Our forthcoming May/June issue roams far and wide—from the island of Saint Croix to the Isle of Wight; from Brazil to Stockholm to Scotland.
The venturesome spirit of this issue is appropriate, as it marks the beginning of a journey. We have important news: our publisher, Don Sparacin, and I have acquired The Magazine ANTIQUES from Art News Media, LLC. We are now independent, and we intend to go places.
In a Saint Croix town house, a collection of Imari porcelain is displayed on an island-made mahogany “cupping” table with an intricately carved splashboard. Photograph by Clemrick Bryan.
Stewardship is a better word than ownership to describe the way that Don and I feel about our new responsibilities. Founded in 1922, ANTIQUES is fast approaching its one hundredth anniversary. We both treasure that legacy, and are honored to be its custodians. We’re deeply proud to be a magazine where scholars, collectors, and those who are simply fans of the fine and decorative arts feel equally at home.
As I have often said, at our magazine we take a broad view of the way “antiques” are defined. To quote myself, we see them as the arts of the past that tell stories. We plan to tell those stories in ever-richer ways—building on a fine print magazine that takes our readers to places they have never seen, and grants scholars a platform for their new discoveries. We intend to enrich our already lively digital media presence, which includes our website, our podcast Curious Objects, and social media platforms such as Instagram, which is overseen by our brilliant editor-at-large Glenn Adamson. We will also expand our programs for tours, talks, and other events that help enliven the discourse around the arts.
A word of thanks here. During our acquisition negotiations, Don and I benefitted greatly from the advice and guidance of Richard Sharp. Rick is an attorney and an avid collector of antiques and art, with a particular interest in the Hudson River school. He’s a member of the board of trustees and former chair of the Olana Partnership and sits on the board of directors of the Sir John Soane’s Museum Foundation as well. Most important to us, he is a true friend of ANTIQUES. We hope to depend on his continued wise counsel and enthusiastic support.
In the drawing room at The Fife Arms Hotel in Scotland, a watercolor by Zhang Enli titled Ancient Quartz, 2018, covers the ceiling. Photograph by Sim Canetty-Clarke.
I like to envision our readers as people like Rick Sharp. They are lovers of art and history, curious and open-minded, and eager to learn about new things. They are people who—even if they never get to visit such a place in person—want to know about a fabulous hotel drawing room like the one in the photograph above, with its quirky appointments that include a ceiling painted by the Chinese artist Zhang Enli, who was inspired by cross-sections of agates.
Even when ANTIQUES travels far afield, we always return to our roots. You’ll see articles in the May/June issue that include the scholar Linda Ferber’s story on the American Pre-Raphaelite painters, Mack Cox on the Kentucky tall-case clocks on view at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, and a visit to the Boston residence of Peter Lynch and his late wife, Carolyn, where we see a part of their collection of early American antiques and nineteenth-century paintings in situ.
Don and I want to thank all those who have supported ANTIQUES over the years—readers, scholars, collectors, advertisers, and many others. We hope you’ll accompany us on this new and exciting voyage.
