Bakelite: A Collector’s Odyssey

Thursday, October 3, 2019, 7:00–8:30 p.m.

 

Dr. Bob Lerch invited ADSNY for an exclusive evening in his home to see his vast collection of extraordinary Bakelite objects. Our members heard from his curator, Julie Winsor, and Dr. Lerch about the history of his collection and about the role Bakelite played in American design. The event included a gala cocktail reception in his private garden as well as a talk exploring Bakelite and his collection.

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Art Deco Collections of Greenwich Connecticut

Sunday, October 14, 2018, noon–6:00 p.m.

 

ADSNY members spent a delightful autumn afternoon in Greenwich, Connecticut, where we saw two vastly different collections celebrating Art Deco. Our first stop featured an engaging illustrated talk presented by Sally and Mike Harris, who chronicled Art Deco diners, neon lit motels, and old-fashioned gas stations along the historic Route 66. Their stunning collection of captivating photographs of Art Deco sites along what is left of Route 66––from St. Louis, Missouri to Santa Monica, California chronicled middle American culture of the 1930s and gave a glimpse into how diners, motels, and kitsch of the region existed in the period.

 

Then, we were off to see a very different kind of collection –stunning examples of French decorative arts and design produced by paramount designers such as Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann in the private residence of an acclaimed author and decorative arts design historian. Attendees were treated to a private tour of this stellar collection of French Art Deco and Art Nouveau masterworks.

 

This unique afternoon highlighted how the Art Deco style was successfully adapted to various design mediums over the first half of the twentieth century to serve very contrasting functions in two countries. These collections juxtapose French decorative arts created for luxurious private residences of the socially elite during the 1920s, to commercial, streamlined American architecture designed for a thriving middle-class society on the go, in the 1930s and 40s.

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A Token of Elegance: Cigarette Holders in Vogue

Thursday, April 28, 2016, 7:00–8:30 p.m.

 

Designer, philanthropist, art collector, and ADSNY member, Carolyn Hsu-Balcer, invited ADSNY members to celebrate the glamour of Jazz Age culture in her Sutton area home to see her stunning collection of Art Deco cigarette holders. The evening focused on the beauty and social history of Jazz Age cigarette holders and as explored in the new publication, A Token of Elegance: Cigarette Holders in Vogue, which features her collection.

 

Rebecca McNamara and Hsu-Balcer led us through the development of this modern, neatly configured and packaged smoking device that, “attracted women to luxuriate in smoky reveries.” We explored how holders became a handy theatrical prop for business and political interactions as much as a fashionable branding tool of social sophistication among celebrities and within elite circles.

 

This event gave us the opportunity to see exquisite examples from Hsu-Balcer’s 400-plus-piece collection. We explored objects ranging from pieces made by leading international jewelers including, Boucheron, Cartier, Fabergé, Tiffany & Co. and Van Cleef & Arpels; to a holder once owned by Princess Margaret; to holders made as promotional giveaways at fashionable New York City nightclubs; made of gold, silver, ivory and encrusted with jewels; from China, England, France, Japan, Russia, Thailand, the United States and elsewhere.

 

This event included a wine reception, h’ors d’oeuvres, and a book signing.

 

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Growing Up Deco: A Daughter Talks about her Mom’s Collection

Thursday, December 3, 2015, 7:00­–9:00 p.m.

 

All current ADSNY members and their FREE guest were invited to our first Art Deco Collector’s Event of the season in Leonard Bernstein’s former penthouse residence, overlooking the Midtown skyline.

 

This evening focused on the spectacular collection, of artist and illustrator Corinne Davidov, who launched The Coda Collection at the Marche aux Puces, in Paris, with her purchase of Pierre Turin’s bronze medallion commemorating the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs. Viewers saw how the visual world of Jazz Age Paris, city of Picasso, Matisse, Josephine Baker, Coco Chanel and the Ballets Russes, became the focal points of her collection, reflecting the spirit of the period, elegant and streamlined, colorful and witty, bold and modern.

 

Co-author of The Bakelite Jewelry Book, Davidov sought out extraordinary pieces of decorative arts and design ranging from unique Bakelite jewelry to beautiful art glass, Art Deco and Nouveau furniture as well as wonderful Deco and Nouveau lighting.

 

At this event, her daughter, Karen Davidov, in conversation with Adam Harrison Levy, discussed how collecting evokes memory, enhances our senses, and connects the past with the present.  A wine and cheese reception followed the discussion, and included an opportunity to win some of Corinne’s stunning pieces to add to your own collection.

 

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ADSNY Donor Circle & Supporting Level Members Inside Kelly Gallery

Thursday, May 28, 2015, 6:30–8:30 p.m.

 

Stephen E. Kelly, owner of Kelly Gallery, hosted ADSNY Donors Circle and Supporting level members for a rare look at his extensive collection of museum quality decorative arts and design from the Art Deco period.

 

For the past 30 years, Dr. Kelly has been collecting rare and important works by renowned designers – such as Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann, Eileen Gray, Jean-Michel Frank, Jean Dunand, Eugѐne Printz, and Armand-Albert Rateau, to name a few.

 

The breadth and scope of this Art Deco collection extend further to a large array of decorative boxes, desk and vanity accessories, photograph frames, medals, walking sticks, shagreen objects and jewelry including an extensive selection of cufflinks.

 

The gallery also presented a wide range of fine art including painting, prints, other works on paper, and sculpture. Prominent were modern and contemporary works by artists such as Richard Diebenkorn, Jasper Johns, Man Ray, Max Ernst, Fernand Léger, Sonia Delaunay-Terk, Ross Bleckner, among others. Alongside were Art Deco period sculptures by artists such as Joseph Csaky and Jan & Joel Martel.

 

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Young Collectors Home Invasion

Saturday, November 7, 2015, 3:00–5:00 p.m.

 

The afternoon was full of celebration with cocktails, snacks, raffles, good friends and good music.

 

Jazz Age Order members, Jessica Dickstein and Mark Dolgonos, invited their fellow Jazz Age Order members into their Brooklyn home to celebrate the new Jazz Age Order name in style! On this special afternoon they gave us a tour of their growing Deco collection, Mark did a martini making demo for all to enjoy, they talked about the pieces that sparked their Deco interest, shared the inside scoop on unearthing great deals and much more.

 

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Fred and Gingers Valentines Soirée

Thursday, February 12, 2015 7:00–10:00 p.m.

 

ADSNY members celebrated the most romantic holiday of the year stepping back in time to a Deco collector’s extraordinary apartment overlooking one of the most romantic views of the city.

 

ADSNY’s president opened the door to her beautifully Deco apartment for the annual Valentine’s Soirée. With the East River twinkling below and the Chrysler and Empire State buildings dazzling in the New York City skyline on a crisp winter night, it was easy to imagine Rogers and Astaire dancing onto the terrace in the sky.

 

This was a memorable evening of glamour full of great company, cocktails, candlelit dinner, live music and sumptuous desserts.

 

ADSNY members and their guests enjoyed cocktail hour overlooking the Empire State Building as it put on a show, turning red and flashing like a heartbeat for Valentine’s Day.

 

 

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Art Deco Collections of Greenwich Connecticut

Sunday, April 13, 2014, noon–5:00 p.m.

 

ADSNY members were treated to a spectacular day when we were invited to visit the homes of two major collections of Art Deco, led by author, consultant and collector, Alastair Duncan.

 

On this bus tour we visited two stunning homes that house important and wide-ranging collections of Art Deco, Bugatti and Art Deco bronzes, and Tiffany and Galle lamps.

 

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Nick and Nora Elegance Valentine’s Cocktail Party

Thursday, February 20, 2014, 7:00–10:00 p.m.

 

We renewed an ADSNY tradition, our Art Deco Valentine’s Cocktail Party! For those of you who had missed their fabulous apartment during Open House New York, ADSNY members Deco collectors Dia and Johan Scholvinck hosted the evening of flowing wine, passed hors d’oeuvres, romantic music and candlelight, and a perfectly decadent dessert in a downtown loft apartment filled with Deco treasures. Our host, Dia Scholvinck of Dia Scholvinck Design Studio, even discussed the restoration and her use of European and American Deco pieces to create a stunning example of 1930s inspired design.

 

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All Shook Up: An Art Collector’s Private Showing

Tuesday, October 15, 2013, 7:00–9:00 p.m.

 

Those ADSNY members fortunate enough to attend this sold-out unique evening at the Fifth Avenue apartment of Bill Crouse are still talking about it as the hit of the fall season! Bill hosted our members for cocktails and a discussion and viewing of what the Robb Report calls one of the world’s finest collections of rare ‘20s and ‘30s cocktail shakers.

 

When Bill Crouse received his first Art Deco cocktail shaker as a gift from his wife he was hooked. Now, more than two decades later, he has amassed what is considered one of the five best collections in existence. Bill opened this rare collection to ADSNY members for a special fall fund-raiser in his stunning Fifth Avenue apartment overlooking the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  This was an unforgettable evening as we saw and learned about his “choice, best of the best…cream of the crop” cocktail shaker collection…and of course enjoyed cocktails in a magical setting!

 

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Open House New York: Deco Apartments

Sunday, October 13, 2013, 1:00 and 2:00 p.m.

 

For the first time, The Art Deco Society of New York participated in this year’s Open House New York weekend, with two of our members opening their Art Deco homes to the public.

 

Participants toured a former shoe-manufacturing warehouse in Lower Manhattan transformed into a dazzling Art Deco apartment.

 

Our host was ADSNY member Dia Scholvinck of Dia Scholvinck Design Studio. She discussed the restoration and her use of European and American Deco pieces to create a stunning example of 1930s design. The apartment’s 17-foot ceilings and a mezzanine clad in Czech Art Deco metalwork look down on the living room decorated with furniture, lighting, rugs, art and ceramics of the Art Deco period.

 

Tours: Sunday, October 13, 1 and 2 p.m.    Duane Street, Lower Manhattan

 

Those ADSNY members unable to join the sold-out September Bronx Deco Bus Tour had a second chance to visit the last stop on that tour, the 1937 Art Deco Pelham Parkway apartment building designed by H. I. Feldman. They had a guided tour of this building, recently featured in The New York Times, with ADSNY member and building resident Alex Disbrow. They saw the building’s Deco terra cotta entrance and stunning lobby mosaic. Then they were invited to visit Alex’s recently restored apartment with its period furnishings, set against such original architectural details as Art Deco arches and moldings, a sprawling sunken living room typical of Bronx Deco apartments of the period, and magnificent views of the New York Botanical Garden.