In a shameless ploy for attention, vote for Kip in this contest. There must be 500,000 other pets entered, but, what the heck, he could end up on a vacuum cleaner box! This week only (2/10/09–2/17/09), vote today!

Would you buy a $2,500 Valentino dress for your company Christmas party (if it hasn't already been cancelled)? We've all gotten used to seeing and buying luxury goods over the last few years, they are easy to find and with credit, it's easy to buy and forget the high price—once it has been lumped in with all those other "necessary" purchases on the monthly statement.

What if that same dress was now $750 instead of $2,500? That's 70% off for the math impaired. Looks like finding yourself in a designer original is getting easier these days. How luxurious is that?

Let's make a quick review of the expected qualities of luxury brands and see how they stand up in today's marketplace. High-quality... yes, but maybe not as high as it used to be. Expensive... apparently good deals can be found. Hard to find.... checked your discount department store lately. Limited quantity... again, questionable. Exclusive... ask that lady next to you pawing through a pile of Prada wallets in the sale bin at Saks.

Bulgari will spend less to make your very expensive watch. Is that ok?Luxury brands are finding themselves in a bit of a quandry. In the push to become more profitable, they have created a genie that won't go back into the proverbial bottle. With the acknowledgement of the current recession and expected further downturn in the economy and jobs, how will luxury brands continue to stay in the black? In this article from the New York Times, Francesco Trapani, chief of Bulgari admits that the company is searching for ways to save money in these difficult times—but are cheaper boxes really going to make a difference to the bottom line? From my perspective luxury goods producers have two options—go mass market (as many already have) and hope like hell no one notices or, pull back, retool and get back to being all the things luxury brands are supposed to be—high-quality, high-priced goods that can only be found and afforded by those with both money and access. In this guilded age, I imagine there will still be a few millionaires and billionaires wandering around, even in bad economic times.

As I've opined before, a Louis Vuitton bag just doesn't seem as rarified and desireable if every woman in the market is carrying one. Though I've never really been able to afford super high-end items, I have been known to scrimp and save for a trendy, indulgent item (thank you Tim Gunn). Knowing that my Luella Giselle bag is only one of two or three in my neighborhood makes it special and worth every penny I spent on it. I may never be able to buy another, but this one will be handed down to my daughter and hopefully will retain it's value. This won't be true for those brands that want to sell more and give less.

These next few years will be interesting in so many ways, but I'm betting that the trends in the luxury market will be riveting!

Santa may come early this year if prices continue to settle at the two-day, three-sale offering of Twentieth Century Decorative Art and Design at Christie's New York. There's a lot to look at and many objects to desire if Twentieth Century design is what you love.

Auction prices have been falling these first few weeks of the Fall season, with many of the contemporary art sales falling far below their low estimates, and many lots being passed (some of which had guaranteed prices for the sellers, set far before the surprising economic downturn). I have a feeling the big houses will be counting on these less splashy sales of furniture and objects to hold their values better and help boost those bottom lines for the end of the year.

As always, my picks, all from the Tuesday morning sale:

Lot #229
EMILE-JACQUES RUHLMANN (1879-1933)
A Macassar Ebony Table,
circa 1928 with bronze sabots
25½ in. (64.8 cm.) high, 43¼ in. (110 cm.) diameter
branded Ruhlmann and with Atelier A stamp

Estimate: $30,000–$50,000 (US)

 

 

 

Lot #249
LINE VAUTRIN (1913-1997)
A Talosel Resin and Glass Chandelier, circa 1958
25 in. (63.5 cm) drop, 20 in. (50.8 cm.) diameter

Estimate: $100,000–$150,000 (US)

 

 

 

 

 

Lot #254
JEAN PROUVE (1901-1984)
A Lacquered Steel, Canvas and Leather 'Cité' Armchair, circa 1930
32¼ in. (82 cm.) high, 26 in. (66 cm.) wide, 30¾ in. (78 cm.) deep

Estimate: $70,000–$90,000 (US)

 

 

Sale Dates and Times:

Monday, December 15 at 2 pm
Important 20th Century Design from the
Collection of George and Frayda Lindemann

Tuesday, December 16 at 10 am
Important Works of Art From Tiffany Studios

Tuesday, December 16 at 10:30 am
Important 20th Century Decorative Art & Design

I'll post results after the sale.

 

Well, Jonathan, Todd and Margaret are back to try Top Design again. Personally, I can't wait. I'm eager to get to know the new personalities and relish the construction disasters lurking around every corner.

Looks like Kelly Wearstler will be returning (her fashion choices are much more entertaining than Project Runway) and they've brought in India Hicks as a new judge this time. I'm not sure how well she'll be able to judge spaces as small as these designers are given to work with, but I'm excited to hear her words of wisdom.

It all starts September, 3 on Bravo.

We're dog people through and through (though I did have a few cat-lady years in my twenties) so we're always looking for solutions to living with a canine companion without having to compromise style and cleanliness. Our biggest issue is keeping our Lurcher Kip off the furniture, particularly one large armchair that DH and I bought right after we got married. It has been recovered at least three times due to unnatural attractiveness to pets (not to mention their hair and muddy feet). This last go round we actually had it covered in a great outdoor fabric that is pretty resistant to constant canine canoodling.

We have the requisite dog bed, a large square pillow-type affair from Costco, covered in a reasonably non-tacky blue and brown and Kip does sleep on it occasionally (when we're looking). It's functional, but it's not really what he wants.

Does it come in Greyhound size?A few weeks ago, I got an email from Hepper, a company that makes furniture for pets. It's a great idea, and I like their designs, but where are the pieces for big dogs? Kip only weighs about 45 lbs, but he's long and skinny, so he couldn't possibly fit on their very attractive beds and nests which hold pets up to 50lbs. I get that all the beds were originally designed for cats, but how about a little love for the families who like their companions in larger sizes? 

Oooh, can we get ones for little Yves and Zaha too?I'm also thinking they should move over to designs for children; for all those parents who refuse to give up their perfect, highly-designed homes when the bambinos arrive. 

It's been all over the news this week that there have been two multi-million dollar art thefts in Switzerland in the last few days. Two Picassos (estimated value $4.4 million) were stolen from a cultural center in Pfäffikon and a Cezanne, a Monet, a Degas and a Van Gogh were stolen from the E.G. Bührle Collection in Zurich. The second operation has been estimated to be the greatest art loss (approx. $163 million) in Europe since two Edvard Munch paintings were stolen from a museum in Norway in 2004. The Munch paintings were recovered in 2006.

"Boy in the Red Waistcoat" (1888), by Paul Cezanne. (Getty Images)The theft of well-known, high-value artworks is a somewhat odd exercise, as it is practically impossible for perpetrators to realize any true monetary profit unless the theft is organized by a covetous collector who never intends to display the work publicly. This type of situation is actually so rare that most investigators never seriously consider it as a motive. (It does make for a great movie though, The Thomas Crown Affair, 1968 and 1999 are both awesomely good.)

In the case of the Bührle thefts, it is suspected that the works were stolen by East European operatives working for Balkan organized crime groups who can use the artworks as collateral to finance underground deals with other syndicates. This rationale is supported by the fact that the theives removed the first four paintings they encountered, rather than moving to much more valuable paintings further into the museum. It seems there was little research or knowledge of the museums collection and it's individual pieces values prior to the heist.

The Collection was remarkably unprotected with no metal detectors at the doors, which allowed the theives to overtake the security guards with a handgun, remove the paintings from the walls and make their escape in a white van. Very low-tech and uncomfortably easy.

Art theft recovery is a fascinating science and because of a lack of outlets for sale of stolen items, most pieces are eventually recovered when, after passing through various hands, an attempt is made to return the artwork to the rightful owner for a ransom. Scottish police were recently able to recover Leonardo da Vinci's Madonna of the Yarnwinder (estimated value $60 million) stolen from the Earl of Becculeuch in 2003, by arresting a lawyer and three others who had become involved in an attempt to extort both the Duke's estate (who passed away in Sept 2007) and his insurance firm for the return of the painting. 

Let's hope this recent rash of thefts will be solved quickly, as police believe that stolen artworks not recovered within four years will most likely go underground for generations to come.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008 is the date for Doyle New York's annual Dogs In Art auction, now in it's tenth year, again coinciding with the Westminister Kennel Club Dog Show. This auction, dedicated to our fabulous furry friends is chock-full of sporting pictures, (including other animals as well) dog portraits and genre paintings.

A main highlight of this year's show is the offering of two genuine Cassius Marcellus Coolidge works, Only A Pair of Deuces (pictured below) and A Breach of Promise Suit. For any lover of low-brow (and high value) art, these are must-haves. Also under the gavel is the original artwork for the 2008 Westminister Kennel Club Dog Show poster, which will benefit Westminister's Angel on a Leash therapy dog program.

Lot 2078A
Cassius Marcellus Coolidge
American, 1844-1934
Only a Pair of Deuces  
Signed CM Coolidge and inscribed with copyright symbol (lr); inscribed on the reverse "Only a Pair of Deuces"/Copyright/1910/ by/C.M. Coolidge
Oil on canvas
24 x 36 inches (61 x 91.4 cm)
Provenance:
Estate of the artist
Estate of Gertrude Kimmel Coolidge, wife of the artist
Thence by descent to Marcella B. Coolidge, daughter of the artist, San Diego, California
Estimate: $60,000-80,000

And because we're discussing all things canine and friendly, here's Hauspa's entry for best-in-show, Mr Kipling (Kip for short). He's a Lurcher (Greyhound/ Deerhound mix) we brought back with us from England. If you'd like to see more Lurchers, look here.
 

 

I've watched with amusement this week as DH makes his final preparations before winging off to Lift in Geneva. Packing for this type of week-long event is fraught with indecision over which clothes will make the right impression. Lift is popular with super-smart, geeky hipsters, most of them from Europe. Techies, designers, futurists, innovators and strategizers; some of them are even women(!).

Sampo Karjalainen at Lift 07, photo by Stephanie BoothThere has already been much mental packing and repacking. So when I saw this article in today's NYT I told DH to relax, he's already got it just right. Go simple, a little conservative and make sure you've got one elegant detail. Casual is de rigeur with these guys, but the black t-shirts have to fit just right (James Perse, Banana Republic or H&M), jeans make a statement (super skinny, or fitted like they were custom-made) and a coat, that tells everyone who you are (and sometimes, what you do). Have a great bag and tons of cool stickers on your laptop. iPhone, check; edgy haircut, check; now, don't forget the custom sneakers and you're ready to go. Fashion editors, eat your hearts out, the nerds have you totally beat on this one.

Oh, and this quote from the article made me chuckle to myself:

"Even Mr. Margiela’s ultradiscreet trademark, four little white pick stitches on sweaters, shirts and bags, is instantly discernible to the style cognoscenti while invisible to others, like a whistle only dogs can hear."

I totally called that, here. 

I've been away far too many months and I've missed posting here; the story behind it is way to long to tell and far from over (look here if you are curious), but I just couldn't resist mentioning exhibitions of two artists whose work has influenced me strongly.

First up, Joseph Cornell: Navigating the Imagination. Sadly, I couldn't get to see the exhibitions at the Smithsonian, PEM, or SFMoMA, but I've always adored Joseph Cornell's boxes and collages. He is the first artist I wanted to imitate because he had such a sensitivity to type, image and placement. Very much a solid muse for a young, perfectionist, graphic designer type. I'm always taken aback when I see his pieces up close, as they are so meticulous and thoughtful. Lynda Roscoe Hartigan's book of the same name is On The Desk and will probably have to suffice as a 2-d but more permanent substitute to actually seeing so many pieces together. I read Deborah Solomon's Utopia Parkway: The Life and Times of Joseph Cornell ten years ago and found it thoroughly entertaining and informative as well.

Joseph Cornell
Untitled (Tilly Losch), ca. 1935-38
The Robert Lehrman Art Trust, Courtesy Aimee and Robert Lehrman, Washington, D.C.
© The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation/Licensed by VAGA, New York
Photo: Mark Gulezian/Quicksilver

 

 

Next, Jean Prouvé at the Design Museum London (and others). Prouvé was a problem-solver. As an architect, furniture designer or space planner his work always addressed the issues at hand, whether the tropical climate of colonial West Africa or desks and chairs for an office environment, every facet of an assignment was explored and developed to produce a simple, economical and visually beautiful solution. Tickets to the Design Museum exhibition also include entry to the Maison Tropicale housed at Tate Modern from the Feb 5, 2008.

It's time for auction season again after a long, hot summer of house sales and Christie's has a scorchin' 120 lots coming up on the 26th of September. All the big names are represented, and if you have to buy some Marc Newson (like everyone else these days) they have a couple of embryo chairs to fight over.

You know I have some favorites, so here they are:

Lot #045
A pair of limestone and iron low tables, circa 1940
Paul Dupre-Lafon (1900–1971)
Estimate $250,000–350,000 (US)

 

Lot #091
A set of steel and leather "PK-9" dining chairs, designed 1961
Poul Kjaerholm (1929–1980)
Estimate $12,000–18,000 (US)

 

Lot #102
A pair of painted and metal sconces, circa 1950
Jean Royere (1902–1981)
Estimate $40,000–50,000 (US)

A work associate of DH forwarded me this article from the Washington Post thinking I might like to post about it. He was right, but maybe not for the reasons he had in mind (trendspotting-wise). I like cute things like puppies and bunnies as much as anyone; I use the word to describe things around me occasionally and I buy lots of cute clothes... for my six-year-old daughter. I've never, ever, ever desired a cute utensil, tool or barbeque grill.

I don't need a t-shirt with TinkerBell on it, a key that tells everyone I'm a Libra or a screwdriver that no one will mistake for DH's, because it's pink. Believe me, every tool in our house belongs to me, even the Black and Decker circular saw. DH is a whizz when it comes to mobile technology and all, but if you ever see him holding a circular saw, run—as fast as you can—your life may be in danger.

I think it's fine for women to acquire things that make them happy and while cute may not be my style, I see nothing wrong with grown-ups dressing in Winnie-the-Pooh embroidered denim shirts—well, ok, bad example, but I expect some people think wearing black nail polish at my age is a little inappropriate too. To each her own. I do have to wonder why some women just don't feel comfortable using products that haven't been feminized in some way. (I wonder if Pandagon or Feministing have ever posted on this issue?) I don't really think a cheese grater that looks like a doll really makes all that much sense to anyone, unless you have a doll-themed kitchen of course and then, well, have your Madame Alexander way with your parmesan.

The WP calls this trend cutility (does that make the items themselves cuticles... ) and while the article does not explicitly specify that these items are marketed primarily to women, it does use "fanciful," "whimsy," "cutsey" and "sassy" to describe the products. I think most males would shy away from buying something described as being "whimsical,"  so I'm calling the Cuterminator to put an end to all this nonsense.

I'll take the Givenchy version for $8,300.00 (US) please (not including Miu Miu purse and Sergio Rossi shoes).

Do you own a Louis Vuitton bag? Do you feel proud and a little bit superior every time you carry it at the grocery store? Look around, how many LV monogram bags can you count during your weekly shop? Funny, we don't usually think of the wealthy as doing their own shopping, or cooking or anything else domestic for that matter, so here's the conundrum: is a LV monogram bag a "luxury" item if anyone can not only afford one, but has easy access to buy one?

This concept is explored by Dana Thomas in her new book, Deluxe, How Luxury Lost It's Luster.  As an exploration of how luxury brands have gone from producing rarefied, difficult to procure, hand-crafted products to mass-market purveyors of expensive "luxury" goods for the masses it is an interesting and enlightening journey. Thomas uses Bernard Arnault's reign at LVMH as a prime example of this subtle but very lucrative branding strategy. Of course you paid a lot for your Vuitton bag. Everyone who actually buys the real thing does. But it's not made as well as it used to be, because they have to make so many more of them now. Everybody wins, right?

Thomas also brings in the counterfeit market as another example of how even those who can't afford the real luxuries, can aspire by buying knock-offs which often don't even look like, say, a Prada bag, but there it is -- that little metal triangle proclaiming to all that "I have neither the money or the taste to know the real thing when I see it." This builds neither brand equity for the product nor the status of the carrier.

It's my belief that the companies that still rely on a small, highly-elite clientele, producing small-run, hand-made products (Hermés springs to mind), will begin to design products that are still not only difficult and expensive to acquire, but also difficult to identify. If you can spot a handbag by its unique leather stitch, a coat by its buttons or a shoe by its sole color, you can still be in the club. Luxury will become blind and status will be conferred on those whose regal bearing is the only signifier of their super-wealthy status. If you have to ask, you can't be in the club.

It's On the Desk. 

How appropriate that the week of the Live Earth global benefit shows, and hot on the heels of a deluged Glastonbury festival, we get word of a new solution to the problem of music festival tent-jam. You know, the problem of hundreds of thousands of people showing up in a field with incomplete tent equipment, generally leaving a mess and lots of broken poles and muddy, rained-soaked fabric around post-show. Yes, just like our family's July 4th picnic.

MyHab's portable event accommodation. Just add festival and stir.

Rising to the challenge is MyHab, a waterproof, recycled cardboard and plastic mini-hut for two, complete with PIN-secured locker for your valuables (Clif Bars, iPods, Red Bull), a cushioned floor, and interior lighting. The idea is that you book ahead and your MyHab is there waiting, all warm and cozy, in said muddy field, even pre-stocked with a welcome hamper. All you bring is your cardboard-tolerant, presumably non-smoking friend, and you can enjoy your experience, as MyHab puts it, without worrying about accommodation.

 
MyHab is just the latest blip in an emerging trend of small spaces for people, offering efficient use of space and resources, and convenience in a bundle. Following an accommodation theme that emerged first in Japan, the Pod Hotel recently opened in New York City on the site of the former Pickwick Arms, featuring various sizes of micro-rooms for your city stay. Even this new addition to the Gotham sleep scene is a late entrant, with easyHotel, a pod hotel by easyJet founder Stelios, Yotel, and Qbic hotels recently opening in the UK and Europe. Of course, the Japanese started the ball rolling with pod hotels for late-working (or partying) salarymen in the form of pod hotels like the Capsule Inn in Akihabara.

Of course, if you live in Australia and guests are coming to stay awhile, you can call PerrinePods and have a fully functioning living pod dropped on the side of your existing house. Lots of friends coming? They'll stack them up to 30 units high for an instant high-rise. 

What are the implications for furniture and fixtures in a smaller, pop-up world? Temporary furniture becomes more popular, in the direction of Ikea or Muji (which is coming to the US, by the way). Disposability would seem to extend to furnishings as well as structures. But houseguests? No, they tend to be permanent.

Pre-fab construction is all the rage for the Dwell and Land + Living set these days, but the idea has been around longer than you may think. On Tuesday, June 5th, Christie's will be auctioning Jean Prouvé's Maison Tropicale, a prototype prefabricated home originally built in Brazzaville. Prouvé's brief was to develop an inexpensive, versatile prototype that could be utilized to build homes and civic buildings for French-controlled West Africa.

The prototype is remarkable in its vision as it is utilitarian, versatile, beautiful and while modern-looking even today, it echoes the vernacular architecture of tropical West Africa.

The house has traveled from Brazzaville to Paris and now to Long Island where is it on display through June 4. The day after, it will be auctioned, with an estimate of $4,000,000 to $6,000,000 (US).

Also included in the attendant sale are furniture designs by Prouvé, as well as pieces by contemporaries, Charlotte Perriand, Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, the photographer Lucien Herve and others.

My pick:

Lot # 0306
JEAN PROUVE (1901-1984)
A Painted Aluminum and Steel 'Tropical' Demountable Table, 1951
28 1/8 in. (71.5 cm.) high, 74¾ in. (190 cm.) wide, 35½ in. (90 cm.) deep
Estimate: $35,000–40,000 (US)

 

2 June  01:00 pm - 5:00 pm
3 June  01:00 pm - 5:00 pm
4 June  10:00 am - 5:00 pm
5 June  10:00 am - 2:00 pm

 

UPDATE: Maison Tropicale sold for $4,968,000.00 (US)
                Lot #306 sold for $42,000 (US)