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拍品專文
JEAN-MICHEL FRANK MASTERWORKS FROM THE DAVID AND NAYDA UTTERBERG COLLECTION
David and Nayda Utterberg’s exceptional collection of works by Jean-Michel Frank speaks to their sophisticated understanding of design history and cultivated eye for beauty and craftmanship. Like Asian Art, Jean-Michel Frank’s creations stand out for their minimalism, their careful balance of form and function, and their timeless appeal. Among the most extraordinary works within the Utterberg collection is a magnificent settee, designed for the legendary collector Templeton Crocker in San Francisco, displaying superb iron and leatherwork and exquisite lines. Other highlights from the collection include a beautiful set of three armchairs which embody Frank’s refined proportions and modern sensibility, and an elegant console table in wrought iron and leather.
These pieces reflect the Utterberg’s exceptional collecting, and deep understanding that furniture can be both aesthetically captivating and enduringly relevant. Just as with their passion for Asian Art, these masterworks by Jean-Michel Frank underscore their commitment to collecting works of enduring quality – designs that have transcended their era and continue to inspire collectors around the world.
ABOUT DAVID UTTERBERG
It has been five years since David Scott Utterberg (1946–2019) died in Seattle at age seventy-three. David had been collecting Japanese and Korean art, as well as Chinese furniture, for nearly fifty years, yet few in the Asian art field were familiar with him. Nayda Utterberg, his wife, described him as a man of so few words he was dubbed “Mr. Enigma.” He was unique.
Their penthouse apartment in Seattle, the home he built for the two of them, was filled with their Jean Michel Franck (1895–1941) art deco and Chinese furniture.
David’s father, from Sweden, founded the Utterberg Piano Company in Chicago. His mother, from Scotland, made headlines when she started skiing at age eighty-three.
David received his BA degree from DePauw University and his MBA from Northwestern University. The Cordis Dow Corporation sent him to Singapore in 1974 to open an office. After a year, he transferred to Hong Kong for four years, still with Cordis Dow and there he developed an interest in antiquities. Then, he spent two years in Tokyo before settling in San Francisco in 1981, where he opened his own company, commuting regularly to Kyushu, Japan, to learn medical manufacturing.
A prolific, talented inventor and manufacturer, his pioneering work led to over one hundred United States and foreign patents related to blood treatment, such as dialysis and safety medical devices. David’s contributions to the treatment of end-stage renal disease included the StreamLine blood-tubing and MasterGuard safety-needle products.
Between 1981 and 2007, among numerous other firms, David served as CEO, President and sole stockholder of Medisystems Corporation and Lifestream Medical Corporation. He expanded in the 1990s—there were factories in Italy and Mexico. In 2007, he sold Medisystems to NxStage Medical, where he served as a director until 2013.
David married Nayda in the late 1980s. In 1993, the couple moved to Seattle. David was attracted to Asian art from the beginning of his years in the Far East. He and Nayda, who was born in the Philippines, spent more than half the year traveling to Asia and Europe. In Seattle, David’s office was across the street from the Seattle Art Museum, where he served on the board of trustees from 1995 to 2001; in 2019, one of the Asian art galleries was named in honor of Nayda & David Utterberg.
Nayda explained David’s approach to acquiring a work of art. After seeing a piece at a gallery, he would go back home and do intensive research. "Typically, he would not buy something on the spot. He had his own library of about 7,000 books and could study by himself. He never depended on scholars. When we visited a dealer, he sat there without saying anything. He would return nine months later and say, “Do you remember that piece you showed me? I’ll buy it.” He was very careful. His motto was: Don’t settle for anything less than the best. He was never content with “It’s OK.” Also, he would weed out lesser things, labeling them with the comment “Ready to sell.”
James Godfrey, a dealer specializing in Chinese art and now based in Cleveland, remembers David as precise and demanding—he knew exactly what he wanted. According to Godfrey, he was an absolutely driven collector, with high standards and very good taste: "He had two sides to his brain—the business side, focused on his medical inventions, and the aesthetic side, directed toward his art collection. He excelled at both. David gravitated toward Korean celadons, but also moved on to other areas as his lifestyle changed. He decorated his apartments—first in San Francisco and then in Seattle, where he overlooked the harbor—with Ming-dynasty, as well as French art deco furniture and Chinese carpets."
– Julia Meech, Consultant
David and Nayda Utterberg’s exceptional collection of works by Jean-Michel Frank speaks to their sophisticated understanding of design history and cultivated eye for beauty and craftmanship. Like Asian Art, Jean-Michel Frank’s creations stand out for their minimalism, their careful balance of form and function, and their timeless appeal. Among the most extraordinary works within the Utterberg collection is a magnificent settee, designed for the legendary collector Templeton Crocker in San Francisco, displaying superb iron and leatherwork and exquisite lines. Other highlights from the collection include a beautiful set of three armchairs which embody Frank’s refined proportions and modern sensibility, and an elegant console table in wrought iron and leather.
These pieces reflect the Utterberg’s exceptional collecting, and deep understanding that furniture can be both aesthetically captivating and enduringly relevant. Just as with their passion for Asian Art, these masterworks by Jean-Michel Frank underscore their commitment to collecting works of enduring quality – designs that have transcended their era and continue to inspire collectors around the world.
ABOUT DAVID UTTERBERG
It has been five years since David Scott Utterberg (1946–2019) died in Seattle at age seventy-three. David had been collecting Japanese and Korean art, as well as Chinese furniture, for nearly fifty years, yet few in the Asian art field were familiar with him. Nayda Utterberg, his wife, described him as a man of so few words he was dubbed “Mr. Enigma.” He was unique.
Their penthouse apartment in Seattle, the home he built for the two of them, was filled with their Jean Michel Franck (1895–1941) art deco and Chinese furniture.
David’s father, from Sweden, founded the Utterberg Piano Company in Chicago. His mother, from Scotland, made headlines when she started skiing at age eighty-three.
David received his BA degree from DePauw University and his MBA from Northwestern University. The Cordis Dow Corporation sent him to Singapore in 1974 to open an office. After a year, he transferred to Hong Kong for four years, still with Cordis Dow and there he developed an interest in antiquities. Then, he spent two years in Tokyo before settling in San Francisco in 1981, where he opened his own company, commuting regularly to Kyushu, Japan, to learn medical manufacturing.
A prolific, talented inventor and manufacturer, his pioneering work led to over one hundred United States and foreign patents related to blood treatment, such as dialysis and safety medical devices. David’s contributions to the treatment of end-stage renal disease included the StreamLine blood-tubing and MasterGuard safety-needle products.
Between 1981 and 2007, among numerous other firms, David served as CEO, President and sole stockholder of Medisystems Corporation and Lifestream Medical Corporation. He expanded in the 1990s—there were factories in Italy and Mexico. In 2007, he sold Medisystems to NxStage Medical, where he served as a director until 2013.
David married Nayda in the late 1980s. In 1993, the couple moved to Seattle. David was attracted to Asian art from the beginning of his years in the Far East. He and Nayda, who was born in the Philippines, spent more than half the year traveling to Asia and Europe. In Seattle, David’s office was across the street from the Seattle Art Museum, where he served on the board of trustees from 1995 to 2001; in 2019, one of the Asian art galleries was named in honor of Nayda & David Utterberg.
Nayda explained David’s approach to acquiring a work of art. After seeing a piece at a gallery, he would go back home and do intensive research. "Typically, he would not buy something on the spot. He had his own library of about 7,000 books and could study by himself. He never depended on scholars. When we visited a dealer, he sat there without saying anything. He would return nine months later and say, “Do you remember that piece you showed me? I’ll buy it.” He was very careful. His motto was: Don’t settle for anything less than the best. He was never content with “It’s OK.” Also, he would weed out lesser things, labeling them with the comment “Ready to sell.”
James Godfrey, a dealer specializing in Chinese art and now based in Cleveland, remembers David as precise and demanding—he knew exactly what he wanted. According to Godfrey, he was an absolutely driven collector, with high standards and very good taste: "He had two sides to his brain—the business side, focused on his medical inventions, and the aesthetic side, directed toward his art collection. He excelled at both. David gravitated toward Korean celadons, but also moved on to other areas as his lifestyle changed. He decorated his apartments—first in San Francisco and then in Seattle, where he overlooked the harbor—with Ming-dynasty, as well as French art deco furniture and Chinese carpets."
– Julia Meech, Consultant