Principles of Design: The Collections of Judith Hollander and Alan Wanzenberg

Stair Galleries is pleased to be offering property from two interesting collections on Saturday, April 2, 2016. The Collections of Judith Hollander and Alan Wanzenberg are both idiosyncratic and diverse, yet both collectors were ahead of the trends in design, using their connoisseurship and aesthetic sensibilities to create collections that exemplify the principles of good design. Hollander and Wanzenberg share a commonality of eclecticism and taste, as well as the influence of their shared friend and colleague, the late designer Jed Johnson.

Judith Hollander began her career buying for herself, and though her taste was varied, she bought with an emphasis on Neoclassical, Empire and Aesthetic Movement furniture and decorative arts. Hollander transitioned her talent and discerning eye into a business, partnering with Jed Johnson’s interior design firm and becoming great friends with Jed and Andy Warhol. Together, Hollander and Johnson decorated Warhol’s townhouse on East 66th Street.

In 1979, architect Alan Wanzenberg met Jed Johnson and began their personal and professional partnership. Wanzenberg’s Modernist taste and Johnson’s intuitive eye helped the couple create a cohesive collection made up of seemingly disparate parts. Wanzenberg bought what he loved and credits Johnson with helping his collecting mature and take on a stronger focus.

Highlights from the Collection of Judith Hollander include an American Gothic Rosewood Marble Top Center Table, possibly from a design by A. J. Davis, with an estimate of $30,000 – $50,000; an Aesthetic Movement Carved Rosewood and Marquetry Two-Drawer Library Table by Herter Brothers, with an estimate of $8,000 – $12,000; a Classical Carved Mahogany and Figured Mahogany Cylinder-Front Desk, with an estimate of $7,000 – $10,000; and a Nigerian Yoruba-Owo Osanmasinmi Altar Head, with an estimate of $25,000 – $35,000.

Highlights from the Collection of Alan Wanzenberg include a platinum palladium print by Horst P. Horst, Harmony of Forms, with an estimate of $4,000 – $8,000; Carlo Maria Mariani’s Ratto di Ganimede, oil on canvas, with an estimate of $3,000 – $6,000; a painted bronze, Untitled, by Mimmo Paladino, at $3,000 – $5,000; a mixed media work, Untitled, in the Style of Jean-Michel Basquiat, with an estimate of $1,000 – $3,000; a Large Pottery Vase with Blue and White Glaze by Guido Giambone, with an estimate of $1,200 – $1,800; and a Walnut Slab Coffee Table, Attributed to George Nakashima, at $3,000 – $5,000.