Stair Galleries

Strawser Auction Group of Wolcottville, IN held its signature early spring two-day Fiesta Auction on March 8 and 9, 2024. Fiestaware, known for its vibrant, eye-catching colors and Art Deco presentation, was launched in 1936 by the Homer Laughlin China Company. Nearly 90 years onward, Fiestaware is still in production, has a very active collecting ...

Ann and Gordon Getty (American, 1941 - 2020 and American, 1933 -) were the essential power couple of the postwar era. They met at a bar, decided to elope, and were married in 1964. Gordon, a businessman and composer, is the fourth child of oil magnate J. Paul Getty. Ann, a paleoanthropologist by training, is best remembered as a supporter of politi...

On September 21, 2023, Stair of Hudson, NY will present its 439-lot The Collection of André Leon Talley sale. Talley (American, 1948 - 2022) is best remembered as Vogue magazine's first Black American editor-at-large from 1998 to 2013. Earlier this year, Christie's New York hosted two events featuring Talley's premier functional, decorative, perso...

Stair, of Hudson, NY, presented its The World of Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman auction on July 13, 2023. This 288-lot sale featured materials from the legendary actors Paul Newman (American, 1925 - 2008) and Joanne Woodward (American, b. 1930). Both recipients of numerous performing and philanthropic awards, Newman and Woodward were married for 5...

What were the top stories in the auction industry this month? Sand art in a bottle by Andrew Clemens (American, 1857 - 1894) sold for $277,200. Image courtesy of Bonhams Skinner. Auction Highlights Notable results from around the auction world this month included seasonal events and end-of-year triumphs. We reported on the full results from Stair�...

Stair, of Hudson, NY, presented its An American Icon: Property from the Collection of Joan Didion auction on Wednesday, November 16, 2022. The sale included a full range of materials from the Upper East Side apartment of the late thought leader, novelist, and essayist Joan Didion (American, 1934 - 2021). Presale estimates on the 224 lots on offer w...

American novelist and essayist Joan Didion (1934 - 2021) penned some of the most engaging, entertaining, and thought-provoking works of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Many of her most memorable pieces are based on personal experience, including subjects such as parenting, aging, loss, growth, and change. In 2013, Didion was awarded The National...

Images from around the auction world this February. Image credit from left to right: Sotheby’s, Stair, and Christie’s. Collage by Heemin Moon (Auction Daily). February is the month of love and, for those in the Northern Hemisphere, the last official month of winter. The auction world responded appropriately. Notable sales this month ranged from...

Toni Putnam, Winter, 1999. Image courtesy of Stair. The world often talks about art and artists. Less often do we hear about the role of an art foundry. However, the foundry plays a fundamental part in giving shape to the artist's vision. An art foundry is not only limited to fabricating an idea. It co-creates some of the most famous sculptures the...

Robert Mapplethorpe, Patti Smith (With Neck Brace), 1978. Image courtesy of Stair. Stair’s early December art auction will put underappreciated contemporary artists on the global map this season. Stair is summing up 2021 with an amalgamation of works spanning the 20th and 21st centuries. The sale offers paintings, works on paper, sculpture, and p...

This March, Stair will offer an unusual auction that borders on the macabre. Collectors will find drawings of the human body in every style imaginable, from the realist to the absurd. The auction, held live on March 3rd, 2021, highlights the ‘Exquisite Corpse’ game of the Surrealists.  Annette Lemieux, Doug Starn, Mike Starn, and Timothy G...

Drawing of Muffie Cunningham, Director, Decorative Arts at Stair Galleries. Photo courtesy of Stair. Ever look at a breathtaking apartment building and wonder who lives there... and how? Stair Galleries is offering collectors the opportunity to vicariously experience the living space and lifestyle of a legendary New York City power couple famous fo...

Sir John Richardson at the Gagosian Gallery in 2014. Photo by The New York Times. Sir John Richardson's decades-long friendship with Pablo Picasso grew with visits to the artist's Vallauris home. “We were regularly going to see Picasso,” the late Richardson recalled. “He was very generous to me. He sensed somehow that I was going to write abo...

John Richardson: A Scholar Collects Stair is pleased to offer the contents of Sir John Richardson’s lower Fifth Avenue loft on September 16 & 17, 2020 in what will certainly be one of our most interesting ‘lifestyle’ sales to date. With every room in his lushly decorated loft painted a different color and layered with a dizzying array of ...

Mario Buatta in a room he decorated. Photo by Ted Harden and Courtesy Rizzoli. The first antique Mario Buatta acquired cost him $12, an 18th-century lap desk he bought at the age of 11. His father made sure the piece was fumigated before it entered the family home. "[Collecting] relates to your childhood," Buatta told Architectural Digest many year...