Brian Kish is an art historian and curator, with experience in Italian twentieth century design. He organized the first exhibition on Gio Ponti in the United States, researches and advises on academic essays, and has worked with Sotheby's[1] and Phillips de Pury. He is specifically a historian on Milanese designers Luigi Caccia Dominioni, Ignazio Gardella, Ico & Luisa Parisi, Giò Ponti, Carlo Mollino,[2] Carlo Scarpa, and Giuseppe Terragni.
Brian Kish | |
|---|---|
| Born | Brian Anthony Kish June 17 Manhattan, New York, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | American School in London B.A. (1978) Courtauld Institute of Art M.A. (1982) Art & Architectural History |
| Occupation | Art Historian Art Collector Antiques Dealer |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Notable credit | Giò Ponti |
| Website | www |
He is a member of the Gio Ponti Archive and collaborator with the Triennale di Milano.
The son of an American diplomat,[3] Brian Kish grew up during the 1960s in Manhattan, New York until age 14, when his family relocated to London, England. He spent his formative years there attending the American School in London and then the venerable Courtauld Institute of Art.[4] While still a teenager, he began working at DM Gallery which focused on "all the latest from Milan".[5] Involved in London's art world and New wave music scene in the 1980s, Kish was friends with Christian Louboutin, Norman Rosenthal, Derek Jarman, F.P. Boue, and Robert Beavers.
Kish dealt privately in contemporary art in New York and London for two decades, before designing and opening his eponymous gallery in 1991 in SoHo, New York focusing on post-war Italian Design.
In 2001, he curated the first U.S. exhibition on Giò Ponti titled "Gio Ponti: A Metaphysical World" at the Queens Museum of Art.[6]
In 1997 and for the next 16 years, Kish worked on sourcing, importing and popularizing Italian Rationalist design to the U.S. in a marketplace dominated by midcentury Scandinavian, French and American furniture with much greater distribution. Many limits to the supply of Italian Rationalist pieces drove the prices up in the 1990s and throughout the 2000s. Kish said in an October 2000 interview that access to Italian design remained limited to a few auction houses and estate sales as Italians still lived with their mid-century design and were not selling. Supply was further limited by U.S. and Italian import regulations.
In 2013, Italian design is having its momento and its sales now drive the bottom line of New York auction houses.[7]