Sotheby’s Launches First-Ever Designer Showhouse

For its inaugural Designer Showhouse, Sotheby’s has partnered with its 1744 Young Collectors Club to invite six teams of interior designers to combine art and design from the auction house’s spring auctions. Located on the sixth floor of the New York headquarters, the exhibition will run through Sunday, March 30.

The curated designers comprise Ryan Korban, Ann Pyne of McMillen, Daun Curry of Modern Declaration, Catherine Casteel Olasky and Maximilian Sinsteden of Olasky & Sinsteden, Shaler Lad of his eponymous firm, and Rush Jenkins and Klaus Baer of WRJ Design Associates.

The rooms feature items from Sotheby’s upcoming sales for English & Continental furniture, Impressionist prints, and Old Master paintings. Using art as their muse, inspiration for each of the six rooms seems to flow from a central piece, such as a painting or a marble fireplace mantle. Commenting on his room in particular, Shaler Ladd said, “I think that it is remarkable how these pieces relate to one another.” His room centers on a lithograph by Francis Bacon, Etude Pour Une Corrida, and an Angelo Lelli that mirrors the movement of the artwork.

Olasky and Sinsteden echoed Ladd as they remarked on the conversations created when “combining numerous periods, styles, and textures in furniture, carpets, art, and accessories.” The work of each team is sure to inspire visitors, if not get them moving to the auction house for bidding later this season.