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An aragonite specimen from Yunnan Province, China. (Photo by Robert Lorenz, courtesy of Yale Peabody Museum)
museums and private collections around the US – will be rotated from six months to two years to provide ongoing public access to a greater depth and breadth of these treasures.
designer, Laura Friedman and collections manager-cognoscenti, scientist Stefan Nicolescu, collectively formed the cohesive team. The resultant space is a superlative convergence of fine art and theatrical excellence.
Friend shared, “There are only 50 or so major collectors in the world…similar to the art world.” He confided, “We went around and took a chance visiting these major people. Collectors want to have their pieces viewed, and the opportunity for exhibition becomes an added benefit to the provenance.” The pieces he was able to secure are of superlative quality, with enchanting gem and mineral formations in unique combination, fanciful shapes, and of staggering scale. Photo by A. Vincent Scarano
David Friend considered other institutions for this undertaking, but settled on his alma mater, which welcomed both his philanthropic support while also offering a genuine collaborative effort in realizing the collector’s vision. Friend, in concert with the multi-faceted exhibition
The impeccably engineered lighting catapults the experience to mesmerizing. The hall is decisively interactive and each display configured with state-of-the art transmitters currently providing wireless
access to information via a customized iPhone app on six of the largest specimens on display. Laura Friedman’s adroit visual choreography is a sleek and spare surrealist landscape. Opting out of the usual wall notes, she leads you through an intuitive labyrinth of reflective magic, with colossal specimens floating in handcrafted glass vitrines. Among the innumerable wonders is the backlit Namibian quartz crystal, a 2,000 lb. touchable golden welcome at the entrance. Shift slightly, and courtesy of James Zigras, land on the massively magnificent bundle of terminated faced stibnite – aka antimonite – telegraphing the silver lightning of a hundred Excalibur swords. The undulating curves of David Friends’s own French sandstone concretion from Fontainebleau are the showstopper. This naturally occurring sculptural wonder, which at first look is a tumble of Shar Pei pups, evolves from the