In the film on collecting furniture by George Nakashima, which I am creating these summer days for the New York School of Interior Design, there is a special chapter devoted to the legendary collection of Dr. Arthur and Evelyn Krosnick of Princeton. Friends of the Nakashimas, He was the medical director of the Princeton Diabetes Education and Treatment Center, and she, the director of the Greater Princeton Youth Orchestra. In 1989, their house, with all of the 112 pieces of furniture, which they had acquired over decades, burnt down, and with the exception of two pieces, which were removed to be shown at a retrospective of Nakashima’s work at the American Craft Museum in Manhattan, everything got destroyed. The following day, we learn from the memories of those speaking in the film, Nakashima celebrated his 84th birthday and was asked by the Krosnicks to recreate the entire collection. Not to copy, not to duplicate, but to make it better, to celebrate his most baroque, most expressive language, which he achieved in this late phase of his career. Together with his daughter Mira Nakashima-Yarnall, he began creating the new collection, which she had completed after her father died. The collection was ultimately sold by Sotheby’s under the directorship of James Zemaitis who shares his recollection of this seminal sale. All images courtesy Sotheby’s; the film is sponsored by Rago Auctions, the New York School of Interior Design, Cultured Magazine, and The ROW.
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