Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2008 > September > 07 > Entry
Kirk Furniture Preview Reception
Will Austinites buy a three-piece set of original Marcel Breuer chairs and side table for $35,000? Jeff Kirk is betting they will. (Actually, as he points out, had they been originals, they would have been $35,000, but the version he’s selling is only $10,000.) Yet he’s not betting the entire store — that would be Kirk Furniture on Guadalupe Street in the AMLI on Second building — Kirk also stocks various smaller pieces of art work, including palm-sized animal sculptures made from Buenos Aires subway tickets, priced at well under $35,000.
Andrew Lopez, Katha Busk
Austin’s style community flocked to Kirk’s pad for a preview reception, folks including interior-design superstar Joel Mozersky, architect Paul Bielamowicz (I didn’t know Austin’s Page Southerland Page had opened offices in Abu Dhabi, Doha and Kuwait!), Andrew Lopez for Marc English Design, Katha Burk from UT’s design program, Loft owners Kelly and Offir Schwartz … the list goes on.
Kelly and Offir Schwartz
Kirk has carefully planned this place, so I’m guessing he will survive the war zone of construction across the street where the W Hotel and Residences is currently a gaping hole in the ground. His shop is more modestly scaled than the St. Bernard sportswear store next door. And he’s hired staff from the pioneering downtown retailer Design Within Reach.
Jeff Kirk, Ashley Kirk
We ran into Kirk’s buddy, Texas Book Festival literary director Clay Smith — single again — who’s writing a story about income shortfalls at the Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival for the Austin Chronicle. Smith is trying to get Kip and I to play a home version of “The Newlywed Game” — with all the incumbent double entendres — at his house, but I’m afraid Kip would need more than a martini to participate in that kind of humiliation.
Monza Lui, Stephanie Tsen, Melissa Lancaster
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By Jennifer
September 27, 2010 3:06 AM | Link to this
Now furniture is must have thing for almost every person and it is usually very hard to find such creative furniture designs, each and every curve enlightens the concept behind it, Truly amazing ideas.this is where creativity blends invention.
By Jeff Kirk
September 26, 2008 5:27 PM | Link to this
Joe - there's actually a pretty big market for high-end 20th-century vintage, even amidst the current uncertain economic climate. The pieces we're selling in the five-figure range have a well-established long-term value both at retail and auction, meaning that they're assets with the same kind of appreciation value one sees in 18th- and 19th-century antiques. Europeans and Russians are also increasingly big purchasers of 20th-century pieces bought from American sellers, which has kept prices on the increase. It may cost a small fortune to ship a big piece of furniture overseas, but the expense is more than offset by the strong euro, pound and ruble. American designers in particular, e.g George Nakashima and Paul Evans, sell well overseas because their work wasn't widely distributed there when originally produced.
Btw we also carry a more affordably priced, non-investment-grade vintage line -- nearly all of it is under $2,000 -- and most of our small design-driven accessory pieces, which are newly produced (and in most cases exclusive to Kirk in Texas and the Southwest), are under $100.
By Michael Barnes
September 25, 2008 3:27 PM | Link to this
Someone from Beverly Hills maybe. People travel.
By Joe
September 25, 2008 3:18 PM | Link to this
Who the hell's going to pay $10,000 for a chair? This is Austin not Beverly Hills.
By Jeff Kirk
September 9, 2008 10:05 AM | Link to this
Michael - thanks for the great write-up on my gallery launch party, but I'm afraid I have to issue a correction. I'm not sure if I misspoke or you misheard, but we're selling the Breuer set you mentioned for $10,000, not $35,000. What I may have said is that the set would be worth $35,000 if they had been part of the original 1935 production; since they were produced later, during a brief 1980s-era re-issue, they're not quite as valuable from a collector's standpoint.
Tommy - the Buenos Aires origami are indeed stunning, and best of all they're affordably priced, from $30 to $100 depending on size. We'll have them up (and for sale) on our Web site, kirkgallery.com, launching in a few weeks.
Jeff Kirk
By Caroline Wallace
September 8, 2008 2:38 PM | Link to this
This event sounds like it was the place to be.
I would love to see some of the artwork you described, sounds like the store, though pricey, is filled with some stunning pieces.
By tommy collins
September 8, 2008 8:14 AM | Link to this
With the list of important people that attended this preview no doubt the work was impecable. But I'd like to hear more about the art, or possibly see a picture of a palm sized animal sculpture made from Buenas Aires subway tickets. Maybe this is your intention, but it seems that the focus of the five framing questions is on the people attending instead of the work that brought them together.
By Christian
September 7, 2008 10:08 PM | Link to this
This sounds like a happening place that is drawing in some major designers in Austin. The pictures show some interesting work in the background.