MAISON GERARD by Susanna Salk

“I remember in 1976 reading a headline that declared: ‘Move over Art Deco, here comes Stickley and the Arts and Crafts Movement!’” says Deco aficionado Gerard Widdershoven. “But Art Deco did come back, it always does. After all, it is the beginning of modern design in the twentieth- century.” The tenacity of the Art Deco style is thanks in part to Maison Gerard, the Manhattan gallery Widdershoven opened 35 years ago as a tribute to a time period that for him has always held timeless appeal.

Widdershoven grew up in Holland and completed his studies at the University of Amersterdam. After being introduced to an American while on holiday in Portugal, the two men decided to pool their common interests in vintage clothing and trinkets and open a little boutique in Amsterdam. When the friend had to unexpectedly move back to New York and Widdershoven realized he was able to legally avoid joining the Dutch army by following him there, the store closed and both were Manhattan-bound.

Widdershoven spent much of his early days as a New Yorker roaming the thrift and Goodwill stores along the Upper East Side. Among other things, he began to collect Lalique glass and anything from the period that caught his eye. “But as my capital went down and my inventory grew,” he explains, “I knew I had to start making a business out of it.” His former store partner’s family happened to be in real estate and told Widdershoven about an available space on East 10th Street. He grabbed the opportunity. The location was especially serendipitous as nearby were second hand bookstores containing forgotten troves of period French and German catalogues and magazines on the subject. Widdershoven spent hours educating himself and these same catalogues then became the beginnings of the impressive gallery library he still uses to help enlighten others.

“Back in the Seventies, the landscape was so different for antiques,” remembers Widdershoven. “You had importers that were shipping large containers full of stuff from France and all the uptown dealers would come downtown and have a look. That’s how I started building my Art Deco inventory. That’s the style I was most drawn to, that I could afford not to mention live with.” But not everyone agreed with his taste. “People thought I was crazy to sell it,” says Widdershoven. “I had a dealer on my street pull me aside and say: ‘Gerard, are you sure you want to collect this stuff? It’s not even nineteenth-century!”’ While Widdershoven was passionate about its integrity, Art Deco’s popularity had barely a foothold on the culture’s conscious, save for a few museums and uber fashion designers like Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Langerfeld who collected it. However, it wasn’t long before Andy Warhol, Peter Brandt and other avant garde tastemakers took notice. By the mid-seventies, Art Deco’s presence was starting to permeate the mainstream, thanks to more books being published on the subject and a first-time scholarly exhibition at the Minneapolis Museum of Art, which was accompanied by an illustrated catalog. Then high profile art dealer, Ileana Sonnabend, had exhibitions featuring Art Deco in her celebrated Madison Avenue gallery. Maison Gerard was soon in the epicenter of the revival, playing its own role in solidifying Art Deco not only by showcasing the stunning works of masters like Jules Leleu, Jacques-Emile Ruhlman, Lucien Rollin, Andre Arbus and Dominique, but by hosting unique exhibitions which offered new fans a collective context. “These designers had been overlooked and we wanted to showcase them in a special way,” says Widdershoven. “Maison Gerard was the first gallery to have an exhibition on Leleu. We really wanted to educate people as much as anything. We knew their interest would soon follow. We did an exhibition titled ‘Primitive Modern’, celebrating African art and its influence on Art Deco and another called ‘Birth of a Style,’ which focused on how early Art Deco replaced Art Nouveau.” One need only to look around the gallery’s stunning displays of furniture, lighting, and objects d’art to become an instant convert. What impresses most is how Art Deco designers continued to use the 18th century methods of constructing furniture while also incorporating contemporary materials in innovative ways. The results are geometric designs with extremely clean lines that are resoundingly glamorous.

About ten years ago, Widdershoven realized that it was time to share the future legacy of Maison Gerard as well as its intense commitment. While showing at a New York antiques fair, he had the good fortune to meet Benoist F. Drut who was working in a nearby booth and would pass Maison Gerard’s very impressive space en route to taking frequent smoking breaks. “I didn’t know a lot about Art Deco; my interest and training was more in the realm of eighteenth century French Decorative Arts,” he say. Drut grew up in France and had been practicing the art of collecting ever since he was a boy and later worked at a Parisian auction house before reaching the States. He was taken immediately with Widdershoven’s design mission and before long, graduated from apprentice to expert. “Benoist reminded me a lot of myself when I was his age,” says Widdershoven. “Not only did I admire his integrity, but he was like a sponge when it came to educating himself. Within a year, he knew the period like the back of his hand. Plus his French came in very handy when we went on buying trips!” Thanks to Drut, Maison Gerard has expanded its vision ever outward by introducing to the U.S., the talents of new European designers like Hervé van der Straeten, Marc Bankowsky, and Maria Grazia Rosin. So, while at 35 years young it thrives in the past, Maison Gerard has its distinct sight very much set on the future.