This past weekend the entire Bruneau team was out in full force at The Newport Show. In years past the show had been entirely dedicated to antiques, but this year I felt it brought a refreshing and vibrant mix to the people who perused the dealer exhibits at the Audrain Middletown location. The show was full of a traditional blend of antiques including 18th and 19th century American and European furniture, Chinese porcelain, European decorative arts, and anything else that you can imagine would be found in a Bellevue Avenue home. There was an incredible exhibit of Tiffany Studios and some of the finest restored wicker furniture I have ever seen. But outside of the antique staples, I was surprised by the amount of modern design and contemporary art found throughout the show. In my opinion the absolute fan favorite of the weekend was the salon-style wall of new works by Boston artist Stuart Dunkel. A realist painter placing mice in amusing and precarious situations with food, rubber ducks, and ordinary objects from life in a miniature scale. It was incredible to see how many paintings sold through the show, they were literally flying off the wall! There was so much interest I even had to buy one, they were that good!
Whether you are an experienced collector or new to the antiques and art world, I highly recommend you check out The Newport Show next year. Even if you say you do not need anything, it is a great opportunity to see an array of interesting items you won’t typically see in one place. Most importantly there was a wide range of availability. The cheapest price for any give item I saw was $25.00 with some works of art over $300,000. Needles to say there is certainly something for everybody. Maybe next year we’ll see you at the show!
