Featured Items
Ruggiero & Associates, LLC is a fine art and antique appraisal and auction firm serving the entire Southeast U.S.
To join our mailing list, please email us: info@ruggiero-associates.com
Copyright © 2003-2011 Ruggiero & Associates , LLC
Featuring:
The Estate of Louis J. Gartner, Jr. of Palm Beach, FL
The Estate of Clara L. McLean of Pinehurst, NC
The Estate of Marjorie A. Baldwin of Atlanta, GA
Property from Various Owners / Private Collections
Much of our Fall Sale is The Property From The Estate of Louis J. Gartner, Jr., Palm Beach, Florida. Lou was a very dear friend and colleague of mine from my years with Sotheby’s in Palm Beach. If you knew him, you would have loved him. Rarely in our lives do we meet a man like Lou. He was the consummate gentleman! Generous and kind, he was well read, well traveled, and geniusly talented.
After graduating from Cornell in 1947, Lou came to New York and became the assistant of the young and brilliantly talented fashion photographer Irving Penn. As Penn’s assistant, Lou became deeply involved in the world of high fashion and design and became very friendly with the great fashion photographers of the period, forming friendships that would continue for the rest of their lives. The Gartner Photographic Archive includes photographs given to Lou during this period, and over 50 photographs by Penn, Horst, Kertesz, and Beaton are included in the sale.
In 1952, Lou left Penn’s Studio and went to work for Vogue Magazine, their major client. At Vogue as part of the Conde Nast Group, Lou eventually moved to House and Garden as an Editor. While there, Lou authored two classic books on needlepoint design, one of his true passions. Included in the sale are over thirty needlepoint items including rugs, pictures, pillows, and everyday objects, many dating back to the 1950s.
Along with his needlepoint, another of Lou’s many passions was Italy. He summered yearly in Capri where he had a house until recently, and his love of all things Italian is well evidenced in this sale. Piero Fornasetti (Italian, 1913-1988) material populates the sale with the two-part “Architettura” trumeau bar the focal point, also with a large group of table lamps, porcelain, an umbrella stand, mirror, and trays by Fornasetti. A wonderful pietra dura fish panel by Richard Blow, Venini glass, and hundreds of books on Italy, Rome, Capri, Florence, Italian history, travel, art, and architecture are included as well.
Also there is good art with works by Paul Cadmus, Paul Jenkins, Priscilla W. Roberts, and Aaron Bohrod, in addition to a large assortment of 18thC botanical engravings, maps, after Rembrandt etchings, modern Western paintings, and works from many New York artists working between 1940 and the 1970’s.
Lou was considered one of Palm Beach’s most engaging gentlemen and often escorted Estee Lauder to parties after her husband’s death in 1983. The two were close friends, and for many years Lauder and Gartner were social circuit staples together. Lou was an elegantly casual man in dress and manner, but when the occasion called, Lou was ready with his fine selection of over forty lots of gentleman’s jewelry, cuff links, dress sets, and accessories.
Lou had a house full of wonderful objects. Minerals and shells were a passion, and included in the sale are many objects by the Austrian artist and sculptor Marguerite Stix who wrote a number of definitive books on shells. Lou purchased what was left of her collection after her death.
All in all, this is a terrific sale with some very special objects. Please do not hesitate to give us a call if you have any questions: 828-627-3706.
The property in this sale is truly good stuff - eclectic, interesting, and it should make for a terrific auction. We hope that you will participate and enjoy!
“ ”
’’
Our Fall Sales Presented October 26 - November 9, 2011 on iGavelAuctions.com