RARE JEWELRY BY PABLO PICASSO AND SALVADOR DALI @ The Modern Show

RARE LIMITED-EDITION JEWELRY BY PABLO PICASSO AND SALVADOR DALI TO BE OFFERED AT THE MODERN SHOW February 29-March 2, 2008 Two rare, limited edition pieces of artist-designed jewelry by Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali will be offered for the first time by Didier Antiques of London at the upcoming Modern Show, Feb. 29-March 2 at the 69th Regiment Armory, Manhattan. The terracotta brooch by Pablo Picasso, called “Poilu” is an exceptional rarity as is the Salvador Dali-designed sterling necklace titled “Nude Woman Ascending Stairs.” Among the finest pieces in the Didier collection, the Picasso brooch was created by the artist in the 1950s in conjunction with Madoura Potteries of Vallauris, France, while the Dali necklace, “Nude Woman Ascending Stairs” dates from the 1970s. Both are considered to be exceptional pieces for art lovers and collectors alike. Artist-designed jewelry is a category that has been largely overlooked, until now. The revival of interest has, in large measure, been sparked by the Calder Foundation’s exhibit of 400 of the artist’s pieces that recently opened at the Norton Simon Museum in West Palm Beach and is headed for the Metropolitan Museum of Art late this year. For collectors, the attraction the genre offers is heady! Here is an opportunity to own and enjoy signature pieces by the great artists of our times. It is a dynamic investment field – one that is attracting more attention as newly-found pieces come into the market. There are two groups of artists who made jewelry: those who designed and created it themselves and those who sought out professional help from established jewelers to render their ideas. Pieces made by the artist himself are commanding top dollar today. (A Calder necklace recently sold at auction for half-a-million dollars!). For many artists, designing jewelry was done just as a diversion or for the sake of a gift. Picasso’s fascination for jewelry was said to have been born in the dentist’s chair, seeing gold being cast for his teeth. He bought a set of dentist’s drills and tools to make a necklace. For others, it was a necessary source of additional revenue. Glacometti made his first clips and buttons to “earn some money.” Calder also began designing jewelry in the 1920s for his family and friends and to supplement his income. Artists treated all aspects of their creativity equally, therefore the jewelry pieces they made reflect their inimitable style. Calder, for example, saw jewelry as an extension of his creative vision – sculptures made small. Artists also looked for someone to interpret their ideas. They sought out well-known jewelers who would then produce small multiples of a unique piece. In France two main jewelers became involved with Picasso – Pierre Hugo and the firm, Artecrial, who produced jewelry editions for artists like Chagall. Investing today in a piece of artist-designed jewelry is a way to own a “Picassso” or a “Chagall” at prices that are still affordable. (Few could touch a Picasso!) The material the artist used seems to matter little in the creative process. It’s what the artist has done with it that attracts collectors. Artists often worked in whatever material they had on hand – from cardboard scraps to coal! Painter Jean Dubuffet actually set a lump of coal in a ring as an act of intentional satire. A brooch by Keith Haring, which Didier of London will also offer at the show is typical of this trend. “Crawling Baby,” created by Haring in the 1980s is made from cardboard. Didier of London will offer other outstanding pieces from such renowned artists as Jean Cocteau (influential poet, playwright, novelist, artist and filmmaker from the early half of the twentieth century, who helped define the French avant-garde of the 1920s and 1930s) and Joe Descomps, an artist who was better known for his sculptures. The Modern Show takes place February 29, March 1-2, at the 69th Regiment Armory in Manhattan. Show hours are Friday and Saturday, 11 am-7pm; Sunday 11am-5pm. Admission is $15. For more information, contact Stella Show Mgmt Co. at 212/255-0020 or visit their web site at www.stellashows.com

ART DECO’S HORIZON BROADENS @ MODERN SHOW

It was daring and distinctive… glamorous and sophisticated. It signaled change and ushered in a fresh spirit of modernity. Today, it is a testament to the fact that glamour never goes out of style. To love Art Deco – the luxurious design movement born out of the austerity of World War I – is to love it passionately. That is why Art Deco furnishings are snapped up by followers of the aesthetic as soon as they hit the market. With major pieces now scarce, everything Deco is in demand. From the smallest piece of stylized jewelry to framed architectural renderings, we just can’t get enough of Deco. That is why Deco devotees are heading to the Modern Show, Feb. 29 and March 1 & 2 at the 69th Regiment Armory in Manhattan, as it is a barometer for emerging trends and the resource for all of the fast-moving categories of 20th century design. The phenomenal growth in Art Deco has led to the opening of exciting collectible categories that go well beyond furniture. Over the past few years, a wealth of beautifully-crafted Art Deco items have entered the market, heralding a new wave of demand. After making major purchases of the perfect dining room or master bedroom set, and living room ensemble, design-conscious consumers are now turning to an ever widening range of decorative Art Deco items such as movie posters and architectural elements to give their rooms the distinctive excitement of the time. So much of the romance of Art Deco can be found in the gorgeous nudes and lissome figures of ladies who dance through the designs,” says Kathryn Hausman, President of the Art Deco Society of New York, who concurs that there is a strong, viable new market opening up in smaller decorative pieces. “Such sensuous and sophisticated figures will always have an admiring and avid audience among aficionados of Art Deco.” Porcelain and bronze figurines of graceful Art Deco nudes, ballerinas and Pierrettes are all the rage. The name to collect in this category is Goldscheider, an Austrian company best known for its porcelains and bronze artist-designed Art Deco figures – both exotically costumed and nude. Ms. Hausman notes that the market for Goldscheider figurines remains strong and is gaining interest due to a major exhibit at the Vienna Museum. The publishing firm, Arnoldsche, has also released a new , lavishly illustrated official book on Goldscheider ceramics, listing more than 4,000 models! Rosenthal is another notable manufacturer of porcelain wares that Ms. Hausman observes her fellow Art Deco fanatics collecting with renewed enthusiasm. Svelte and stylized dancers and sleek animals including panthers were among the German firm’s Moderne designs and are considered the best produced in the Art Deco 1930s. Cowan pottery is also gaining in recognition and value, she adds. The fascination with the architecture of the period continues to influence collecting trends, with the result that items such as a gate by important artist Edgar Brandt or a small metal plaque from a building, are sought after. In particular, Art Deco metalwork and grillwork are as desirable as they are rare. According to dealer, Donald Selkirk, these fragments of the past are being used in creative ways – radiator grills and covers made of metalwork are popular as consoles today, while architectural fragments make a strong statement as a focal point in landscape design. “Art Deco architecture is also entering the market through framed drawings and papers from architects of the time,” Kathryn Hausman notes. “The imaginary Art Deco buildings and moody, evocative drawings of the modern city, created by Hugh Ferriss, a preeminent architectural draftsman of the period, are gaining an audience familiar with his style through its influence on popular culture, most notably the Batman movies.” With the Art Deco market driven by scarcity and demand, new collecting options quickly become popular. Fine restaurants and homeowners alike are purchasing beautifully-rendered Art Deco bars as centerpieces for their interiors. Once a serious collector purchases a swanky Art Deco bar, it can be filled with cocktail shakers, glassware and other accoutrements that evoke the elegant entertainments of the period. The barware to collect? Libbey Art Deco glassware. According to Robin Cohen of Full Circle Antiques in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, the smart Libbey Malmaison pattern glasses with a “Skyscraper” style stem sell for around $100 a glass. Towering symbols of progress and modernity, the skyscrapers of Manhattan were a distinctive motif in Art Deco designs from cocktail shakers to Paul Frankl’s furniture. Style-setters who have already fallen in love with the sleek, geometric lines of Art Deco furnishings, are now drawn to the same elements in the jewelry of the period. Unlike Edwardian or Art Nouveau jewelry which can be fussy, Art Deco jewelry, often black and white with strong, bold designs, is very striking and complements contemporary fashion. Since jewelry was often taken apart for the stones in later decades, Art Deco pieces are rare and valuable and their craftsmanship is superb. According to specialist, Elinor Gorenstein of Curiosities, diamond bracelets from the period can cost from $10,000 to $150,000 for a signed Cartier piece and are often worn two at a time. She will be bringing to the show, outstanding pieces such as the Cartier All-American themed ring with caliber-cut rubies, sapphires and pave-set diamonds. Additionally, there will be numerous dealers with Art Deco costume jewelry in the $60 to $1000 range, among them Pauline Ginnane Gasbarro, Frances Cavaricci, Lorraine Wohl, Jeff Schaper, Nicholas Roy, Ken Stern, Jerry Barnard, Vivien Boniuk & Arthur Cobin, and Sheila Parish. The Modern Show takes place February 29, March 1-2, at the 69th Regiment Armory in Manhattan. Show hours are Friday and Saturday, 11 am-7pm; Sunday 11am-5pm. Admission is $15. For more information, contact Stella Show Mgmt Co. at 212/255-0020 or visit their web site at www.stellashows.com.

“MAGYAR MODERNISM" @ The Modern Show

“MAGYAR MODERNISM" CENTRAL EUROPE EMERGES AS UNTAPPED SOURCE FOR GREAT 20TH CENTURY DESIGN AT THE MODERN SHOW FEB. 29; MARCH 1 & 2, 2008 It's utterly unknown to even prime players in the market! Feverish fans of the Modern Movement and the cool-headed customers who watch it, will be eager to learn that Transylvania is not merely the home of Count Dracula. It is also the source of fresh blood to fuel the every-growing Modern design market. A virtually unknown era of design history, 20th Century Central European Modernism, in particular Transylvanian Art Deco and Hungarian Modernism, will debut at the eagerly awaited Modern Show, February 29, and March 1 & 2 at the 69th Regiment Armory in Manhattan. Magyar Modernism, as the two design aesthetics are often collectively called, is emerging as the next "big thing" as Modernism collectors continue to search for new material that offers vitality, variety and good value. In a market that hungrily embraces fresh vision, Central Europe has emerged as an untapped resource for exciting new 20th century finds. It’s a category to watch closely as the Modernism movement continues its heady climb to design stardom. “Transylvanian Art Deco is a quality alternative to increasingly scarce and sought-after French Art Deco,” notes New York City dealer, Keith Jacomine, one of the few to specialize in Central European Modern Design, here on the East Coast. “In Transylvania, now part of Romania, there were many wealthy towns inhabited by worldly intellectual people. From that region comes a wondrous stock of Art Deco furniture which is slowly appearing on the market here in the United States. Unlike Franco-European Art Deco or even American Art Deco, Transylvanian Art Deco incorporates extraordinarily beautiful, richly grained native woods into a more primitive and folk-like design aesthetic.” "Due to years of isolation behind the Iron Curtain, there is a nice cache of unexplored great Modern design to be found in Central Europe," Jacomine adds. Hungary, in particular, is a veritable treasure trove of Modernist design, ranging from Secessionist and Art Deco to Bauhaus -- each movement with its own particular indigenous flavor.” Bankers by profession, Jacomine and his wife had the opportunity to move to Hungary five years ago. Having taken a leave of absence, he then spent three years immersed in getting to know art dealers, artists and other sources for great Modern design. He began supplanting the traditional antique furnishings in his apartment with Central European Art Deco pieces, which he found stylish and comfortable. Jacomine's passion for Magyar Modernism started with his discovery of Transylvanian Art Deco footstools. He amassed a collection of over thirty of these comfy, chic and charming pieces, some of which will be offered at the upcoming Modern show, along with a select collection of other period Deco furnishings from Hungary, Transylvania and Central Europe. One of the most engaging pieces that Jacomine is enthused to bring to the Modern Show is a fabulously unexpected Transylvanian walnut Drinks Cabinet inset with exotic inlays. Along with fantastic flourishes and arabesques of inlaid wood, lightly clad lady acrobats on trapezes swing across the front of this glamorous and charismatic cabinet. Priced at an agreeable $8,800, it is the sort of stand-out piece that will create quite a buzz. A richly grained Transylvanian Art Deco round walnut dining table dating from the 1920's is $7800, while a stylish pair of Transylvanian Art Deco upholstered chairs in walnut veneer are also $7800. Hungary may well be the next venue for one-of-a-kind and mass-produced design that's fresh to the market. Noted Modern designers and artists Laszlo Maholy-Nagy, Andre Kertesz and Marcel Breuer were Hungarian-born, but there are a number of talented designers and influential manufacturers of furniture whose major contributions to the Modern movement are as yet largely unknown here. The unique strength of Jacomine's collection of Central European Modernist furnishings should serve to shift that balance. Hot new names to note? Lajos Kozma, Gyula Kaesz and Lingel. Only the first of those, Kozma, is yet at all recognized in the U.S. His Budapest Studio, founded in 1913 was based on the same principles as the Wiener Werkstätte and produced furniture, domestic textiles and designs for apartments and offices. Inspired by popular Viennese and German decorative trends, Kozma’s designs combined elements of Secessionist, Art Deco and Hungarian folk art. In the late 1920's, Kozma also made a radical transition to streamlined Moderne look that linked Deco and Bauhaus styles. At the time, his style was considered avant-guard, and his iconic chairs and other designs from the 1930s are becoming especially sought-after. At the Modern Show, Jacomine will introduce a distinctive, largely forgotten design by Kozma – a pair of sleek lacquered wood Modernist Chairs. Beginning in 1931, Kozma produced numerous variations of this iconic chair, all of which have a spring back. Truly an important Modern benchmark in design, the pair is priced at $8,800. Also dating from the 1930s is a pair of walnut Art Deco-style armchairs which exhibit an Asian influence. Recently covered in African mudcloth which complements their distinctive geometric lines, these chairs are $7800 for the pair. Two pairs of chairs by Guyla Kaesz announce this Hungarian designer to be a new face to watch in the market. A chic and comfortable Art Deco style pair of chairs in white cherry is notable for the sleek, inventive, curvaceous and capricious lines of its arms. Another pair of upholstered chairs in walnut also dating from the 1930s exhibits the spindle backs that the designer integrated into the Art Deco style. Each pair of chairs from this soon to be sought-after Hungarian designer is well-priced at $7800. Lingel, a Hungarian firm, was originally a manufacturer of office furniture. Their bookcases and modular office furnishings are perfectly suitable for today’s homes as well. Jacomine’s New York client base of Interior Designers can’t get enough of the streamlined daybeds by Lingel. Very versatile, as they can be used as a sofa or as a guest bed, these daybeds are a wonderful discovery. Fairly soon, the dealer simply will not be able find the supply to meet the demand for the daybeds. Another piece suitable for small spaces is the 1930’s Lingel Walnut game table at $4800 which Jacomine will offer to passionate players in the 20th Century collecting game at the Modern Show. Show hours are Friday and Saturday, 11 am – 7 pm; Sunday, 11 am – 5 pm. Admission is $15.