Meet the Specialist
Jason Stein
What do you do at Bonhams?
I am the Director of Modern Decorative Art + Design based in Los Angeles where we hold several live and online-only auctions per year.
Lot 7. Tiffany Studios (1899-1930), Daffodil Table Lamp, circa 1905. Estimate: $20,000 - 30,000
Lot 7. Tiffany Studios (1899-1930), Daffodil Table Lamp, circa 1905. Estimate: $20,000 - 30,000
Where are you from? And what inspired you to go into the art world?
I was raised in the San Fernando Valley, which is a suburb of Los Angeles. The home I grew up in was part of a tract that was developed on the grounds of an old orange ranch and grove belonging to an actor who was in Westerns. It was a fun house to be in as my father, a clothing retailer, and my mother, a celebrated astrologer, always had interesting people around. For college graduation, I took a trip to the South Pacific where I met a married couple who had just resigned from their positions at Sotheby’s to return to a family antique business in Europe. After long conversations with the couple, I could not stop thinking about the auction business and knew from that moment on this was the career that I wanted to pursue. Shortly after that, I connected with the local Decorative Arts representative from Sotheby’s who gave me my first break as her intern in the Decorative Arts department.
What was your first job?
My first auction house job was being the Receiver and Inventory Controller for Furniture and Decorative Arts, Rugs, Silver, Asian Art, Photography, Wine and Arms and Armor at Butterfield & Butterfield, then the leading auction house in Los Angeles. This position, which lasted two years, provided me an amazing hands-on education that provided the foundation for future roles in my career. My favorite part was tagging pieces for sale which came from large estates. One never knew what treasures you would come across. Once I stumbled on a huge stack of valuable prints by Ellsworth Kelly tucked away in a closet. Nobody in the house knew they existed.
Lot 79. Hans J. Wegner (1914-2007), Valet Chair, designed 1953. Estimate: $2,500 - 3,500
Lot 79. Hans J. Wegner (1914-2007), Valet Chair, designed 1953. Estimate: $2,500 - 3,500
Name one of your triumphs.
One of my triumphs was being the Specialist in charge of The Duquette Collections auction, which at the time was the largest House Sale to ever take place at a major auction house in North America. The Duquette sale was massive—it included more than 1,600 lots and took place in six sessions over a three-day period.
What has changed in the business since you first started?
When I started, the internet didn’t really exist. Nowadays we are totally reliant on using technology to research works on offer, showing our sale catalogues online and even holding live online auctions.
Lot 94. Arnold Newman (1918-2006), Isamu Noguchi New York City, 1947. Estimate: $1,500 - 2,000
Lot 94. Arnold Newman (1918-2006), Isamu Noguchi New York City, 1947. Estimate: $1,500 - 2,000
What is your strength as a specialist?
I love connecting people in the worlds of design, art and fashion, but as a specialist, my strength is appraising custom works by legends in the worlds of Interior Design, Architecture and Industrial Design. Our upcoming Modern Design | Art auction includes works by legends in decorating and design such as Elsie de Wolfe, Frank Gehry and Raymond Loewy.
Do you have a hidden talent?
I grow plants (mostly succulents) that work well in our dry Southern California landscape. If I am not in a design shop or museum, you can undoubtedly find me at the nursery.
Lot 73. Claude Venard (1913-1999), Untitled (Still Life with Peach). Estimate: $1,500 - 2,500
Lot 73. Claude Venard (1913-1999), Untitled (Still Life with Peach). Estimate: $1,500 - 2,500
What’s exciting you about your next sale?
I am excited about the great mix of Design and Art included in this sale. The auction spans all of the big Modernist movements including Art Nouveau, Arts & Crafts, Art Deco, Mid-Century Modern and Contemporary Design as well as Studio Glass, Furniture and Ceramics. Personally, my favorite lots are the Hans J. Wegner Valet chair and a Betty Woodman Triptych. Valet chairs always interest me as they are visually stunning as well as being functional. The triptych is exciting as it is highly rare and a variant set is in the permanent collection at The Woodman Family Foundation.
Lot 134. Betty Woodman (1930-2018), Muscle Boys (Triptych). Estimate: $50,000 - 80,000
Lot 134. Betty Woodman (1930-2018), Muscle Boys (Triptych). Estimate: $50,000 - 80,000
Which work of art has changed your life?
I would have to say that it was a wire sculpture by Ruth Asawa from the Shaping Craft + Design exhibition at Black Mountain College. I am totally captivated by the biomorphic forms that Asawa created and love the reflections they create in the spaces where they hang.
Jason Stein is Director of Modern Decorative Art + Design in Los Angeles. He can be reached at Jason.Stein@bonhams.com
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