Christie’s holds auction of Lilly Pulitzer artist Suzie Zuzek’s works
Lilly Pulitzer often sought out the vibrant textiles for her resort wear label from Key West Hand Print Fabrics, many of them from Suzie Zuzek herself. Serving as head designer between 1962 and 1985, the prolific Zuzek turned out over 1,500 designs. Despite her prints being worn by such VIPs as Jackie Kennedy and featured in Vogue, as was common for the time, Zuzek’s art and design oeuvre largely flew under-the-radar. But on March 31 through April 17, Christie’s hopes to give the late talent her due with Suzie Zuzek: The Artist Behind Lilly Pulitzer, an online sale showcasing 43 original watercolor paintings from Zuzek’s archives complemented by an exhibition in Palm Beach (March 25 through April 6) that spans the fantastical underwater creatures of her 1976 Seascape and a swirl of large-scale blossoms in Isabel from 1978.
Gala and auction to support the Nina Simone childhood home preservation project
Venerable musician and civil rights activist Nina Simone was born Eunice Waymon in 1933 and was raised in Tryon, North Carolina, in a modest 650-square-foot three-room abode that the artists Adam Pendleton, Ellen Gallagher, Rashid Johnson, and Julie Mehretu purchased in 2017. The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund is spearheading the structure’s much-needed rehabilitation and hopes to transform it into a destination that honors the late Simon’s legacy and sparks conversations around music and activism. To help preserve it for generations to come, a gala dinner will unfold at Pace Gallery’s New York flagship on May 20 in tandem with an online auction of striking contemporary artworks orchestrated by Sotheby’s and curated by Pendleton along with designer and tennis star Venus Williams, as well as an exhibition of those very pieces (May 12–20) at the gallery.
AD PRO Hears…
…Sarah Sherman Samuel has joined the design roster at Colony, marking the relationship with an SSS Atelier furniture showcase at Allied Maker’s Franklin Street showroom through March 31.
…that Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum has introduced its first new collecting department in more than 125 years with the Digital curatorial department.
…that Design on a Dime, the annual shopping event benefiting Housing Works, returns to the Metropolitan Pavilion April 20-22. Young Huh, Jeremiah Brent and Nate Berkus, Delia Kenza Interiors, Redd Kahoi, and Ken Fulk are among the 51 design firms and collectives signed up to produce the ultra layered and always inspiring pop-up rooms.
Business
Will Cooper Exits AD100 Firm Ash
For 12 years, Will Cooper has set the bar time and again for thoughtfully escapist interiors as the Creative Director behind AD100 firm Ash. On Friday, Cooper announced in an email to friends and colleagues that he would be leaving the company “to pursue new endeavors.” Reflecting, he adds, “Creating together the worlds that Ash inhabits has been a rewarding and exciting adventure, and I am thankful for the immensely talented teams and individuals that I have had the pleasure of working with over the course of my time with the company.”