For over forty years, we have been seeking out the finest and most interesting decorative objects, jewelry, furniture, and paintings associated with the major design movements of our century. While our focus is on the most notable artists and designers of their periods, we are also interested in worthy works by lesser-known artists, or even by someone unknown. Our interest is in designs that transcend their period, and manifest an eloquent originality that sets them apart. For us, the most important elements are design, workmanship, condition and authenticity. We take pride in offering our clients the choicest examples of 20th and 21st century design.
We opened Primavera Gallery on Madison Avenue in 1971, after dealing privately for several years. On our first buying trip to Europe, we were overwhelmed by the extra-ordinary quality and striking design of Art Deco, and we decided to make this our focus.
With ever more frequent trips to Europe, our interest was inevitably drawn to other important design movements, including Weiner Werkstatte and Bauhaus, the English Arts and Crafts Movement, and Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his circle.
Our interests have expanded to include Italian mid-century design, and
the French Neo-Classical (1940’s) movement that evolved during the late
1930’s and 1940’s. Soon, we were buying pieces from the 1950’s and 60’s, and in the past few years, our interest has extended to the 1970, 80’s and beyond. With our new, large space in Chelsea, we can now include the work of selected contemporary designers as well.
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We are proud to have been instrumental in building a number of fine, private collections. We have also loaned to and sold to many museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Victoria and Albert Museum, The Cooper-Hewett Museum, The Museum of Modern Art, The Montreal Museum of Decorative Arts, the Toledo Museum of Art, The Portland Museum of Art, the Taft Museum, The Los Angeles Museum of Art, and the Norwest Collection
Jewelry is a major
part of Primavera Gallery. We offer fine, rare and collectible jewels
spanning over 200 years of jewelry design, with pieces dating from the
late 17th century up until the present. Our emphasis, however, is on unusual signed pieces, Art Deco through the 1960’s.
We are not interested in large diamonds or masses of precious stones -- this, for us, is geology
rather than jewelry. We are interested in great style, exciting design and
integrity of workmanship. Our collection includes all of the major
individual designers, as well as the great jewelry houses.
We also offer the work of individual contemporary jewelry designers of special merit, among them Pol Bury, Bruno Martinazzi and Andrew Grima, and we are adding interesting contemporary and studio jewelry from many talented designers working today.