LIZ OBRIEN- by Susanna Salk for 1stdibs

“What I like is great design with a touch of fantasy,” explains Liz O’Brien about her passion for collecting and selling pieces from the 1940’s through the 70’s. Her store’s location on Fifth Avenue, at the base of a luxury high rise and just steps from Central Park, further echoes her mantra for both the unexpected and the chic. Sunlight pours in through the glass-walled entrance and show-stopping pieces such as a black lacquered Jansen “Petals” table gleam like gems in a just-opened jewelry box.

The 2,000 square foot black marbled floor showroom is a tribute to other masters as T.H. Robsjohn- Gibbings, John Dickinson, Billy Baldwin, and Jean-Michel Frank. Particular focus goes towards showcasing Samuel Marx, a once under-explored designer until O’Brien cast her attention upon his designs in her ground-breaking book in 2007: Ultramodern: Samuel Marx, Architect, Designer, Art Collector. “Marx is really an interesting window onto not only mid-century design, but craft and artisan production,” says O’Brien. “He is the pinnacle.”

Speaking of pinnacles, it’s hard to believe that this mid-century modern guru was once touting bank material as a copywriter in Boston. Determined to leave dreary solitude behind, O’Brien made the leap to work at the downtown gallery, DeLorenzo, and “find my own path.” It wasn’t long before the intended direction became clear: “I tramped auctions and flea markets everywhere and after five years, I started selling,” says O’Brien.

Initially operating out of her Tribeca apartment to an ever-growing list of private clients, O’Brien was soon able to open her own shop on Wooster Street named 41. She reflects, “At that time people wanted mostly Art Deco or Machine Age, so my aesthetic found a niche pretty fast.” Her taste soon grew to include 1970’s greats like Paul Rudolph. “His apartment for Halston is my all-time favorite, so when those pieces came up for private sale, I was overjoyed and bought as much as I could.” Her expanded style scope is particularly suitable for her new uptown location on 61st Street, where she moved in 1999: “Pierre Cardin was in this space before me, so it made sense to continue the ode to that time period,” explains O’Brien.

When she isn’t at her shop’s helm or staging exhibitions, (her current, “An American in Pairs,” at Galerie du Passage in Paris, is an installation of works from Dorothy Draper to Tony Duquette, runs until the end of June), you can find O’Brien reposing at her weekend retreat in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, where she enjoys taking guests to the see the nearby Knoll factory and Bertoia studios. It’s the historical context that excites her, wherever she is: “I love putting objects into a context so people can see them with a fresh eye. It’s a form of story telling,” says O’Brien. “Collecting is the same way.”