December 8, 2010Top: Fabric covered game table, Karl Springer lucite lamps, Frances Elkins side chairs. Photo courtesy of Liz O’Brien
When it comes to changing locations, I’m like the last person to jump out of the plane,” says Liz O’Brien. That’s just one reason why O’Brien’s move last year from her Fifth Avenue gallery — where she thrived for more than 10 years selling such design masters as Samuel Marx and Karl Spring — to the ground floor of the Interior Design Building on East 61st Street is such a big deal.
Now O’Brien can borrow a cup of sugar, or inspiration, from her next-door neighbor John Rosselli; or from the indomitable design master (not to mention Rosselli’s spouse) Bunny Williams, who’s just a few flights up; or from any of a dozen other like-minded design aficionados in the building. “I’m surrounded by colleagues whom I really admire,” says O’Brien. “And the name of the building is so fitting, as my point of view has always been more about selling pieces with roots in interior design rather than product design.”
And as much as her fleet of friends and clients enjoyed the Central Park views that her prior locale afforded, O’Brien’s new digs allow more space to peruse her passion for design from the 1940s through the ’70s featuring everything from upholstered slipper chairs by Hollywood decorator Billy Haines to polished steel creations by New York designer John Vesey. (“I have no prejudice against any decade,” she says cheerfully.) It also offers the luxury of having sit-down sessions in her customized jewel box of a lounge: Located in the back of the gallery is a high-back chocolate banquette, surrounded by abundant white shelves stacked with her vintage design books from the likes of ’30s designer Jean-Michel Frank. This oasis is where O’Brien now meets with clients and holds tête-à-têtes and catch-up sessions with friends. “I use these books to show people how certain pieces are used in a room,” says O’Brien, who lined the entire area with vibrant Yves Klein-esque blue felt she nabbed at a local billiards shop. “In the other space, we could never have a proper visit,” she explains. “It feels wonderfully old fashioned being able to meet with designers or clients back here; the thoughtful pace feels so right for these times.”
O’Brien’s friend and frequent client, designer Alex Papachristidis, tried to convince her to stay on Fifth Avenue. But he was an instant convert to the convenient charms of her new digs. “I think Liz’s new address is wonderful,” he says. “It’s also near a slew of stores where I love to shop, so that makes it even better. In fact, I just bought an extraordinary pair of blue-beaded crystal 1940s French chandeliers from Liz.”
Pair of Harvey Probber chairs, Samuel Marx low table with lucite legs, Tommi Parzinger 12-drawer chest, Line Vautrin pineapple sconces.
Other treasures visitors might find across the 2,400 square feet of renovated space: a pair of Turkish-style poufs that design team Parish-Hadley fashioned for a Park Avenue apartment back in 1960 (Sister Parish had the same pair created in red for her own living room), furniture wrapped in printed linens and batiks by designer and manufacturer Karl Springer (the exotic effect enjoyed a moment in vogue back in the ’70s) and painted furniture by the French decorating firm Jansen that once resided in style maven Jayne Wrightsman’s London flat.
Particularly exciting is the opportunity to view O’Brien’s extensive collection of vintage textiles, which, until her move, had been sequestered in storage due to lack of space. Now displayed proudly in her new gallery: celebrated mid-century Los Angeles weaver and textile designer Maria Kipp’s cotton-and-rayon panels with metallic Lurex yarn and turquoise-and-ivory loop fringe that delights the eye and touch, and which possesses a couture spirit worthy of a Chanel jacket.
Also on view is Vesey’s sculptural X Bench, which despite its 1970s origins could easily hold its own in a room full of 18th-century pieces. “I love that it has its own validity,” O’Brien raves. “The bench is a timeless classic design yet its fabrication in polished steel makes it feel fresh and modern.” It’s also an eloquent example of O’Brien’s philosophy that modern design isn’t as radical a departure from its vintage predecessors as people tend to suppose. “It’s so important to look at modern works in a broader context,” she says. “Continuity is everywhere.”
Claude Lalanne bench, 1950s Italian bookcase and Tommi Parzinger chandelier.
Her point of view is increasingly embraced, and for the second straight year, O’Brien has been invted to join the prestigious Winter Antiques Show (held next month, from January 21 through 30). “They exhibit the best of a broad range of categories – from textiles to porcelain – with an American slant, so it makes sense for us to be there too,” she says. “There’s a unique connoisseurship to what’s on the floor. I’m so honored to be part of it.”
Now that she’s installed her inventory and put her name in dramatic Mandarin red on the glass window at her entrance, O’Brien is eager to host an upcoming roster of events: a book signing for Pauline Metcalf’s new book on Syrie Maugham and a show celebrating new work by Indiana potter Gregory Kuharic, who first met O’Brien in his former career as a decorative-arts specialist at Sotheby’s. O’Brien has passionately displayed Kuharic’s distinctive gourd forms since she first saw them several years ago. “Gregory’s work is so unique,” she says. “It makes such a strong statement.”
And while finding star pieces has proven increasingly more challenging since O’Brien began the hunt more than 15 years ago, she is up to the challenge. “Our focus is pretty specific and I must pay attention to everything,” she says. “But I still get excited about stuff.”
Interior designer Juan Montoya couldn’t concur more strongly, and advises thusly: “Look for the unusual and you will find it at Liz O’Brien.”
