Friday, February 3, 2012

6:00 pm - 7:30 pm

First View by invitiation only.

7:30 pm - 10:00 pm

Collectors' Invitational. By invitation or Purchase Ticket

*Program subject to change. Please check back for regular updates.

saturday february 4th

2:00PM

"A Journey of American Art: The National Academy Museum Today", Dr. Bruce Weber, Senior Curator, 19th and Early 20th century art at the National Academy Museum

The presentation will focus on the recent renovations and exciting changes at the museum including a discussion of the Academy's fabled history and recent and forthcoming exhibitions including Will Barnet at 100, and the salon display of more than 100 paintings from the institution's collection of American Art.

3:30PM

"Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus", Lloyd DeWitt, Art Gallery of Ontario

The lecture examines how Rembrandt broke from old iconographical concepts for depicting Jesus, using a young Jewish neighbor as his new archetype.

5:00PM

Torkom Demirjian "Collecting Antiquities in the 21st Century: How something so old fits into something so new."

Torkom will discuss issues of incorporating works of art from antiquity into modern and contemporary interiors, and collections; and will also take a look at some of the myths that have developed around collecting antiquities in the light of recent major controversies.

sunday february 5th

12:15PM

Géza von Habsburg, "Fabergé Then and Now"

Carl Fabergé, the eminent Supplier to the Court of the two last tsars, is considered by many to be the greatest artist-jeweler of all times. In the 50 years between 1866 and 1916, his firm produced over 150,000 articles of silver, jewelry and objects of art, generally one of a kind. This talk dwells principally on the exquisite creations of the firm's jewelry workshops, both those surviving and those destroyed.  Following the demise of the company in 1918, after many an abortive come-back, the great brand name has been re-launched in 2007 under the aegis of two of Fabergé 's great-grand-daughters. AIFAF is the venue of the new firm's first exhibition in the USA.

 

Dr. Géza von Habsburg, director of Fabergé  Inc., USA,  has been a Fabergé specialist for 40 years, has written or co-written 12 books, curated 6 major exhibitions, and is a frequent lecturer on Fabergé and his world.

2:00PM

"Recent works by Andrew and Jamie Wyeth", Victoria Wyeth

Victoria Wyeth is the granddaughter of American legend Andrew Wyeth, and the niece of contemporary master Jamie Wyeth. With sparkling wit and a refreshingly down-to-earth approach, Victoria Wyeth will examine the final works of her grandfather's outstanding career, as well as recent works by his son, Jamie. A hugely popular lecturer, this presentation by Victoria should not be missed!

3:30PM

"Modern Nature: Georgia O'Keeffe and Lake George.", Erin Coe, Chief Curator of The Hyde Collection

Well before she first visited New Mexico, O'Keeffe was an habitué of Lake George, New York. From 1918 to about 1929, she spent much of every year visiting the property that belonged to the family of her husband, Alfred Stieglitz. Coe will examine how O'Keeffe's essential modernist approach to nature was developed at Lake George.

monday february 6th

2:00PM

"Mirror, Chrome, and Gin Fizz: Art Deco in Britain", Emily Evans Eerdmans, design historian and instructor at the Fashion Institute of Technology

To many, the Art Deco style epitomizes the glamour and fast times of the 1920s and 1930s. Places of luxury and escape, such as hotels, ocean liners, and movie palaces, were most often given the "jazz" treatment. Eerdmans will discuss highlights of British Art Deco, including the Cunard Line's original Queen Mary in 1936, Oswald Milne's dramatic refurbishment of Claridge's, and the meeting of Swedish neoclassicism and Art Deco in Eltham Palace.

3:30PM

"The Jewelry of the American Heiresses", Joyce Jonas, Appraiser for the "Antiques Roadshow" and Principal of Joyce Jonas and Associates

Jonas will be featuring the jewelry that belonged to the debutantes of the Gilded Age, great Hollywood Divas (such as Grace Kelly and Liz Taylor), and the fabulously wealthy heiresses of the Thirties and Forties.

tuesday february 7th

2:00PM

"Louise Nevelson: Parts Unknown", Michael Komanecky, Chief Curator of The Farnsworth Art Museum, in Rockland, ME.

One of the most attractive and relatively unknown parts of the museum collection is devoted to the works of Rockland native Louise Nevelson, known for her groundbreaking large wooden assemblages. A little known aspect of her oeuvre, however, is her jewelry, which is featured strongly in the museum collection, and which is featured in this lecture.

3:30PM

"When You Wish Upon a Star: Recently Discovered Paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Pieter Breugel.", Dr. Roger Ward

Roger Ward is the former Chief Curator and Deputy Director of the Norton Museum of Art, and was partially responsible for developing the most recent major expansion and the installation of remarkable new acquisitions that he helped to engineer. An expert on old master paintings, this presentation will investigate the curious stories of the recent "rediscovery" of three major works by masters of the Renaissance.

wednesday february 8th

2:00PM

"Chinese Contemporary Ink Painting at the Saatchi Gallery", Michael Goedhuis

Originally an expert in archaic jades and bronzes, Michael Goedhuis stepped out of his comfort zone and began working with contemporary Chinese artists, hitherto often hidden from view in their own countries, and unknown in the West. As a dealer, his name is now synonymous with the best of Chinese Contemporary Art, from ultra realist oil paintings to more abstract and traditionally inspired ink paintings. This exhibition investigates a recent project, in which Goedhuis was asked to curate a project for the famous Saatchi Gallery in London.

thursday february 9th

2:00PM

Pamela Hughes, Owner and President, Hughes Design Associates, "Incorporating Functional Art into Rooms of all Periods

Functional art pieces are objects that we use in daily life that have high artistic qualities. These objects are both beautiful and functional, and in today's art market are highly sophisticated and creative. This lecture explores how to incorporate the incredible variety of functional art available today.

friday february 10th

2:00PM

"The Violin; its history and popularity as an Investment", Stewart Pollens

From 1976 to 2006, Stewart Pollens was the conservator of musical instruments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. When he left the museum in 2006, he formed Violin Advisors, LLC, which advises musicians, orchestras, collectors and investors on the purchase of fine violins. He is also the author of a number of books including four devoted to the violin and violin bow. This talk will delve into the history of the violin, the musicians and notable owners over the centuries, and their current attraction to investors.

saturday february 11th

2:00PM

"Priceless, or The Real-Life Indiana Jones", Robert Wittman

Robert Wittman joined the FBI as a special agent in 1988 and over the last 20 years has been responsible for recovering over $225,000,000 worth of stolen art and cultural property. He was almost singlehandedly responsible for setting up the Art Crimes Division at the FBI. After setting up his own art recovery company in 2008, Wittman published his book, entitled "Priceless." With a sense of humor, drama, suspense, and intrigue, hear Wittman recount the actual stories, including the "stings", that are behind the art headlines!

3:30PM

"The Curious Economics of Art, Part II" moderated by Bruce Helander, Editor-in-Chief of The Art Economist, with David Galeson, author and professor at the University of Chicago and a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research; Don Thompson, author of "The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art" and professor of marketing and economics in the MBA program at York University, Toronto; Anthony Haden-Guest, British-American writer, reporter, cartoonist and art critic based in New York and London; and collector Jane Holzer.

sunday february 12th

12:15PM

Cherie Burns "The Life of Millicent Rogers"

Author Cherie Burns will discuss her book Searching for Beauty--The Life of Millicent Rogers (St. Martin's Press), the first comprehensive biography of the Standard Oil heiress and fashion icon. Raised in the Gilded Age of New York society, Rogers came of age as a debutante and flapper. She eloped with impoverished European nobility and lived with three husbands in high-living pre-war Europe. During WWII she returned to the U.S to pitch into the war effort, and at war's end she followed American glamour--and Clark Gable-- to Hollywood.

Rogers was considered the first American woman with real style to merit the admiration of Parisian couturiers and fashion arbiters. She personalized her couturier fashions, designed her own jewelry and inspired the designs of jewelers Paul Flato and Fulco Verdura. Beautiful, rich, spirited and always impeccably dressed, Rogers re-invented herself with every decade of the first half of the Twentieth Century. Her lovers included Ian Fleming, Roald Dahl, James Forrestal, and a Taos Pueblo Indian.

Read more about the Enamel Heart Brooch by Paul Flato here.

2:00PM

Roger Ward, "Nazi-era Provenance Research and the Restitution of Old Master Paintings: Recent Successes and Setbacks."

Roger Ward is the former Chief Curator and Deputy Director of the Norton Museum of Art, and was partially responsible for developing the most recent major expansion and the installation of remarkable new acquisitions and donations that he helped to engineer. Like most responsible museum professionals, Ward became interested in researching works of art that had "gaps" in their provenance during the Nazi era. This lecture concentrates on several cases where lack of sensitivity or outmoded beliefs led to major and in some cases sensational controversies.

3:30PM

Chartis presents
"Art Disasters-Stories from the Trenches: How to Protect Your Art"