Winter Show Park Avenue Armory: Quality Abounds & Firepower, Too

The Winter Show, once dedicated to Americana, or antiques made for everyday use, is among the most elegant and oldest art fairs in America, which is why I write about it every year. Today, it invites the best dealers to show fresh-to-the-market, rare, European, American, and, here and there, Asian furniture, silver, textiles, glass, wallpaper, and, yes, paintings. The fair benefits the East Side House Settlement, a New York charity offering all kinds of social services to people of all ages, from toddlers to the elderly — twinkle to wrinkle, as the director told me. The first Winter Antiques Show was in 1954, so it’s in its eighth decade and is, I think, the oldest high-end dealer show in America. It’s all quality, all the time.

With so much art in so many media and from so many eras and places, I tend to pick a different theme every year. Given that it’s Inauguration Week, and an extraordinary week it was, I’ll write about American originals — art that is closely tied to American history and America’s unique aesthetics. At the end of the story, I’ll diverge, in the interests of pure fabulosity.

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Brian T. Allen

Brian T. Allen is National Review’s art critic.

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The Winter Show, once dedicated to Americana, or antiques made for everyday use, is among the most elegant and oldest art fairs in America, which is why I write about it every year. Today, it invites the best dealers to show fresh-to-the-market, rare, European, American, and, here and there, Asian furniture, silver, textiles, glass, wallpaper, and, yes, paintings. The fair benefits the East Side House Settlement, a New York charity offering all kinds of social services to people of all ages, from toddlers to the elderly — twinkle to wrinkle, as the director told me. The first Winter Antiques Show was in 1954, so it’s in its eighth decade and is, I think, the oldest high-end dealer show in America. It’s all quality, all the time.

With so much art in so many media and from so many eras and places, I tend to pick a different theme every year. Given that it’s Inauguration Week, and an extraordinary week it was, I’ll write about American originals — art that is closely tied to American history and America’s unique aesthetics. At the end of the story, I’ll diverge, in the interests of pure fabulosity.