Gigantic, beautiful, exquisite, impressive and elite, while not elitist †in the simplest of terms, these are the sorts of words that best describe the Palm Beach Jewelry, Art & Antiques Show. Conducted by the Palm Beach Show Group, the show opened for a gala preview party on February 17 and continued over the next four days, concluding on February 21.
More than 200 spacious and well-designed booths lined the floor of the cavernous Palm Beach County Convention Center, and the wares displayed dated from a selection of Asian antiquities from 700 BC to cutting-edge contemporary †and as the show’s name implies †there was a dazzling assortment of jewelry.
This year’s event took place under a reconfigured group of promoters, with Scott Diament and Rob Samuels at the helm, as Kris Charamonde returned to the show this year strictly as an exhibitor. Another change this year was the incorporation of the Hope Design Showcase, an area that featured five room settings consisting of dealer merchandise that had been removed from booths around the floor by five decorators. The items were displayed in room settings to illustrate how antiques can work in rooms suited for modern living. Audrey Gruss, founder of Hope for Depression Research Foundation, hosted the first inaugural “Hope Art-of-Design Weekend.” Interior designers who created the Hope Designer Showcase included Jim Aman and John Meeks, Bruce Bierman, Geoffrey Bradfield, Campion Platt and Scott Snyder.
“All the supporters I spoke to were delighted to walk through the Hope Designer Showcase,” said Gruss. “It was a wonderful way for them to see how art and antiques from the show work in today’s real lifestyles; after all, the show is about creativity and beauty, and it’s wonderful to see how it can enhance your life.”
Further enhancing the show were daily educational lecture series that featured topics, such as “Glamorous Timepieces” by Edward Faber of Aaron Faber Gallery and “Collecting Faberge Today” by John Atzbach of John Atzbach Antiques.
The Palm Beach Group reported a turnout of more than 6,000 guests at preview on opening night, in addition to the largest gate recorded in the show’s history on Presidents’ Day. Good sales were recorded around the floor on opening night. “It was a really nice group of people who came out for the evening,” said Tim Stevenson of Carlson & Stevenson Antiques, Manchester, Vt. The dealers reported numerous sales on opening night, including an important watercolor from 1821. Also displayed was a wonderful document box in yellow paint with bright floral decoration covering the top and around the circumference. A great pair of cast iron eagle finials was also offered. Standing more than a foot tall, they retained a nice old painted surface.
Paul Vandekar of Earle Vandekar of Knightsbridge was another to report good opening night sales, with a Chinese Export famille rose shaped tureen, cover and stand, circa 1750, among the first items to sell from his stand. The dealer also moved a Victorian bamboo table; a set of first period Worcester blue-scale broth bowls and covers, circa 1770; and a Beverly Morris painting from 1855. “The evening was packed and filled with interesting people,” said Vandekar, who also noted the sale of a large set of Chinese water fish paintings and several pieces of English porcelain.
Paintings were plentiful around the floor, ranging from Old Masters to works on which the paint was barely dry.
“It’s not just about what you sell, but who you meet and the connections you make,” said Tom Veilleux of Tom Veilleux Gallery, Portland, Maine. Pleased on both fronts, Veilleux listed among his sales an important painting by William Glackens titled “Bouquet with Poppy.” Other paintings on display included a stellar Jamie Wyeth watercolor “Silo and Angus,” along with a Max Weber oil titled “Woman with Flower.” Sculpture in the booth was dominated by works by Elie Nadelman, including a glazed ceramic piece titled “Two Women,” circa 1930, and also a carved marble bust of a woman from 1920.
Paintings at the Kendall Collection, Atlanta, Ga., included a Jan Sluijters oil titled “Flowers in a Delft Vase” that was marked $185,000 and “Restaurant Bibet a Saint Bernard, Ain” by Maurice Utrillo, price on request. A captivating landscape by Edward Redfield was also displayed along with George Bellows’ “Upper Broadway,” both price on request. On the opposite side of the booth was Ernest Lawson’s oil “Hillside” that was marked $100,000, and also “La Frileuse,” a bronze by Malvina Hoffman, $95,000.
Edward Redfield’s painting “Islands Near Rockland, Maine,” was $595,000 at Guarisco Gallery, Washington, D.C. Other paintings displayed included a Montague Dawson ship painting at $152,000 and a Charles Napier Hemy oil “Fishing Boat off the Coast” that was $24,000.
A stellar selection of paintings and sculpture was also offered by Childs Gallery, Boston, including “Africa Awakening,” a bronze from 1959 by Richmond Barthe that was priced at $175,000. Paintings included “Harbor View,” an oil on canvas by Milton Avery, circa 1930, at $350,000, and an intriguing oil on canvas, “Dancing Girl” by William Merritt Chase that was $450,000.
Two impressive oils by Daniel Ridgway Knight were among numerous standout paintings at Rehs Galleries, New York City, including “Picking Poppies” that was marked at $400,000, while hanging next to it was “Among the Poppies” at $425,000. One whole wall of the stand featured the works of Edouard Cortes that ranged in price from $58,000 for “Boulevard de la Madeleine, Winter” to $55,000 for “Champs-Elysees” and $48,000 for “Bouquinistes de Notre Dame.”
Hyland Granby, Hyannis Port, Mass., reported a good show, selling a major American marine painting by James E. Buttersworth titled “America’s Cup: Sappho ,” that the dealer stated was record price paid for the artist. It was a great evening with a nice energy,” stated Granby of opening night. Also offered was a James Bard portrait of the paddlewheeler United States , the largest paddlewheeler portrait known by the artist, measuring 44 by 65 inches, the work was priced at $165,000. A folk art painted birdhouse in the form of a church was also displayed; with carved miniature birds and in great paint, the piece was reasonably priced at $8,500.
A prime selection of paintings displayed at McColl Fine Art, Charlotte, N.C., included “Naptime” by J.G. Brown, $78,000; “Waiting” by Charles Hawthorne, $98,000; and Severin Roesen’s circa 1882 oil on canvas “Still Life with Flowers,” $850,000.
Enjoying great popularity in Florida is the body of fanciful work by Orville Bulman (American, 1904‱978), and a grand selection of paintings by the artist was offered at Edward and Deborah Pollack Fine Art, Palm Beach, Fla. Leading the way was a monumental work titled “Morning Run” that depicted three Islamic women running on the beach with their leashed tigers, along with a classic Bulman “La Barque Cheval de Guerre ” that depicted a squat ship at sea and is illustrated in the book Orville Bulman: An Enchanted Life and Fantastic Legacy .
New Jersey dealer Dean Borghi commented that his stand included a wide variety of art, stating, “it goes from Nineteenth Century into Modernism to postwar.” Among the offerings was an Edward Moran painting titled ” Henry Hudson entering New York Bay” that depicted two Native Americans watching a tall ship enter the harbor. A collage by Fernando Botero from 1961 depicting a fish and abstract human head was also offered, with the dealer stating it was an early collage that hints at the direction he would follow with his “big” people art.
“Our Flag is There, Gunboats Blockade Mobile Bay, Alabama,” by Alfred Waud and illustrated on the cover of Harper’s Weekly in 1864, was offered at $155,000 at Vallejo Gallery, Newport Beach, Calif. The dealers commented that the painting “was originally believed to be an after painting, but it turned out to be the original.” Waud, Winslow Homer and Thomas Nast were the most important first-hand war correspondents from the Civil War era, and Waud’s work was collected almost entirely by J.P. Morgan and then donated to the Library of Congress, according to the dealers. Also offered from the booth was Robert Salmon’s oil “Glasgow Excursion Steamers & American Ship on the Clyde” that was marked $325,000, Frank Sila’s “Strolling along the Bluff at Long Beach,” $165,000, and a ship’s figurehead depicting a lady at $75,000.
Contemporary art included the Betty Parsons oil on canvas titled “Midsummer,” that was priced $75,000 at Cavalier Galleries, Nantucket, Mass. A Jim Rennert bronze of a man walking off the top rung of a ladder was titled “Entrepreneur” and was priced at $22,500, while a colorful abstract painting “Grenada” by Dan Christensen was $35,000.
Photographs of film stars and celebrities lined the walls of the stand occupied by London dealer Chris Beetles where Yousuf Karsh’s 1954 black and white image of Picasso was marked $21,600, Terry O’Neill’s image of Brigitte Bardot was $9,600, and a Terry O’Neill image of Paul Newman and Lee Marvin was $3,000. Watercolors and illustration art were also offered from the booth, with a three-paneled Beatrix Potter illustration from There Was an Old Woman That Lived in A Shoe marked $88,000; an Aubrey Beardsley pen and ink “Lady Golfers with Pierrot as their Caddie,” $108,000; and an Arthur Rackham illustration from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow that was priced at $72,000.
Nantucket, Mass., dealer Lynda Willauer offered a large collection of Chinese Export porcelains, including a stellar assortment of blue and white decorated moon flasks, crocus vases and trays. The dealer commented that the collection had been compiled in the 1950s and 1960s when a private Swedish collector made road trips to London and “filled his car.” The collector, now deceased, “accumulated thousands of pieces and his family has recently begun to sell the collection off.”
A unique custom made candelabra set designed by Gundorph Albertus for Georg Jensen was $175,000 at Danish Silver, Denmark. Other items seen around the floor that were attracting interest was a selection of Art Nouveau sculpture at Macklowe Gallery, New York City; Jean Couteau and Picasso pottery at Sylvia Powell Decorative Arts, London; and a Joseph Henry Sharp oil titled “War Chief, Firelight” that was $525,000 at Schillay Fine Art, New York City.
“Good sales, fantastic interest, great crowds,” said Debbie Wilson of Vendome, Inc, who listed a unique gold diamond encrusted sheep’s head, Art Deco diamond jade ear pendants, a Russian egg necklace and a beautiful Lalaounis necklace among her sales.
“By far the best show ever with the quality attendance in our booth,” said David Rosenberg, president of Rosenberg Diamonds. “Our sales have been in the six figures,” he said. One of the standout pieces at the show was Rosenberg’s exotic and rare red diamond. “This extraordinary ring has three matching purplish red stones, so it is not just one of a kind but irreplaceable,” said Rosenberg. “It is very rare to find one stone in this natural red color,” and he said that strong interest had been expressed for the ring.
Danny Arbusman from Jewels by Viggi commented that they were “pleased with the sales. We have sold quite a bit of emerald-cut diamond wedding bands.”
Lion Heart Autographs sold a typed letter by President Gerald Ford, a photo of Charles Lindbergh in front of the Spirit of St Louis from 1927, a typed letter from Jackie Kennedy Onassis and a book signed by Charles de Gaulle from 1940.
Daphne, Ala., dealer Christopher Mitchell displayed a rare pair of pistols presented to Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard by the conductors of the New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern Railroad. The pair was marked $450,000. Also displayed was a rare Confederate First National flag made by Mrs O.E. Jones of Algiers. La., in 1861, one of only three known examples depicting the St Andrews Cross in the Canton. Jones made the flag for the men at Pelican Station, later known as the Pelican Guard. Mitchell also commented that the eight-star configuration lasted only one month signifying Virginia’s entrance into the Confederacy.
Aside from the exquisite selection of leaded glass Tiffany lamps at Lillian Nassau, New York City, the display included Nakashima furniture, Bertoia sculpture and other Twentieth Century treasures.
Furniture at Michael Pashby, New York City, included a Charles II cabinet on stand with lacewood oyster veneer, circa 1680, that was marked $85,000. The dealer also displayed a George III blue japanned tall case clock by Thomas Reynolds, Oxford, England, $28,000.
Numerous sales were recorded at Valerio Antiques, Coral Gables, Fla., where a stunning selection of Art Deco was offered. Standouts included a pair of Jean Deroubaix designed chairs and a rosewood sideboard by Maurice Rink. Also displayed was a signed Maxime Old rectangular mahogany partner’s desk covered in fawn colored leather.
The next show scheduled for the Palm Beach Group will be the Baltimore Summer Antiques Show, August 23′6. For information, 561-822-5440 or www.palmbeachshow.com .
