Santa Monica : Modernism Show Preview

A preview gala of the Fifth Annual L.A. Modernism show will be held Friday night at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.

A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Ocean Park Community Center.

The modernism show is an exposition and sale of 20th-Century design. Organizers Bill Caskey and Elizabeth Lees said this year’s show will feature 82 dealers, including two from Paris. Furniture, decorative arts, fine arts and other items will be on sale, representing American Arts and Crafts, Art Deco, Wiener Werkstatte, Bauhaus, Art Moderne, pop art, the Memphis School and other 20th-Century styles. Work by designers as divergent as Frank Lloyd Wright and Frank Gehry will be featured.

Caskey and Lees said choice pieces from 1950 to the present are probably the best values for collectors. Among the collectible pieces in the show will be furniture by designers Charles Eames and Paul Frankel.

Caskey and Lees believe the mania for Arts and Crafts has peaked. “You get somebody like Barbra Streisand collecting, and suddenly everybody in the world is buying,” Lees said. Arts and Crafts furniture and other items have slipped 10% to 25% over the past two years, the organizers said.

The Santa Monica Civic Auditorium is at Pico Boulevard and Main Street. The show will be held Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Monday, Memorial Day, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $10, which includes a catalogue.

Friday’s preview is from 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $50. Reservations and information: (310) 455-2886.