Lillian Nassau opened her antiques shop in New York City on Third Avenue and
56th Street in 1945. She sold 18th and 19th Century porcelain, glass and
objets d'art. In the 1950s, she became interested in the decorative arts of
the Art Nouveau period. Especially fascinated by the work of Louis Comfort
Tiffany and Tiffany Studios, Mrs. Nassau gradually changed her inventory,
and soon became a recognized expert in an undiscovered field.
In retrospect, it is difficult to believe that this now popular era of
decorative arts had been forgotten. Almost single-handedly credited with
reviving the interest in the work of Louis Tiffany, Mrs. Nassau surrounded
herself with trend setting collectors who shared her passion. Among them
were Walter Chrysler and Joseph Heil, who gave generously to the Museum of
Modern Art, Ed Wormley, the prominent furniture designer, and Edgar
Kaufmann, Jr., whose family commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to build their
legendary home "Falling Water."
Since little had been written about this period, Mrs. Nassau compiled a
comprehensive research library which contained primary source material and
included contemporary magazines, books catalogues and brochures. She shared
her library and knowledge with these early collectors and museum curators.
As a willing lender to early museum exhibitions, Mrs. Nassau encouraged her
clients to do the same. Her association with curators paved the way for two
early exhibitions of Art Nouveau and Tiffany, the first held at the Museum
of Contemporary Crafts in 1958 and the second, the seminal show at the
Museum of Modern Art in 1960. Upholding that tradition, the gallery has
continued to loan to museum exhibitions, most recently to the Victoria and
Albert Museum in London and the National Gallery in Washington D.C. Mrs.
Nassau was the generous donor of the magnificent Tiffany Studios mosaic
fountain that is permanently on view in the Sculpture Garden of the American
Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. She also presented the
Metropolitan with a breathtaking necklace by Rene Lalique.
In 1967 the gallery moved to its present location at 220 East 57 Street.
Although Mrs. Nassau was approaching the typical age of retirement, she was
building momentum as the driving force behind the revival of the works by
Tiffany and the decorative arts of the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods.
Celebrity collectors, including members of the Beatles, as well as Led
Zeppelin, Catherine Deneuve, Barbra Streisand, Andy Warhol, and other
leading pop culture personalities became clients and seized the opportunity
to share in Mrs. Nassau's expertise while major museums throughout the
United States and Europe steadily made major acquisitions from the gallery.
In 1971 Mrs. Nassau was joined in her business by her son Paul Nassau. Mr.
Nassau, as a young man had come in to help with the bookkeeping on
Saturdays, and then went on to a career as a musician. On her retirement in
1982 Mr. Nassau became the sole proprietor. Mr. Nassau retired in October of
2006 and the gallery was taken over by Arlie Sulka.
Arlie Sulka joined the firm in 1980. She was able to gain a knowledge and
understanding of the field from Mrs. Nassau directly and has established
herself as a recognized expert in
Tiffany and Art Nouveau decorative arts. She makes regular appearances as
an appraiser on the popular PBS program Antiques Roadshow. Eric Silver
joined the gallery in 2002. He has been active in the field of nineteenth
and twentieth century decorative arts and sculpture for over thirty years.
He is also an appraiser on Antiques Roadshow. The gallery is a member of
the National Art and Antiques Dealers Association of America, which is
celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year, and the prestigious
international group CINOA. We exhibit annually in October at the renowned
International Fine Art and Antique Dealers Show held at The Seventh Regiment
Armory in New York
Mrs. Nassau died in 1995 at the age of ninety-five, but her spirit lives on
in the gallery. We continue to uphold Mrs. Nassau's reputation for handling
the choicest objects by Louis Comfort Tiffany and the leading decorative
artists from the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods. The gallery remains the
leader in this field after its modest beginnings almost sixty years ago.
|
|
|
|
