SHOPTALK with Susanna Salk
Photography by John Gruen

VAN den AKKER

“We rely on our fashion experience when trying to find what’s next for Van den Akker Antiques,” says Rob Copley of the furniture gallery he and partner Ray Raymakers creaed over eight years ago. Their quest to find both the accessible as well as the cutting edge in 20th century design began when both men attended fashion design schools — Copley at FIT in New York and Raymakers at the Fashion Academy in Amsterdam, the Nether-lands. Their successful careers found them working with the likes of Ralph Lauren, Valentino and Go-Silk.

But as much as they loved the “what’s next"
world of fashion, their love for interior design was never far behind. “Even when we were attending fashion shows in Paris, we always made sure to check out as many antique dealers as we could and buy our favorite pieces,” says Raymakers. Making their hobby official was really a result of running out of space as much as anything else. With nowhere to put their ever-expanding collect-ions, they would ship their treasures to a ware-house owned by Raymakers’ brother in the Netherlands. “We didn’t know what we were ever going to do with it all,” says Copley. “Until one day we realized we needed to open our own store.”

Moving full-time from Manhattan to their country hous
ein Columbia County, they opened their first shop nearby in the renowned Hudson area. “We couldn’t wait to surround ourselves with all that we had been collecting,” says Raymakers. They chose the name “Van den Akker,” for Raymakers’ mother’s maiden name and with respect to the strong Dutch heritage present in Columbia County. Tran-slated into English, the name means “of the acres” which is highly appropriate because of the surrounding rural area.

At first, the store’s inventory was clearly slanted in the direction of Dutch 18th and 19th century, but it quickly blended in 20th century European pieces as well, inspiring the duo to move the shop further up Warren Street into a space three times larger than their original location.

And while they had left the fashion world
behind, its forward-thinking vocabulary was still an ever-present part of their lexicon as they developed the look and feel at Van den Akker Antiques. “Interior design is not all that different from fashion design,” says Copley. “We make it our goal to offer Euro-pean designers from the 20th century that are unknown here in the United States. This gives our clients who are some of the best decorators, architects, and designers the advantage of having the first look before that creator becomes the next hot thing.”

As they were continuing to expand
their range, their fan base was asking for a new address as well. “Since so many of our customers are from Man-hattan, it just made sense,” says Ray-makers of their ultimate move back to the city. After a nine month search, they found the ideal location on East 59th Street. When they are not manning the helm at the shop, Copley and Ray-makers are constantly traveling through-out Europe: “We do not relegate our shopping to just one country,” says Copley. “We buy from all over Europe.”

T heir treasures reflect their passionate and committed
itineraries: Fontana Arte lighting, vintage mirrors from Gio Ponti, a lit inlayed agate topped cocktail table by Ado Chale, and a two door cocktail cabinet by Osvaldo Borsani are displayed throughout the three level shop, and visitors can browse while listening to great music and sipping delicious Dutch coffee. “We feel a friendly, no attitude approach is the only way to do business,” says Raymakers.

For every fabulous piece Copley and Raymakers brought back to the America, dozens more were not making the cut but not for lack of love. “While shopping we would continually see pieces that were fabulous but not quite right for Van den Akker Antiques,” explains Copley. “They were maybe too avant garde so we would have to pass them up.”

As the men grew more frustrated with all the
compromising, Sean Robins entered— and in the nick of time. Robins had met Raymakers and Copley when he was a client back at the Hudson shop and always shared their passion for collect-ing, even joining them on European buying trips.

The time had now come to make it official: leaving his career as a psychologist, Robins collaborated with Raymakers and Copley to open Galerie Van den Akker in July 2008 on East 58th Street, just a block away from Van den Akker Antiques. “We wanted to take Van den Akker Antiques to the next level,” says Raymakers, “where not only pieces from the 1920’s through the 1970’s could be shown but also as a place for great pieces of the 1980’s and 1990’s, 21st century prototypes, and very limited production pieces.”

Galerie Van den Akker has allowed the men to
experiment with ideas and pieces not seen in the U.S. before. “I love that we can introduce the newest ideas in 20th century and modern design in furniture, lighting, and accessories without limit-ations,” says Robins, who decorated his child-hood room not with rock posters, but an Italian platform bed. Alongside Jean Brand, (whom they are the first to carry in the U.S.), unique pieces carried include Maurice Caulka’s exper-imentation with plastics in the late 60’s for Leleu Deshays and Roberto Rida’s 2005 re-interpretation of classic furniture in crystal and onyx mirror.

“While not everyone who comes into the gallery will ultimately buy something,” says Robins, “we feel very strongly that each person will be able to share in Van den Akker’s expression of modernism.”

Van den Akker Antiques
230 East 59th Street,
New York, NY 10022
Tel: 212.644.3535
Fax: 212.644.2626
Email: Tim@vandenakkerantiques.com

Galerie Van den Akker
210 East 58th Street,
New York, NY 10022
Tel: 646.912.9992
Fax: 646.282.0292
Email: Info@galerievandenakker.com