Stefan Knapp

Paul Goldberger, "Recycling Dept. A Shrine to Alexander's," The New Yorker, November 13, 2000, p. 74 (for a discussion of Mark's sale of the panels to Barbara Jakobson)

Overall good original condition. The panels with surface dirt minor chips and corrosion to the reverse, which is expected considering the panels had extensive exposure to the elements while on the exterior of the building. Each element is independent and does not include any hanging hardware. The edges of the panels with losses to the lacquered surface and discoloration. These were not intended as part of the design, and therefore the condition has no impact on the overall scheme.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

I lived near Union Square when I first moved to New York, and in 1977, when I began working for Lillian Nassau, her Jewish grandmotherly advice to me was "take the N train dear, better class of riders than the Number 6." I would get off the subway under Bloomingdales and walk three blocks to her shop at 220 W. 57th, passing twice a day the entrance to Alexander's on 58th and 3rd Avenue. I was always fascinated by the eye-catching collage of over 400 bubbles of color decorating the corner above a large bank of entry doors, thinking to myself "someday those will be collectable."  I didn't know at the time that they were designed by Stefan Knapp, creator of some of the world's most monumental works of public art. In 1960, Knapp was hired by George Farkas, President of Alexander's, to design the world's largest mural, a midcentury modern landmark measuring 200 feet high and 50 feet wide, for their new store in Paramus, New Jersey. After negotiations with Salvador Dali fell through (Dali was hired by a separate family member and wanted Knapp to execute his design, but Knapp refused), Knapp was again hired in 1962 to produce a mural of enameled, spun-steel domes for the New York flagship store.

Twenty years later, on an autumn Sunday in 1997, I am at the 26th Street flea market and I cannot believe my eyes-- there is a group of five or six of the Alexander bubbles hanging on a fence behind the architectural salvage company "Ye Old Good Things."  I discovered they had bought the whole lot off the building, managing to save about half of the total despite the wrecking crew selling individual examples to people on the spot or giving them away free to pretty girls. I bought about 100 of the brightest pieces in the best condition and scrambled to incorporate 80 of them into in my booth design at the New York Modernism show in November. On opening night, I sold the entire group to Barbara Jakobson, who eventually installed them in the courtyard garden of her art-filled townhouse on the Upper East Side. She, like so many New Yorkers, remembered the original installation, and had followed the advice of the tiresome radio jingle of the 70's, "Shop at Bloomingdale's, but buy at Alexander's!" The present lot features my eight remaining salvaged bubbles from that big coup.  -MM

 

"It is impossible to overstate the influence that the trio of handsome lads who invented Fifty/50 had on my life as a collector. (I have all my invoices to prove it).

In an exquisite confluence of luck and timing --- my luck their timing, Mark McDonald came along just as i was exploring my own past in a systematic way, prodded by a book Stil Novo by the late German art historian, Christian Borngraber.

In my search for the surreal and biomorphic aspects of design, Mark came up with amazing finds -- the chandelier by Victor Gruen from Barton's candy store --a "commercial" Calder, and on a smaller scale the brilliant brooches of Art Smith which go everywhere with me as will Mark Mark McDonald's generous scholarly advice and friendship."

-Barbara Jakobson, New York