Written by By Editor in Chief,
CNN
CNN Style
A successful auction in an unfamiliar — and therefore expensive — setting drew a large crowd of attendees to Christie’s New York City on Monday night. An array of homes and hand-picked items from one of London’s most brilliant auction houses were on display. The scene, but the quality of the art were timeless.
Capturing the signature elements of the Christie’s house — from elegant interiors, to preternaturally beautiful interior design photographs and creative details — the power of the inaugural “Selling Sunset” show was apparent. New artist Katherine Lee, a London-based photographer who works exclusively in black and white, was a standout. “Selling Sunset” was an invaluable source of inspiration for the show, highlighting new faces in the global auction scene.
Modern masterpieces
With a standout single-helping of Morgan Florey’s “Accidental” from the 1450s, Matthew Earles-King’s archive, titled “Shooting House,” highlighted earlier in the evening, the show also showcased works from illustrious artists like Cesar Pelli, Angelito Magallanes, to a 1928 late Federal design to Midtown, which took home a top bid of US$2,180,000.
The show also highlighted the collection of home decorator Daisy Nieves.
Inspired by her journey through homes throughout the world, her collection showed how “Selling Sunset” is never static, but has evolved in a way which speaks to contemporary tastes.
The Christie’s auction included a mix of iconic objects such as Australian screen actor Joel Edgerton’s “Manus Atoll Suitcase Collection.”
Each one uniquely tailored to a property’s personality or the particular elegance or eccentricity of the owners, especially where they may have lived for years, by the same owner.
“The people I take from are people that may have lived in a particular location for twenty-three years, and so I’ve accumulated a database that really has a lot of authority about that area,” Nieves says.
Stunning and unique interiors
Nieves reveals that some of her collections consist of a single object, while other interiors often contain many pieces.
“A lot of my work is creating some variation in the space so it’s not all so clean and pale and white,” she says. “What I enjoy the most is finding ways to make things look more decadent or more unique in a very dense library. You can get so much more out of the environment when you concentrate on things that are important for the style that’s proposed.”
Antique glass? You can custom-design with it
More than just stunning homes, Christie’s “Selling Sunset” houses include elements such as antique, historic and contemporary glass.
“We’re always looking for unique things that people haven’t seen before, either because of where they live or how they live or even what materials they like,” says Nieves.
Previously, this collection contained a lot of Chinese or Chinese art, but Nieves has since amassed an eclectic mix of unusual materials, including certain designs and tools that previously were not readily available.
“Now you have one that might be a little bit more established in the market and you have one that’s really very interesting and raw.”
“So it’s really, really fun. These moments are really, really great. It’s always a little bit of a challenge to go into space, create a story with it and to see people’s reactions and how often you really take the time and have passion for creating a story,” she says.