Welcome to Primavera Gallery
The fine pieces that you see on our site represent only a small part of our in-depth inventory.
We hope you enjoy our collection.
the Collection
We are proud to have been instrumental in building a number of fine, private collections. Why not let us help you to either create a great collection, or find that perfect piece of jewelry, furniture, or beautiful object?
Primavera Gallery is also interested in purchasing fine pieces in every area of our interest. If you have a piece, or an entire collection that you are interested in selling, please contact us.
Jewelry
We are not interested in large diamonds or masses of precious stones -- this, for us, is geology rather than jewelry. We are interested in great style, exciting design and integrity of workmanship. Our collection includes all of the major individual designers, as well as the great jewelry houses.
We also offer the work of individual contemporary jewelry designers of special merit, among them Pol Bury, Bruno Martinazzi and Andrew Grima, and we are adding interesting contemporary and studio jewelry from many talented designers working today.
Museums & Lending
Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Victoria and Albert Museum
The Cooper-Hewitt Museum
The Museum of Modern Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art
The Montreal Museum of Decorative Arts
The Toledo Museum of Art
The Portland Museum of Art
The Taft Museum
The Los Angeles Museum of Art
The Norwest Collection
The National Jewelry Institute at the Forbes Galleries
The Boston Museum of Fine Arts
The Design Museum of Helsinki, Finland
Museo degli Argenti
Palazzo Pitti, Firenze
The Bruce Museum, Greenwich, CT
The Daytona Art Institute
The Andy Warhol Museum
The Houston Center for Contemporary Art
The Field Museum, Chicago, IL
The Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao
The Palo Alto Art Center, CA
The Munson William Proctor Museum, NY State
The Norton Museum in Palm Beach, Florida
The Royal Ontario Museum
The Winnipeg Art Gallery
The Mori Arts Center Gallery, Tokyo
how it was
Primavera Through the Years
The 1970’s were a very exciting time for us. We opened our gallery on Madison Avenue and 68th in 1971, after dealing privately for several years. Art Nouveau had already become very popular, and we were dealing in Tiffany, Lalique and beautiful silver jewelry — we couldn’t yet afford gold.
Frequent trips to Paris introduced us to great Art Deco, and beautiful pieces from both periods were coming out of the original homes. In addition to many dealers, the Flea Market was a treasure hunt. The Weiner Werkatatte Movement was also very sought after, and we went often to Vienna.
There were always great things to buy, and we had some very notable clients, including Andy Warhol, who was a regular visitor. Audrey even appeared as View Girl in Andy’s Interview Magazine.
The 1980’s saw even more collectors for great Art Nouveau, Art Deco and related periods.
By this time, the 1930’s and ’40’s were also being discovered. Furniture, glass, silver and metal, jewelry — we had clients for everything.
We were in Europe almost as much as we were in NY. Christie’s and Sotheby’s were having important sales in Monaco, and those were so much fun, and so exciting.
By this time, we could afford not only gold jewelry but important pieces by the most sought after designers and jewelry houses. Jewelry was now a major part of the Primavera catalogue and we were the first to offer jewelry from the 1930’s and ’40’s.
Our apartment showcasing our fine personal collection was featured in Tatler, Architektur Und Wohnen, Art & Décoration, Queen, Harper’s, Living, and several other publications.
The 1990’s continued the trend. Unique stand out pieces became harder to find, but we managed to find them.
Mid century Italian was becoming increasingly recognized, especially Carlo Molino, Gio Ponti, and the fabulous glass being produced in Murano from the turn of the century through the 1960’s. Mid-Century American was beginning to attract a lot of attention and we were adding pieces by Georges Nakashima, William Powell, Paul Evans and William Paley to our collection.
Our frequent acquisition trips to Europe now included stops in Milan and Turin. We also became interested in Contemporary Design, and held gallery shows for a number of important designers.
By 2000, French and Italian Mid-Century was now in high demand, with fresh and amusing designs that characterized the post-war years. The market had moved away from some of the periods we had been most involved with earlier, but new attention was being focused on the beautiful work done in the US by such greats as George Nakashima, Vladimir Kagan, Paul Evans, Warton Esherick and many others.
Italian glass became even more important and we found ourselves collecting as well as dealing in the best examples of Italian glass. Contemporary American glass was also becoming very popular, with such artists as Michael Glancy, William Morris, and Dale Chihuly in demand.
Our clients were still interested in great signed jewelry and also in American Studio jewelry.
By this time, the market had moved away from some of the periods we had been most involved with earlier but new attention was being focused on the beautiful work done in the US by such greats as George Nakashima, Vladimir Kagan, Paul Evans, Warton Esherick and many others.
Jewelry continued to be a major part of our business, and contemporary American glass artists, in addition to earlier Italian glass, was attracting many new collectors.
In 2006, we decided to move Primavera from Madison Avenue to Chelsea, where many galleries were opening. Great Art Deco was now costly and elusive, and while we continued to search out wonderful pieces, we focused on the more contemporary styles, and have found it interesting and rewarding to have been involved in over a century of great design in every area.