The Year in Design
By Katherine Jentleson
Chart by Nigel Holmes
Published: April 1, 2008
This month we invited the New York-based architect Lee F. Mindel, FAIA, to look back at—and comment on—what he deems the most intriguing design objects to hit the block in 2007.
Mindel is a partner at Shelton, Mindel & Associates, which is known for its refined use of
20th-century design in residential and commercial projects. He is a formidable presence at
auctions, where he often buys landmark pieces for the firm’s roster of high-profile international
clients, which includes Sting and Ralph Lauren.
His choices below reflect the astounding
diversity of works that fall under the design rubric. “These pieces all bring history forward and,
when integrated with architecture and the interior, empower space,” says Mindel. “There is
something approachable, honest and thoughtful when the object transcends decoration.” As for
the prices, Mindel points out that “compared with fine art, there is great value in iconic work by
architects and designers.” He adds that price shouldn’t sway anyone too much. “I am nondiscriminating
in my admiration of all things bright and beautiful.”
 
 
- JEAN PROUVÉ
The prototype large
Maison Tropicale for
Brazzaville, 1950–51
Christie’s, New York
June 5, 2007
Est. $4–6 million
Sold for $4,968,000
Architecture is a relatively new and pricey auction category. But given that apartments at Robert A. M. Stern’s 15 Central Park West are weighing in at $7,000 per square foot, the iconic Prouvé structure looks reasonable at $3,000 per square foot.
-
ANONYMOUS
Large boudoir mirror
Czechoslovakia, circa 1928
Dorotheum, Vienna
May 9, 2007
Est. €2,400–2,800 ($3,200–3,700)
Sold for €4,000 ($5,432)
The Czechoslovakian designers–a.k.a. the Chrome-Magnans–clearly absorbed the lessons of Mies van der Rohe’s Tugendhat house at Brno and his famous dictum that form follows function. Elegant, simple and distilled down to its essence, this mirror is pure, approachable and affordable.
-
MARTIN SZEKELY
One prototype and two P.P.C. tables, 2006
Phillips de Pury & Co., New York
December 13, 2007
Est. $110–120,000
Sold for $133,000
Szekely liberates the pedestal base from the top through an almost pointillist use of legs. We bought this for a client’s apartment overlooking the Hudson River piers, whose forms are echoed in the table.
-
ALFREDO BARBINI
Sasso inciso sommerso glass vase, 1962
Christie's, New York
December 18, 2007
Est. $8,000–10,000
Bought In
Art glass is under the radar. The Italians and Scandinavians are masters of capturing light and water through the manipulation of the medium. The inciso and sommerso techniques used in this organic sculpture create translucencies and submerge color, making you conscious of light—and light brings space to life.
- ROBERT VENTURI
Molded-plywood Queen Anne chair, 1984
Sollo Rago, Lambertville
April 21-22, 2007
Est. $3,000–5,000
Sold for $5,100
Postmodernism is ready for a reappraisal. Venturi’s Queen Anne chair for Knoll uses laminated plywood to laminate history. Here the color patterns that appear on most of the Knoll series are absent, which poignantly emphasizes the silhouette.
-
HENNING KOPPEL
Caravel cutlery, 1957
Bruun Rasmussen, Copenhagen
October 12, 2007
Est. €10,000 ($14,179)
Sold for €12,000 ($17,015)
Henning Koppel’s Caravel flatware for George Jensen transcended the functionalism of the Bauhaus by incorporating the sense of the organic inherent in Danish decorative arts. Influenced by the work of Calder, Arp and Brancusi, Koppel said of his medium, “Functionalism has nothing to do with the art of forming silver.”
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MARIANNE BRANDT
An important and rare tea infuser, circa 1927
Sotheby’s, New York
December 14, 2007
Est. $300–500,000
Sold for $361,000
The rigorous discipline of the Bauhaus is evident in this tiny tea infuser, which nearly fits in the palm of your hand. From cuff links to skyscrapers, the Bauhaus manifesto involved an almost fetishistic manipulation of decorative elements.
-
ALVAR AALTO
Cantilever dining chairs, Model no. 21, set of eight, circa 1940
Wright, Chicago
May 22, 2007
Est. $20–30,000
Sold for $39,600
The great Finnish architect Aalto was a master of laminated wood. His furniture has gotten a bad rap because it doesn’t offer the comforts our couch-potato culture now demands. This dining chair is comfortable, however, and it even has a bounce to it.
- GERRIT THOMAS RIETVELD
Left-handed Steltman chair, circa 1970
Sotheby’s, New York
June 19, 2007
Est. $15–20,000
Sold for $90,000
Rietveld was one of the first designers to pose the question, Is it art or is it furniture? In this chair, originally designed in 1963, you can see shades of things to come from the likes of Donald Judd, Sol Lewitt, Scott Burton, Carl Andre and Agnes Martin.
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ANGELO MANGIAROTTI
Table, 1959
Dorotheum, Vienna
November 13, 2007
Est. €2,000–2,500 ($11–13,800)
Sold for €10,000 ($14,608)
The octogenarian Italian architect continues to work, and to be reevaluated. Generally associated with carved stone and Carrara marble, Mangiarotti here beautifully employed the bronze pedestal base and wood tabletop.
-
PIERO FORNASETTI
The important 32-panel La Stanza Metafisica screen, 1958 (detail shown)
Sotheby’s, New York
November 16, 2007
Est. $100–150,000
Sold for $301,000
Fornasetti’s great work embodies the best of Italian Surrealism and evokes the world of Piranesi and Escher. We bought this for a European client’s penthouse overlooking Central Park. If you calculate the price of Fornasetti by the pound, this is really cheap–in essence, you’re getting an extrusion of 52 floor-to-ceiling feet of Fornasetti salami.
-
KAY BOJESEN
Rocking Horse
Bukowski’s, Stockholm
April 24–27, 2007
Est. 2,000–2,500 SEK ($295–369)
Sold for 3,500 SEK ($516)
Kids’ rooms don’t have to be goofy. In fact, children have an ingenuous response to great design that we’ve often unlearned.
“The Year in Design" originally appeared in the April 2008 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction’s April 2008 Table of Contents.
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