of brass, it's
hard to see anyone replacing Harold.
In that respect, it's truly the end
of an era. It seems rather
symmetrical that the year is
2000."
- Wendell Garrett, Sotheby's;
Editor at Large, The Magazine
Antiques
"The contribution of Israel Sack
Inc. is pretty phenomenal. The fact
that Harold, Albert, and Bob kept
the legacy of their father intact
is very unusual. They were as
scholarly as any dealers could
possibly be, and totally devoted to
their work. It wasn't just an
enterprise for them. American
decorative arts was Harold's life.
"I got to know the Sacks when I was
first a dealer in Atlanta. Albert
came down to speak at the High
Museum. I told him, 'I really want
to do things, like you do, but I'm
a long way from that.' They invited
me up and took me in immediately. I
was young and it was fun. We just
hit it off. I would look at Harold
and he would look at me and we'd
crack up. We were on the same
wavelength."
- Deanne Levison, antiques
dealer, Atlanta
"Harold was a walking
encyclopedia of furniture who
loved visiting me in the workshop
when I was Israel Sack Inc.'s
staff conservator. His father had
been a cabinetmaker, and Israel
passed his high appreciation of
craft to his sons.
"Harold brought respect to the
field of American furniture. He
wasn't afraid to pay for a
supreme example. There's a saying
that in order to sell something,
you have to first own it. His
greatest contribution was his
integrity. He will be sorely
missed. Every field needs a
leader. He was ours."
- Robert Fileti, conservator,
New Jersey
"I went to work for Israel Sack
Inc. about ten years ago, at
first as Harold's driver. I'm
from Poland, and need to learn
about America. Harold taught me
a lot about what made the
price, and if we could find
masterpieces. 'Kiddo,' he told
me, 'you have to learn some
more skills than driving.' And
I did. Harold never forgot the
smell of glue in his father's
shop."
- Jan Strawinski, Israel
Sack, Inc.
"Harold was one of the
greatest human beings I've
ever run into. He was a
brilliant individual. He
loved America and its
Colonial heritage. That was
paramount in his life. He
helped us build our
collection, and when Clem
Conger and I started the
Diplomatic Reception Rooms
collection, we asked Harold
to join us. He was just
fantastic. He contributed a
lot of time and advice for
the several decades that we
were involved in the project.
"I never knew an individual
to give so much of himself
from a business standpoint.
The money was the last of it.
We once went looking for a
set of four Philadelphia
ball-and-claw foot chairs.
Harold had four, but their
knees weren't carved. Another
dealer had a set that were.
When I told Harold, he said,
'I know the chairs. Buy
them.' That's a true story,
and that's the kind of
individual he was.
"I met Harold when my bride
went in to him on one of our
trips to New York 40 years
ago. He spent half a day with
her. She got me involved in
antiques and it took off from
there. My company, Highland
House, had published the Sack
brochures for three or four
years when I suggested to
Harold that we bind them and
sell them as a book. There
are now ten volumes of
American Antiques From The
Israel Sack Collection.
We reprinted Horner's Blue
Book after Harold called
me and told me it was for
sale."
- Joseph Hennage,
collector
"Harold had several great
attributes. The first one
is that he introduced to
the modern business world
of antiques selling a level
of integrity that none of
his competitors were ever
able to equal. He was a
totally straightforward,
honest man. He introduced a
level of scholarship that
has been followed by
academics in the last 20
years, but he was at it
first. Harold was a
cerebral person, as opposed
to a buyer and seller of
stuff. He could love a
$2,000 chair as much as a
$200,000 chair, no problem.
"He was a superb judge of
people, and a great judge
of the stuff. He had a
winning system. He could
look at something from 50
feet and tell if it was a
fake. A major piece was
passed on by all the
experts but Harold said it
was a fake. A museum bought
it. When they took it apart
they found it was indeed a
fake. Harold called it
radar. You've got to have a
feeling about the stuff
before you get into
technical examination. He
could measure most pieces
by the first look."
- Eric Martin Wunsch,
collector
"In 1983 we bought an
Eighteenth Century house
called The Lindens. It
had been moved to
Washington by Mr and Mrs
George Morris, who
purchased it from Israel
Sack. We met Harold after
we bought the house. He
educated us in depth
about Eighteenth and
Nineteenth Century
furniture. We told him we
wanted to put the very
best in this house, which
was built in 1754 in
Danvers, Mass. Over the
years we became more than
business associates. We
were close personal
friends. When something
came up that we could
call a masterpiece, he
would call us. I think we
have accumulated some
very nice pieces as a
result of his attention
to us. Elizabeth
Stillinger has been
working on book on the
house. Harold was
extremely interested in
its progress."
- Norman Bernstein,
collector
"Harold Sack was a
member of the family
who ruled with honesty,
class, and integrity
the field of American
furniture and
decorative arts. They
were pace setters over
the last three-quarters
of a century who helped
Americans appreciate
and understand the
greatness of their
past. Harold's
accumulated knowledge,
dedication, and courage
to 'step up' for
masterpieces will be
greatly missed."
- Zeke Liverant,
antiques dealer,
Connecticut
Harold
Sack enjoys a
good laugh with
Morrison H.
Heckscher,
curator of
decorative
arts, the
Metropolitan
Museum of Art,
during a
program at Old
Sturbridge
Village.
|
"I first
got to know Harold at
an auction preview.
There was a McIntire
sofa that had carving
on the front legs that
was not so wonderful. I
was looking at the sofa
when Harold came along
and said, 'So, what do
you think, kid?' I
said, 'Do you think the
legs were carved later
by the man in Cambridge
who added carving like
that on Derby chairs to
make pieces more
saleable?' Harold put
his arm around my
shoulder and said, 'You
know, there aren't many
of us old-timers left
in the
business.'"
- Ron Bourgeault,
auctioneer, New
Hampshire
"I met Harold Sack
when I was working
at William Doyle
Galleries. I was 22
and had just joined
the American
furniture
department. We had
a general sale
coming up that had
already been
catalogued. In it I
discovered a
wonderful japanned
chair. I pointed
the chair out to
Bill Doyle, who
told me, 'Leave it.
It will do just as
well where it is.'
Israel Sack Inc.
bought the chair.
I'll always
remember delivering
it to the old shop
on 57th Street.
Harold was nice to
me then and ever
since. The Sacks
have done the field
a favor with their
honesty and
integrity. When
Harold said
American furniture
would one day be
appreciated as Old
Master paintings
are, he was right.
He was a
leader."
- Leigh Keno,
antiques dealer,
New York
"What people will
remember most
about Harold Sack
is what he did
for the business
and for the
enthusiasm,
appreciation, and
scholarship he
brought to the
field. One of his
true memorials
will be the rooms
at the
Metropolitan
Museum of
Art."
- Bernard
Levy, antiques
dealer, New
York
"Did Israel
Sack Inc. and
Ginsburg &
Levy ever
contemplate a
merger? I don't
think it was
ever even
close, but I
have heard the
story that my
great-grandfather
used to invite
Harold Sack
over for dinner
in the hopes
that he might
marry one his
older
daughters."
- Frank
Levy, antiques
dealer, New
York
"The Sacks
have been a
tremendous
influence in
the field of
American
furniture,
and the
strongest
contenders
for real
masterpieces.
Harold once
said to me,
'One day a
piece of
furniture
will make a
million
dollars, like
paintings
do.' It was a
great wish of
his, and
rightly so.
Most dealers
appreciated
the Sacks'
tremendous
sense of
dedication
and knowledge
in promoting
American
antiques. A
lot of us
came up on
their coat
tails."
- Peter
Tillou,
antiques
dealer,
Litchfield,
Conn., and
New York
Antiques and the Arts Editorial Content
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