Michael Jefferson is a fount of knowledge and kindness whose focus, talent, and good deeds have won him the hearts and minds of good people the world over. As Senior Specialist at Wright, the premier Chicago auction house specializing in modern and contemporary design, he can make you or break you. But due to his aforementioned kindness, he has yet to use the “break” option on anyone or anything (even though some probably deserve it). Freelance Art Director and friend to Base, Hans Seeger, managed to get Mr. Jefferson out of the office (where the ringing phone never sleeps) and to Danny’s Tavern on Chicago’s W. Dickens Avenue, where the following conversation took place.
Hans Seeger: I had the distinct pleasure of working with you at Wright on the Martino Gamper exhibit, and you’ve also done shows with Ron Gilad and Arik Levy. What are your parameters when it comes to showing commissioned contemporary design? And how do you distinguish from what you do there versus midcentury and vintage?
Michael Jefferson: I don’t know if there are distinct parameters necessarily. Richard has kind of taken the reigns himself with our contemporary program. He had met Arik Levy in passing at one of the design shows, and Richard, I think, said, “I would like to work with you.” And Arik is the kind of person who says, “Alright, let’s do it.” And he’s completely serious. That kind of came about in that way.
Richard had purchased a piece by Ron Gilad and didn’t know Ron’s greater output of work at the time. He bought a piece he just responded to for what it was and that led to it. Now, we’re going to be doing a show with Constantin Boym. These are all things that Richard has kind of gravitated towards and I don’t think there’s a real distinct kind of criteria to say we’re going to work with this person or not work with this person, but it’s really on Richard’s whim.
What stands out is the Martino Gamper show. That was the one that you and I worked together on and he’s someone that I gravitated towards because I think he’s very inventive and just seemed so different in his approach to what all the other designers were doing when I was in Milan in 2007. I know what I like about his work. But I would say in regards to our contemporary program at Wright it’s really whatever Richard wants to do.
HS: Whenever I’m in NY and I bring up Wright, the question always is, “ Why Chicago? Why aren’t they in New York?” What would you say to that?
MJ: That just really makes me want to stay in Chicago more. (Laughs) There are practical considerations. One: having a 60,000 square-foot space in Chicago? Not that difficult. Having a 60,000 square-foot space in New York? We can’t afford it, we can’t do it. Two: the world is small. You don’t have to be in New York. I think we lose out on some things by not being in New York but we gain probably far more by not being in New York. And, we’re all rooted in the Midwest. I have a lot of pride with the Midwest—you and I talk about this all the time. It’s the middle, we’re away from the coasts, we’re a kind and humble lot. We’re nice. (Laughs). I’m prideful of that. We’re surrounded by freshwater. We say “Hi” to people and “Thank you”. We look people in the eye.
I think, historically, the great things occurred outside the main cities. Take, for instance, what was happening with design in the world at the turn of the century. If you look at, let’s say, Art Nouveau. The great things weren’t necessarily happening in Paris. Victor Horta was in Brussels. Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright were in Chicago. Other things were happening in the Czech Republic. I think great things happen outside of the main centers. This is where the pollen intermingles because we’re not so set. There aren’t such clear channels here. And so creativity happens here. Unique things occur here. I think if you’re in New York, there’s a pre-determined way of doing things. You can’t necessarily do something different.
HS: So, as they say, “In New York, your work is your image. In Chicago, your image is your work?”
MJ: There you go. I’m into it. I agree. (Laughs)
HS: The Eames, Prouvé, Ponti, Nakashima, those sorts of folks drive the business. But whose work do you like that has thus far flown under the radar? In other words, who’s your Bertrand Goldberg?
MJ: Well, my Bertrand Goldberg would be Bertrand Goldberg (Laughs).
HS: Sorry, I stole that one.
MJ: It always surprises me what you can buy historical pieces for. Pieces from the core canon of the early Avant Garde. Why is it that a really good piece by Josef Hoffmann doesn’t really cost that much money? Or Rietveld, by and large, does not cost a ton of money even though the product is rare. Also, I don’t know why there’s such a disparity between art and design. Why is there such a difference in value between, let’s say, the most major Ponti work or the most major Noguchi work compared to minor works of art by a major person? That disparity between art and design is somewhat puzzling. There are a lot of unsung people, though, in the design world. Hans Wegner’s work—I think there’s a lot to be discovered there. Even Frank Llloyd Wright. You can buy a great piece of Frank Lloyd Wright’s work for not much money.
HS: One of my favorite sales of yours was the printed matter / artist book sales. Any more of those on the horizon?
MJ: Maybe. Those were kind of predicated on the offer of large collections that would form the sale which we would then add onto. We’re open to it but they’re a lot of work. They are more sales of passion than real money-makers, so it’s kind of hard to justify doing those right now. But I do have a big interest in the graphic arts and printed materials. I’m always trying to figure out a way to either incorporate or have specialty sales that deal with books, posters and graphics. Those markets have sort of been a mystery to me, and yet I’m a bibliophile. I like books. I collect books. I respond to books. I like the tactility of books and getting information from them but also appreciate the way they’re designed. There’s nothing on the horizon but I’m certainly open to it. What we did in those book sales was create a template that could carry us forward if a collection we were interested in were to come our way.
HS: Any interesting stories to tell? Or notable visits?
MJ: Let’s see. There have been a lot of things. One nice aspect of this business is the connection created with everyone involved, and everybody has a different story. One that always comes to mind is Elaine Lustig Cohen. She was married to Alvin Lustig, the great graphic designer. She and Alvin worked together and Elaine has done great design work herself, as well as having a great interest in typography and collecting letterheads. And her second husband, Arthur Cohen, chronicled the complete works of Herbert Bayer. In hearing her stories about all the people she interacted with, I so often feel just one step away from all the masters of the 20th century. Whether it’s Sonia Delaunay or Richard Meier. That is always fascinating.
On a different line, I correspond a lot with people who knew Harry Bertoia. So, in my mind, I have pieced together all these characteristics of Harry Bertoia based on the very affectionate and kind stories people have told about their interaction with him, their friend Harry.
HS: What’s the craziest shit that has ever gone down at Wright?
MJ: (Laugh, long pause)
HS: You can be discreet. No proper names necessary. Just looking for drama.
MJ: Well, there’s been some drama. We had an experience once with a man, an Italian man, who offered us a great consignment. It was a whole load of things, great things, and we were working with him for the first time. Turns out he’s a famous Italian actor. It was an honor to meet him, although it’s odd meeting someone who’s famous somewhere else. To you, he’s just a person. Anyway, we were working with him. He arrived the night before the sale when we got a phone call from someone else in the business who said, “Look, between you and me, two of the pieces in that sale are fake.” We take these things very seriously, so the night before the sale we told this person that it’s been brought to our attention that two of the pieces might be questionable and that we are inclined to withdraw them from the sale until we can verify the history of them.
Well, this guy just sort of went crazy. (Laugh) And really let us have it. Saying, “How can you do this the night before the sale?! This is unprofessional! I acquired these pieces myself!…” and he went into the whole story and also got his colleague on the phone from Italy. At one point, we’re all in my office and Richard was speaking over the top of them and the person on the other line was speaking Italian very loudly, and the actor had literally taken off his shoe in a show of force and was pounding it on the table screaming, “You are wrong!!!” Then it reached this crescendo of everybody shouting at each other. And so, I think that one had the most drama. My heart was pounding and I was worried I was offending him, but I wanted to make sure we weren’t selling something fake.
Funny, after everything simmered down, we kept the pieces in the sale because some more information arose over the course of the evening, and we realized that the person informing us was mistaken; these were different pieces that were being sold. In hindsight, I realized that the actor was doing his job and simply acting by taking on this role of the kind of person who is put-out and just fighting to keep their interest alive. It’s funny, we’ve become good friends with this person since then but I had never heard so much shouting in one room.
HS: That’s great you got a friendship out of it.
MJ: Yeah. I see him all the time when I’m in Italy.
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