Gary Calderwood
Encyclopedia
Gary Calderwood is an American art collector and dealer in artist-designed original 20th Century French decorative arts. He founded Calderwood Gallery, Decorative Arts 1900-1950 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
in 1982. Specializing in French Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
, Modernist and Forties furniture and objects, Calderwood Gallery has an international reputation and clientele.
Early years
He was born in Philadelphia, raised in Margate, New JerseyMargate City, New Jersey
Margate City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 6,354.Margate City was originally incorporated as the borough of South Atlantic City by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on September 7, 1885, from portions of Egg Harbor...
, and studied photography at Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester Institute of Technology
The Rochester Institute of Technology is a private university, located within the town of Henrietta in metropolitan Rochester, New York, United States...
(1963–1967) at a time when it was one of only two schools in the United States which offered a BFA in photography/photo science. He worked for 15 years as a commercial photographer for clients including Taylor Wine, Omni Hotels, Agway
Agway
Agway of Dewitt, New York is an agricultural business that offers feed for livestock and poultry, as well as seed, fertilizers, and herbicides.-History:...
, and others.
A life-long collector; of coins, stamps, comic-strip art, photography, French Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
and Art Deco furniture and ceramics, he launched Calderwood Gallery out of a passion for 20th Century design. A scholarly approach to collecting and authenticating led him to pursue the acquisition of original period portfolios, magazines, and other published reference materials as well as the furniture, objects and lighting documented therein.
Calderwood Gallery
Initially opened in a small warehouse space on Locust Street in Center City Philadelphia, Calderwood Gallery relocated to the corner of 8th and South StreetSouth Street (Philadelphia)
South Street is an east-west street forming the southern border of the Center City neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the northern border for the neighborhoods of South Philadelphia. The stretch of South Street between Front Street and Seventh Street is known for its "bohemian"...
in early 1984. At the time, “Where do all the hippies meet, South Street, South Street” was living up to its name for avant garde small shops and boutiques. Calderwood Gallery quickly built a clientele of out-of-town visitors to the hippest street in town.
In 1989 the gallery relocated uptown, to the Rittenhouse Row neighborhood, on 17th Street, later to Walnut Street, and, finally, to a post-Civil War mansion at 1622 Spruce Street. Equidistant from the Rafael Viñoly
Rafael Viñoly
Rafael Viñoly is an Uruguayan architect living in the United States.-Biography:He was born in Montevideo, Uruguay to Román Viñoly Barreto, and Maria Beceiro ....
-designed Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts is a large performing arts venue located on Broad Street, along the stretch known as the "Avenue of the Arts", in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is owned and operated by Kimmel Center, Inc., an organization which also manages the Academy of Music in...
(at Broad and Spruce Streets) and Rittenhouse Square
Rittenhouse Square
Rittenhouse Square is one of the five original open-space parks planned by William Penn and his surveyor Thomas Holme during the late 17th century in central Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The park cuts off 19th Street at Walnut Street and also at a half block above Manning Street. Its boundaries are...
(at 18th and Locust Streets), Calderwood Gallery ‘s vast inventory is representative of the most illustrious designers of the Art Deco, Modernist and Forties periods.