On June 9, PIASA is holding a sale entirely dedicated to American design.
Featuring 183 lots, the auction offers a superb overview of American design from the 1950s to today. A large selection of emblematic pieces by key designers such as Georges Nakashima, Edward J. Wormley, Isamu Noguchi and Paul Evans are presented, as well as a series of more unusual items such as this collection of hooked rugs, a bronze and glass shelf by Judy Kensley McKie and, extremely rare, a desk designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for a school for girls in Tokyo.
Judy Kensley McKie (born in 1944)
Snake - N°21/32
Estimate: 20 000 / 30 000 €
American design is one of PIASA's specialities, and this sale marks the department's return with a rich catalogue of nearly 200 lots. Major figures of the American scene - Edward J. Wormley, Isamu Noguchi, Paul Evans, Terence Harold Robsjohn-Gibbings - are of course included in the catalogue, sometimes with an important corpus of works, such as some thirty lots by George Nakashima.
George Nakashima (1905-1990)
Slab - Special order
Estimate: 25 000 / 35 000 €
The auction also features a number of rare works by major designers, such as this desk designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for a school for girls in Tokyo, which is part of a set of around ten pieces by this great American architect, or this wall shelf by Judy Kensley McKie.
Tapestry, which is particularly appreciated by collectors, occupies an important place in the catalogue, with works based on drawings by artists such as Alexander Calder, Kenneth Noland and Robert Indiana. On a more original note, a collection of hooked rugs, often made by anonymous artists, completes the selection.
American production (XXe)
Hooked rug - Unique piece
Estimate: 6 000 / 9 000 €
Finally, among the contemporary designers, we note the presence of the architect Frank Gehry with four pieces of furniture made of corrugated cardboard, as well as that of the designer Tadao Arimoto whose practice, marked by a total mastery of craft, echoes his Japanese origins.
Tadao Arimoto (XXe-XXIe)
Meditation - Unique piece
Estimate: 10 000 / 15 000 €