Christie's Sells Barbara Jakobson's Old Junk

And Man oh Man is it Cool Junk!

Horst P. Horst (1906–1999), Barbara Jakobson (1933-2025) in a 1952 Christian Dior Dress, 1984.

I had planned to do this post “live” from Christies, but figured out a little too late that the pieces in this amazing sale were online with no preview. Yes, I could have arranged to see the pieces in the flesh at their warehouse, but I didn’t want anyone to have to do that for me. I know those warehouses, and even at the big auction houses they are inconvenient to get to, dirty, freezing cold in the winter, and blazing hot in the summer. Any way I digress… We are here to talk about cool junk (and some cool art) which the legendary collector Barbara Jakobson had in spades. Christies has already sold her art collection, which did very well and these are the “left over” pieces from her estate that I think her daughters are dispersing after her death last year. I didn’t know Barbara that well, but was very well aware of her as a major collector with a curious and esoteric eye. She would always stop by our booth at the New York Modernism fairs and would spot the most unusual object in the booth, comment on it and sometimes buy it. Nothing was too pedestrian for her as long as it had something special, whether that was a model of a 50’s car or crazy set of dishes. She was equally comfortable discusing, buying, and collecting this detritus as she was buying a major Cindy Sherman photograph or an Josef Albers painting. It was all the same to her, and that is a rare quality to find in someone who has the means to buy practically whatever she wanted. My dear friend Mark McDonald supplied her with some of the most amazing mid-century furniture EVER, and you can see examples of that in the photo above. I wish I had known her better, but even through our casual acquaintance, I can tell you that she had one of the very best “eyes” out there, and that her unique way of combining high & low is unrivaled at the level she was playing at. And it did seem like play, she was having fun, always smiling and looking for something that caught her eye and made her want to know “what is that?“ It’s a curiosity that I don’t see much anymore now that we are buried in our screens and not out looking and learning like she was.

So here are the pieces from her sale that I love, and you still have time to bid against me, the online only sale ends on March 4th. Please click on the images to see the lots and get all the juicy info on each piece.

This is funny, I remember selling this to a great 20th century dec arts dealer Patty Palumbo at a Pier Show way back when. Seems she sold it to Barbara Gladstone (of all people) who then sold it to Barbara Jakobson. From an Alabama antique mall to the heights of the NYC Art World, you never know where you will find something or where it will end up.

This is what I mean when I say nothing of visual interest was beneath Barbara’s purview. There are several other fun lots like this that you have a hard time believing are being sold at Christies but that’s also what makes it so great!

And then the next thing you know you have a Matthew Barney photo in what appears to be a latex frame. I believe my buddy George Gilpin made these frames for Matthew.

The contradictions and strange bedfellows continue throughout the sale. I love the connections they make (or don’t) and the visual contrast between the lots. I usually look at an auction preview online once; I have looked at this one over and over and over as I am always seeing something new, just as Barbara did during her collecting journey.

Can’t you see the Barney nestled up on the wall next to this Eddie Wormley?

With Barbara Bloom’s “Lolita” rug underfoot? This takes on a whole new meaning with the news these days…

Or are you more of a Bad Boy? How about this Richard Artschwager “Chair/Chair” from 1990?

With this Constantin Boym table and Campana Bros vase?

Throw this Ron Galella photo on the wall and you have got yourself some instant attitude in this little vignette.

Maybe you are in more of a Deco Daddy type of mood?

Or are you feeling a little more Femme Fatale? You could go with this grouping:

Or you could pull a PP and mix it up like this:

Ralph Morse, Edward McKnight Kauffer, Achille & Pier Castiglioni, Richard Serra and Gio Ponti for the win!

I could go on and on and on like this, but I will stop here as I’m sure you get the point by now, amazing eye, great junque and a whole lot of fun, just what Barbara Jakobson was all about!

This photo is from 1973 and looks like it could be you today if you were also unfathomably hip!

Well, I missed my deadline for a post a week by one day, but because of that you will get 2 posts this week. Lucky you!

Thanks for reading, and more importantly looking, and see you later this week!

-PP