Mimi Livingston’s journey as a connoisseur and collector is one rooted in heritage, passion, and a lifelong immersion in the arts. Her collection, particularly notable for its focus on modern and contemporary art, fine jewelry, and decorative objects, reflects not only her personal aesthetic but also the legacy of two families whose influence shaped her interests and values. Spanning decades and anchored by her deep knowledge of the arts, Mimi’s collection is a testament to her dedication to beauty and craftsmanship.
Spanning decades and anchored by her deep knowledge of the arts, Mimi’s collection is a testament to her dedication to beauty and craftsmanship.
Born on November 29, 1925, in New York City, Mimi Spector grew up surrounded by the elegance of her parents’ carefully curated lifestyle. Her parents, Samuel and Tess Spector, instilled in her an appreciation for fine art, jewelry, and antiques. The Spectors' New York City apartments were adorned with French-style furnishings, a mix of authentic antiques and commissioned reproductions. During their summer travels in Europe, the family expanded their collection, adding jewelry and paintings, including works attributed to Renoir and Mary Cassatt. These experiences laid the foundation for Mimi’s discerning eye and cultivated her passion for collecting.
Mimi graduated from Wellesley College in 1947 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Shortly thereafter, in 1948, she married Richard M. Livingston and began a family in Rye, New York. By 1959, the Livingstons had relocated to Scarsdale, where Mimi’s role as a mother and community volunteer flourished. While not professionally employed during these years, Mimi pursued her creative interests by earning an interior design certification (ASID) and completing coursework at the prestigious Winterthur Museum in Delaware. She became a skilled event designer for nonprofit organizations and immersed herself in New York's vibrant arts and culture scene.
Mimi’s involvement extended to museum volunteerism, notably as a docent at the Neuberger Museum of Art at SUNY Purchase. Her expertise eventually led her to teach courses on art and collectibles at the New School in New York City, solidifying her reputation as a knowledgeable and passionate advocate for the arts.
Mimi’s collecting transitioned from antique styles reminiscent of her childhood to a more modern and contemporary aesthetic by the late 1980s. This period marked the establishment of her business, Art-In-Action/Connoisseurship with Mimi Livingston. Through this venture, she organized exclusive tours for individuals and groups, providing access to museums, galleries, private collections, and artists across New York, New England, and beyond. Her ability to connect collectors with unique artistic experiences demonstrated her deep understanding of art and her commitment to fostering appreciation among others.
Her efforts expanded to South Florida, where she curated experiences for northern museum collector groups visiting the region. Mimi became a benefactor and active member of institutions such as the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in New York City and the Boca Raton Museum of Art further cementing her legacy in the arts community.
Mimi Livingston’s collection transcends being a mere assortment of objects; it tells the story of a life steeped in art, family, and culture.
Mimi Livingston’s collection transcends being a mere assortment of objects; it tells the story of a life steeped in art, family, and culture. From her early exposure to French antiques to her formal education in the arts and her entrepreneurial ventures aimed at fostering appreciation for artistic expression, Mimi has made a lasting impact. Her collection not only illustrates her family’s rich artistic legacy but also establishes her own cultural imprint, inspiring future generations to cherish and celebrate the beauty and importance of art in its many forms.
Ruth Duckworth 1919–2009
Ruth Duckworth was born Ruth Windmüller in Hamburg, Germany in 1919. She began drawing at a young age and left Germany for England in the mid-1930s, fleeing the Nazis. She attended the Liverpool College of Art from 1936 to 1940, studying painting and drawing. Throughout the 1940s, she took various jobs as a puppeteer, tombstone carver, working in a munitions factory and even spent some time working in Lucie Rie’s ceramic studio.
In the early 1940s, she enrolled in the City and Guilds of London Art School, shifting her focus to sculpture; explaining the change, Duckworth later said that “there’s no material that so effectively communicates both fragility and strength.” In the late 1940s she continued her studies at the Anglo-French Art Center in Kensington, where she met her soon-to-be husband, sculptor Aidron Duckworth. They worked on their first commission together in 1948, creating fourteen bas-relief limestone carvings for St. Joseph’s Church in New Malden, England.
Duckworth's early sculptural work was representational but she soon turned to abstraction and organic forms that were influenced by both prehistoric and modern imagery, as well as nature and human relationships. Inspired by a museum exhibition she saw of Indian pottery, she continued her studies at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London from 1956 to 1958, turning more seriously to porcelain ceramics. At the time, ceramics in England were still quite traditional in style and functional in form, and her organic, hand-shaped, surrealist works were misunderstood by audiences at-large, but celebrated by fellow artists and ceramicists.
In 1960 she had her first solo show at Primavera Gallery, London and was shown in the exhibition British Studio Potters with Lucie Rie and Hans Coper. Her work was gaining attention and prestige among the ceramic community. In the early 1960s, she had several shows in Chicago, taught at University of Chicago in 1964 and in 1965 the Congregation Solel synagogue in Highland Park, Illinois commissioned her to design a menorah. After the positive reception of her work in the United States, Duckworth permanently relocated to Chicago in 1966 feeling there would be better opportunities for teaching and commission work.
During her twenty-three-year tenure teaching at University of Chicago, Duckworth brought some excellent public art to the university and the city, including the mural Earth, Water and Sky (1967-68) in the Geophysical Sciences Building, Clouds Over Lake Michigan (1976) at the Chicago Board Options Exchange Building, and large bronze works at various college campuses. Duckworth had proven that she was adept at making both monumental works and small, intimate pieces. She retired from the University of Chicago in 1977 but continued to actively show and teach around the world throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
In 2005, The Museum of Arts & Design in New York hosted a retrospective of her work, Ruth Duckworth: Modernist Sculptor and had solo shows at institutions such as the Cranbrook Museum of Art (2005), Bellas Artes Gallery, Santa Fe (2010, 2013) and the Minneapolis Institute of Art (2006). Her work is held in the permanent collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C. In 1993 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the gold medal from the National Society of Arts and Letters in 1996 and the gold medal for Lifetime Achievement from the American Craft Council in 1997. Duckworth passed away in 2009 in her adopted home of Chicago.
Auction Results Ruth Duckworth
