This Upcoming Bonhams Sale Will Feature Vignettes by Trip Haenisch and Jorge Luis Cruzata
Ahead of Bonhams' Modern Design and Art Sale at the end of the month, Los Angeles interior designers Trip Haenisch and Jorge Luis Cruzata each got access this week to an embarrassment of decorator riches in the auction house's Sunset Boulevard facility. The two had pick of the litter in selecting pieces to include in two different vignettes of decor and design that will be showcased for the biannual sale, curated by Jason Stein, Bonhams’ director of modern decorative art and design. The public preview opens April 19 through 23, with the auction taking place on April 24 at 11:00 a.m.
"When I do interiors, I love a collected look anyway, so for me it's fun to grab interesting stuff, and see if you can make it all look good together," says Haenisch as he assesses his space, which he painted a deep Farrow & Ball green to help certain works stand out. "If I was doing a house, I wouldn't use all these pieces together, but a lot of them juxtaposed in a fun way," he adds, pointing to components like a bronze statue by Joseph Csaky and Luciano Vistosi glass hurricane lanterns that sit on a 1920s French modernist secretaire and flank a small Line Vautrin 1950s wall-mounted mirror.
Other Haenisch picks include a set of Giulia Veronesi chairs for I.S.A. Bergamo and a Finn Juhl two-tone sofa for Bovirke, plus paintings and accessories that play off the iconic red Gaetano Pesce Up 5 and 6 B&B Italia chair and ottoman.
In contrast to Haenisch's relatively intimate setup, Cruzata's area has a gallery-like feel with ample square footage and larger pieces. "It started off with the rug. That really set the foundation," Cruzata explains about his process at Bonhams, pointing to the unconventionally shaped 1970s carpet that came from a Palm Beach estate. "Once I start seeing it in the space, materials naturally start working. Typically the way I select is all intuitive."
He's also excited about Pedro Friedeberg's whimsical Aztec-inspired clock. "A lot of it is about mixing materiality, because I love all the different textures of the ceramics, the metals, the woods," Cruzata says.
Other standouts include the Bull's Bench by Jean-Marie Fiori and Wendell Castle's 1997 sculptural bench entitled We All Have Reasons. Cruzata's vignette incorporates a Castle gilt fiberglass light sculpture, as well as a surrealist touch from a 1968 Umberto Mariani oil painting. "You never know what's going to be in an auction, so it's exciting to see what's there," Cruzata says. "I pick whatever I'd want to be in my own home."
