Spring Masters New York Reimagines the Art Fair Model

On Friday, May 8, the second edition of Spring Masters New York will open at the historic Park Avenue Armory. Bookended by the powerhouse spring auctions at Christie’s and Sotheby’s and an array of contemporary-minded fairs, Spring Masters adds a unique element to the city’s jam-packed arts calendar.

Helmed by Michael Plummer and Jeff Rabin of Artvest Partners, Spring Masters presents a top-notch selection of art and design from antiquity through the 21st century in a contemporary context, marking a significant evolution of the fair model. According to Plummer, “The scene in New York in May had become rather sleepy and was not living up to the standard of more innovative fair events that had developed in London, Paris, Miami, Basel, and Maastricht. In terms of the spring fair calendar, New York had fallen behind, until Frieze appeared on the scene a few years back. But Frieze only served the most contemporary sector of the market, which left a wide opening for Spring Masters, which exhibits every period up to and including contemporary art and design.” He adds, “Jeff and I both love contemporary art, but we also feel that by banishing older material from the collecting palette, you not only diminish the variety and richness of your surroundings, but oftentimes the context and the art historical narrative upon which many important contemporary works are based.”

To promote dialogue between the diverse works on view, Spring Masters relies on a revolutionary hexagonal layout designed by the award-winning architect, Rafael Viñoly. Introduced during the show’s inaugural edition, the innovative format marked the most dramatic change in the Park Avenue Armory’s fair layout in three decades. The dynamic floor plan creates unexpected juxtapositions between painting, sculpture, furniture, and decorative objects from a range of periods. According to Spring Masters exhibitor Simon Phillips of Ronald Phillips Ltd., “The hexagonal layout makes it more difficult to design, but it’s less boring and [much] more interesting.”

This year’s fair will feature sixty-five leading international art and design galleries that further Spring Masters’ mission to promote collecting across centuries, cultures, and geographic regions. Not-to-be-missed exhibitors include Todd Merrill Studio (New York), a dealer of mid-to-late 20th century furniture and design that will present Aquetong Road, a curated booth of rare American studio furniture by the mid century modern design masters Paul Evans, Phillip Lloyd Powell, and George Nakashima, who all worked in the small, bucolic town of New Hope, Pennsylvania; Avery Galleries (New York/Bryn Mawr, PA), a specialist in 19th and 20th century American art; Clinton Howell Antiques (New York), a dealer of exceptional English antique furniture and decorative objects; Conner - Rosencranz (New York), a gallery specializing in American sculpture of the 19th and 20th centuries with a particular focus on Neoclassical works of the mid-19th century, academic and early modern sculpture of the turn of the century, American scene direct carvings, and garden and fountain sculpture; Drucker Antiques (Mount Kisco, NY), a celebrated authority in Georg Jensen hollowware, flatware and jewelry, and a dealer of 20th century design, including modern Scandinavian design, European and American arts and crafts movement jewelry, and 20th century studio jewelry; Heather James Fine Art (Palm Desert, CA/Jackson, WY), a dealer of Impressionist, modern, postwar, and contemporary art that will present works by Maria Blanchard, Mary Cassatt, Salvador Dali, William Glackens, David Hockney, Joseph Kleitsch, Thomas Nozkowsky, Max Pellegrini, Sean Scully, Andy Warhol, Andrew Wyeth, and other luminaries; Jerald Melberg Gallery (Charlotte, NC), a modern and contemporary gallery representing artists from a variety of movements and all geographic regions, including the modern master Romare Bearden, the landscape painter Wolf Kahn, the glass artist Dale Chihuly, and the Abstract Expressionists Hans Hofmann, Robert Motherwell, and Esteban Vicente; Lillian Nassau LLC (New York), the leading specialist in the work of Louis Comfort Tiffany and Tiffany Studios, and a dealer of 19th and 20th century decorative arts and design, American and European sculpture, mid century modern furniture, and American studio furniture and design (a forged steel gate by renowned metalsmith Albert Paley will be up for grabs at their booth); Trinity House Paintings (New York/London), specialists in Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, modern British, and 19th century works of art; and Ronald Phillips (London), who will be exhibiting a rare pair of mid-18th century Chippendale period Chinese lacquer commodes, a mid-18th century Chippendale period carved giltwood demi-lune console table, a pair of George II oval giltwood mirrors, a magnificent George III cut glass eight light chandelier, and much more.

Spring Masters will also feature a contemporary living space decorated with objects and artwork drawn from the fair’s exhibitors by the leading interior designer, Jamie Drake. Drake, who launched the esteemed firm Drake Design Associates in New York in 1978, is celebrated for his dynamic and exuberant interiors that are both glamorous and liveable. The contemporary living space builds on Spring Masters’ theme of juxtapositions as well as its focus on cross-collecting. “I often employ a variety of pieces that span time and culture in one room,” says Drake. “These juxtapositions are lively and provocative, but I search for commonalities in order for everything to gel...For example, a red, glass mid-century Venini vase, with a red Japanese lacquer 19th century box and a contemporary 3D printed nylon urn by Michael Eden composed on a console would be a stunning and diverse grouping, tied together by color.” Plummer adds, “While it makes great sense to us to combine art and design from different periods, it also brings with it the challenge of getting it to fit together in a cohesive way in a residential environment. A designer is the best resource to help with this challenge. We chose Jamie and his firm precisely because this type of design, of mixing periods and combining the traditional with the contemporary, is a particular strength of his firm – as well as the fact that he is a brilliant designer.”

Drake, who has designed homes for former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Madonna as well as residences in the Dakota and other historic New York landmarks, has started formulating a plan for the contemporary living space. He says, “My vision for the space will be to create a strong, sultry, dramatic backdrop to embrace and hold the diverse selection of fine and decorative arts curated within. I’m in love with mutable surfaces so the walls will be inspired by the way a slick of oil or a hummingbird’s feathers shimmer and change hue as the light hits.” The space, which is sure to stun, holds considerable value for exhibitors and visitors alike. Plummer says, “It essentially extends [the exhibitors’] exhibition space beyond their own booths, and in many instances, invites visitors to think and see differently categories of art and design that they may have previously overlooked, just because they had not seen them in a context that felt relevant to the way they live now.”

Spring Masters New York will kick off with a VIP Preview Party on Thursday, May 7. On Friday, May 8, Spring Masters will present Arts’ Night Out, a unique event aimed at bringing together young cultural patrons from New York and beyond.  Spring Masters will remain open to the public through Tuesday, May 12.