AFA 19th Anniversary Preview

18th Anniversary 14 www.afamag.com |  www.incollect.com Clive Devenish Antiques Incline Village, Nevada Pristine "Bismark Bank" American Circa 1883 Fine Quality Mechanical Banks clivedevenishantiques@comcast.net www.clivedevenishan tiques.com phone (510) 414-4545 Established 1976 E ntering a new year provides us with the opportunity for reflection and for making plans going forward. For several years we’ve included our museum year in review in this, our annual anniversary issue. While we touch on some hot topics that may have roiled segments of the art community during the year, the purpose of the article is to celebrate museums as they continue to build collections that reflect their interests in particular works, artists, time frames, and cultures (pages 97–105). Acquisitions represented this year include one of my favorites, a mirrored room at the Dallas Museum of Art filled with LED-lit spotted pumpkins by eighty-eight- year-old Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. Other favorites include a circa-1950s quilt by African-American Jessie Pettway, at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, an 1840s watercolor from the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts that features awkwardly elegant renderings of individuals from two North Carolina families, and a Chinoiserie silver sugar and tea caddy set from 1757 purchased by the Huntington Museum of Art. As this list reflects, classic design spans the eras. The interiors of designer Thomas Jayne of Jayne Design Studio in Manhattan are the epitome of classic design with a twist. Though Jayne, as he says in his article, is from “the cradle of modernism” (pages 106–111), he is steeped in the classical traditions. In his new book, Classical Principles for Modern Design , he takes pointers from Edith Wharton and Ogden Codman’s classic on interior design, The Decoration of Houses , and demonstrates how they still relate to today’s design aesthetics. As he notes, “Tradition is an active word—tradition is now .” Jeannine Falino and Sara Spink began a dialogue across the centuries when they invited contemporary artists and designers to create new works in silver in response to historic silver objects in the collection of the Museum of the City of New York. They discuss the stunning results in their article about New York silver (pages 162–167). We can look to the past for inspiration, but it’s always exciting to see how much the present moment influences what we choose to value from the past. May opportunities for such enlightenment continue into the future. Thank you for supporting the many educational and cultural initiatives that keep the arts a vital part of our world. May it always be so. Onward, Johanna johanna@antiquesandfineart.com Photography by Ellen McDermott Letter from the editor