Mark McDonald has always been at the epicenter of the world that is mid-century design, to a large extent, it is a world he created. For over forty years, Mark has pioneered whole fields of collecting, providing the scholarship and creating the market for mid-century furniture, studio jewelry, ceramics and Italian glass.
In 1983, Mark opened Fifty/50 with partners Mark Isaacson and Ralph Cutler. This groundbreaking gallery defined collectors’ taste. At the time, modern works were still largely overlooked; Mark and his partners collected and presented the rarest and most interesting pieces, often working with the makers themselves, to create compelling exhibitions accompanied by catalogs documenting the work.
In the 1990s, Mark opened Gansevoort Gallery, where he continued to curate collections and exhibitions of lasting impact. Over the years, he established relationships with artists and their estates becoming the go to authority on the designs of Art Smith, Ilonka Karasz and Leza McVey, among others. His enthusiasm for the material extended beyond the gallery floor to the back room where lucky visitors got to flip through Mark’s impressive design reference library and discuss the importance of works with him.
A connoisseur and wealth of knowledge, Mark became a resource for prominent collections across the globe—private and public alike. He inspired a generation of collectors and dealers introducing designers and their production to an audience that continues to grow. In 2002, Mark closed Gansevoort and established 330 gallery in Hudson, New York. Now, semi-retired, Marks splits his time between New York and Florida. He still collects, curates, supports, and shepherds the scholarship of mid-century design.
Frank Gehry b. 1929
Frank Gehry was born on February 28, 1929 in Toronto, Canada. His family moved to Los Angeles where Gehry would attend the University of Southern California earning his bachelor degree in architecture in 1954. In 1956 Gehry moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts to study city planning at the Harvard Graduate School of Design where he completed only two years of the program before returning to Los Angeles. Back in California, Gehry worked for Hideo Sasaki, Pereira & Luckman, Victor Gruen & Associates and André Remondet before starting his own firm, Frank Gehry and Associates in 1962.
Early projects in his career, such as his Easy Edges furniture line (1969-1973) comprised of chairs, stools and tables made of stacked corrugated cardboard, and his 1978 remodel of his Santa Monica residence using industrial items such as chain-link fencing, corrugated metal, wire-reinforced glass and plywood exhibit Gehry’s innovative use of materials and originality in form. By the 1980s Gehry was established in the field and in 1989 he was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize for his experimental and extraordinary approach to design. Gehry rose to fame with important structures and projects such as the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao (1997) and the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles (2003). Today Gehry is well-known for his distinct, artistic style.
Auction Results Frank Gehry
