Welcome toJULY

Last month, I had the pleasure of experiencing the magic of the Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse in New York during its triumphant return after a three-year hiatus. The first thing I noticed about the historic Beaux Arts-style mansion selected for this year’s event was its opulent façade. The front door, flanked by two imposing columns and topped with a crest, provided a venerability that holds its weight among the city's towering skyscrapers.

As I basked in the presence of this architectural gem, known as one of the Upper West Side’s “Seven Beauties,” I couldn’t help but consider the context and intentionality with which it was built. Constructed between 1899 and 1902, the home’s dramatic Beaux Arts design – inclusive of striking ancient Roman and Greek architectural forms, opulent Baroque and Rococo details and grand scale – was meant to project stability, power and wealth.

As the world weathered World War I and the Great Depression, Beaux Arts design gave way to Art Deco, seeking to instill a calmness and signaling a new normal. Clean lines, marble and steel replaced flowery, over-the-top details, reflecting the new era’s focus on minimalism, modernity and progress.

One of the most important Italian architects of the early 20th century, Piero Portaluppi, exemplifies this stylistic shift. His designs are chic, geometric and layered with meaning. An unrealized 1920 design for a New York skyscraper that was to serve as the headquarters of a major corporation, shows a building towering above Beaux Arts skyscrapers from the turn of the century – the design serving as much as a corporate marketing piece as commentary on society’s shifting values.

Other cities, including New Orleans, followed suit, picking up speed with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and constructing buildings in the Art Deco style. In 1933, the city opened its first airport, a state-of-the-art facility on a filledin area of Lake Pontchartrain. At the time of its opening, the Shushan Airport was the largest airport in the U.S. and was the first combined land and seaplane air terminal in the world.

An often-overlooked Art Deco masterpiece, the layered marble and ornate design motifs of the New Orleans Lakefront Airport, as it is now known, tell a story of adventure, progress and aspiration. Thanks to an extensive restoration, the historic terminal reopened in all of its original 1933 glory in September 2013. Ninety years after its monumental opening, the airport now offers travelers the opportunity to step back into 1930s New Orleans in elegant style. I encourage you to read more about the airport’s fascinating history in the pages that follow.

It may come as no surprise that our team selected the New Orleans Lakefront Airport as the backdrop for this catalogue to celebrate the beauty of progress, change and Art Deco elegance. Fittingly, our July 29-30 Estates Auction features the estate of a lifelong pilot, aviation enthusiast and entrepreneur, David Oreck. Oreck’s business acumen and vision propelled him and his eponymous vacuum cleaner brand to a household name (and a beloved staple of many homes). Oreck’s fascination with adventure, innovation and utilitarian design can be seen in his diverse collection, which includes natural history specimens and aviation-inspired furniture.

We are also honored to offer fine art, furniture and more from Nancy Brown Negley, an artist, philanthropist and ardent supporter of historic preservation. The sale also features furniture and decorative arts from the estate of another avid collector, philanthropist and accomplished artist, Catherine Wentworth. Wentworth famously bequeathed her collection of French silver to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which continues to anchor the museum’s silver galleries today.

Additionally, we are thrilled to offer the New Orleans estate of Daniel A. Glaser, or “Dapper Dan” as he was affectionately called. From antiques to wine, Glaser had an appreciation for the finer things in life. His collection is no exception, including a selection of rare and early Lalique, mid-century and antique furniture, silver and more.

I invite you to join us at our gallery during our two-week exhibition, beginning Monday, July 17. The July 29-30 Estates Auction begins at 10 a.m. CST each day; bidding is available in-person, by phone, absentee and live online (in advance or during the auction) on our website, and on LiveAuctioneers and Invaluable.

We hope that in the pages that follow and through the nearly 800 lots offered in this sale, you feel yourself enraptured by design’s powerful storytelling.

See you at the auction,

Taylor Eichenwald Assistant Director