Italian Lighting and Blue Fractal Resin!

We were up at Les Puces for the first time in quite a while this week. Each year it becomes more “established” and this year is no different – from new numbered awnings for easier identification of the stands to presentations that rival high-end design shops. There are very few signs of a traditional ‘flea market’ left anywhere.  We saw many of the regular crowd – interior designers and gallerists – getting an early start. On our mission to find tables and lights for a Paris client we were happily reminded that there is true value for our clients in negotiating face to face.

Here are a few objects to temp you from our trip!

IMG_7439 IMG_7440Four Champagne Chairs by Estelle Laverne, 1970. This chair has never been re-edited.  The white leather cushions are original and in good shape.  The seats rotate from one side to the other and spring back to the position seen above. 

Ask us about the price – you’ll be happy you did!

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Mushroom lamp (1970s) on the top and the Meduse (Jelly Fish) lamp (1960s) underneath. Both by the pioneering Italian designer Luciano Vistosi.

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Each table lamp above is one of a pair that are Italian from the 1950s that we find to have enduring elegant lines.

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This is one of a pair of blue fractal resin cube tables. The picture doesn’t do it justice… they are exquisite! The blue is electric and exciting and with the sun shining on them these tables really made our heart skip a beat!
Blue is said to be the hardest color to accomplish in this medium. We are used to seeing red, orange and yellow most often. If you are interested we will send you more photos!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Inquiries : contact@arte-case.com or 06 47 25 09 66

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On Linkedin we invite you to join: Design Link – Collectible Design Market Network – a growing network of designers, journalists, collectors and enthusiasts discussing ideas and questions about this growing market. 

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Collectible Design Market News Highlights

Craft and artisanal workshops are playing a central role in defining contemporary luxury for an increasing sophisticated clientele.
Have a look at some of the news and events around this topic.

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What is Luxury? Opens tomorrow (through 27 September 2015) at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

It will include 100+ contemporary objects to explore design and craftsmanship.

“There was such a narrow discourse about luxury that just focused on brands, the industry and the market, we felt it was time to reopen discussion,” said Jana Scholze, the co-curator, to the NYTimes. “Luxury is shifting to something that is not simply focused on consumption, and this has implications for future craft — exciting implications, I think.”  Read the full story here.

The idea of craft is often linked to tradition and nostalgia but here it is being linked to innovation and a sophisticated knowledge about quality. Shown above is the Fragile Future III  by Studio Drift for Carpenter’s Workshop.

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Notice this lamp again along with the Charles Trevelyan lamp in the press photos for Carpenter’s Workshop Gallery who was just featured in FT’s How To Spend It.  The gallery purchased a closing foundry outside of Paris last summer, kept the skilled craftsmen and invited the artists and designers they represent, including Wendell Castle, Studio Job,  Rick Owens, the Campana brothers and Atelier Van Lieshout to create here. Read the full NYTimes story here.

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In September the Musee Des Arts Decoratifs will present Korea: Design and the Art Trade – an exhibition seeking to explore and illuminate the resonance between Korea’s contemporary art and design with traditional artisanal methods in the forming of a national artistic identity.  Read more here.

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Don’t miss Linda Lee’s article on Pierre Paulin in the latest issue of Cultured Magazine (pp. 188) that just came out yesterday.  Paulin’s work (see Paulin at TEFAF 2015) has been highly collectible for many years and will  be celebrated at the Centre George Pompidou in Paris this September.  If you’re not in Paris next fall you still have a chance to see (and purchase) his work at NY Gallery Demisch Denant’s Pierre Paulin; L’Homme Moderne exhibition open 12 May 0 27 June 2015.

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Design Market Stats from the TEFAF Market Report

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The collectible design sector is becoming more formalized as a category every year. DeTnk creates a collectible design market report each spring since 2008 with data covering the market since 2005, Artnet tracks 20th and 21st century design since 2011 and the TEFAF Art Market Report this year includes a special section on design. It’s important to note that these reports include available data from auction houses and surveys but it is not by any means complete.  Here are some of the key design findings from Clare McAndrew’s TEFAF Art Market Report:

  • There is more and more crossover between the art and design market as collectors explore both sectors.
  • Auction sales for 20th and 21st century design in 2014 reached 314 million euros. This is an increase of 2% year-over-year, but down 8% on the peak of 342 million euros in 2012.
  • Interestingly, the report gives comparisons to give the reader a sense of how much this amount is in comparison with other segments of the market: The sector makes up around 8% of the value of Artnet’s decorative lots and is about 5% of the value of the Post War and contemporary sector, or just over half that of the European Old Master sales.
  • The US is the largest auction market in this sector and France is second. Both have held these places since 2011 when Artnet began tracking this market. The US market grew slightly in 2014 after a steep decline in 2013 while France was stagnant in terms of value and slightly decreased in terms of transactions.  The market has declined overall in both countires between 2011 and 2014.
  • The highest price paid for a work at auction in the sector for 2014 was 3.7 million Euros for a cabinet by French designer Jean-Michel Frank offered in the historic Sotheby’s Paris sale of Felix Marcilhac. (See our post on this piece from earlier this year here. )
  • 62% of all auction transactions in this sector last year were for under 3,000 Euros

This is just a small bit of the information offered in this in-depth report that is available on the TEFAF website for 20 euros.

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