In a sea of neutral-toned modernism, where beige on beige or greige on greige rules, how do you make a room standout but still keep to its contemporary bona fides? Benoist F. Drut, Managing Partner and creative visionary for Maison Gerard, the East 10th Street antiques store known for its fine French Art Deco furniture, offers a solution at the Winter Antiques show, now in progress. Drut turned his curatorial eye to the most statement-making room in a home–the living room– exploring new ways to interpret the space with pieces that range from the present to several hundred years old, while giving it a distinct and edgy vibe.
To bring distinct modern references to the space and to help underscore his design philosophy that no one today wants to live in a period-defined room, Drut utilized the work of a new wave of contemporary artists. Maison Gerard commissioned the famous graffiti artist Faust to create a special canvas for the mise-en-scene at the fair, the first artist within his genre to do so. Faust’s modernized, twenty-two foot wide wall covering in silver on gray was paired with the Jean-François Jaussaud’s photography of luxury interiors, which created a fresh design dialogue between the past and present. Other artists represented in the space include Stéphane Parmentier, who debuts a collection of sculptural tables; Paolo Canevari, who designed a cascading display of ceramic black vases and Sandra Nunnerley, who makes her debut with Maison Gerard with a collection of whimsical occasional tables.
As for the antiques, well, they’re pretty bold and dynamic, too: is a spectacular Fireworks cabinet, circa 1946 France, made of mahogany with mother-of-pearl and ebony inlay, as well Thereas, a rare 1940s-era floor lamp made of polished and gilt mahogany, both by Maison Leleu; an extremely rare exotic wood octagonal mirror by Édouard Lièvre, circa 1880 France; a solid silver wine cooler by Jean E. Puiforcat; a pair of chests by Max Ingrand, circa 1966 France, and a pair of settees and Bergère chairs by Jean Pascaud.
This new glam take on modernism is on display at Booth 4 of the Winter Antiques Show, now through January 29th.
News
January 24, 2017SF Opera & Ballet Make Announcements About Upcoming Seasons
