I will be honored to host in the fall edition of the program Collecting Design: History, Collections, Highlights, at the New York School of Interior Design the iconic design dealer and collector Mark McDonald, who will speak about his personal relationships with American design legends. Coincidently his collection will be offered for sale at Rago Auctions next week. I clearly remember when I had first stepped in Mark’s Gansevoort Gallery in the early 90s, when I just graduated from F.I.T. It was time when the entire world of design and decorative arts was occupied with studying, preserving, exhibiting, and collecting Victoriana and Americana. But at Gansevoort, you could find chairs by Eames (he created the first ever Eames retrospective in his first gallery Fifty/50); wooden platters by Tapio Wirkkala; the Mesa Table by T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings long before it has come to fetch six figures at auctions; tableware by Russel Wright; and other steppingstones in the history of mid-century design. In fact, it was here, at Gansevoort that the collectible market for American postwar design was forged. It was here that such renowned collections assembled by John Waddel, Mickey Wolfson (founder of the Wolfsonian-FIU), and Murray Moss started. In 2002 Mark left Manhattan and established himself at a gallery called 330 in Hudson, NY. Next week, you will be able to take home a piece from a collection assembled by a true connoisseur of American design, the man whose passion and keen eye have led him to establish a memorable career.
