Search
Art & Culture

Thierry Despont’s Eclectic Collection Presented at Maison Gerard Show

Opening June 5, “Thierry W. Despont: Renaissance Man” unveils an assortment of his cache of art and objets, many of which are up for sale at the New York gallery

By Rima Suqi
Taxidermy woolly rhinoceros with long horns on a wooden table in a stylish, art-filled room with large windows and natural light.
A massive rhinoceros sculpture inside the artist studio at Thierry Despont's Hamptons home. Photo: Pascal Perich, courtesy of Maison Gerard

When Thierry Despont died two years ago at the age of 75, the prolific French architect left behind a rich legacy that included restoration of the Statue of Liberty, the Woolworth Building in New York City’s Financial District, the Carlyle Hotel, and the Ritz in Paris. He also left a massive collection—hundreds, perhaps thousands of objects accumulated over the years and displayed in his New York City townhouse and office, his Southampton estate (which included an art studio), and in storage.

Architecture writer Karrie Jacobs once wrote of Despont that “the interiors he concocts for his immensely wealthy clients are a swirl of highly focused, carefully edited, clutter.” The same could be said for the man himself. Simply put: he was the best kind of hoarder, amassing intriguing objects across a plethora of categories, price points, and perceived levels of sophistication.

Modern living room with leather sofas, abstract wall art, and a dramatic vertical red sculpture centerpiece.
A view inside Thierry Despont’s New York City office. Photo: Michael Mundy, courtesy of Maison Gerard
Art-filled room with framed insect displays, paintings, and a vintage orb in a cozy, dimly lit, and rustic setting.
Interior of the artist studio at Thierry Despont’s Hamptons home. Photo: Pascal Perich, courtesy of Maison Gerard
Metal bird sculpture surrounded by lush green trees and foggy background in a garden setting.
A sculpture outside the artist studio at Thierry Despont’s Hamptons home. Photo: Pascal Perich, courtesy of Maison Gerard

An edited selection of these treasures will be on view and for sale through Maison Gerard in an exhibition entitled “Thierry W. Despont: Renaissance Man,” opening on June 5. Despont was a long-time client of the gallery and owner Benoist Drut was both honored and excited when approached by the late architect’s daughters about an exhibition. “It has been much bigger than anybody anticipated,” says Drut, who also curated the show. “Several 20-foot-long trucks. Cranes. How many pieces? It’s a fluctuating count.”

He did everything at such an insane scale. It was endless, endless making”

Catherine Despont

Despont’s daughter Catherine confirms that her dad “was constantly acquiring stuff. He knew what he liked and as soon as he saw it, he got it. He had three libraries, and his design library alone was 7,000 volumes.” The exhibition will include some books, most notably Houses, a highly collectible series of five tomes published by Despont himself and gifted to clients.

Shadow box featuring an eclectic mix of objects, including a butterfly, textured globe, and various vintage items.
Interior of the artist studio at Thierry Despont’s Hamptons home. Photo: Pascal Perich, courtesy of Maison Gerard
Wooden busts with cloth headdresses on a shelf, alongside a metal plane sculpture and framed insect art.
Interior of the artist studio at Thierry Despont’s Hamptons home. Photo: Pascal Perich, courtesy of Maison Gerard

Also on view at Maison Gerard are pieces of furniture (a “supersized” Jean-Michel Frank-style leather sofa and four chairs plus a billiard table that doubles as a dining table), models of the Statue of Liberty’s torch, and a life-sized resin and shearling rhinoceros, Despont’s favorite animal. His watercolors, pencil drawings, paintings, sculptures, cabinets of curiosities, and more will also be on offer. “I am fascinated that this man who built mansions for some of the richest people would use humble tools to make masks or insects. I love the contrast,” noted Drut. “It is also the triumph of high and low, which is probably why I like this collection so much.”

“He did everything at such an insane scale. It was endless, endless making,” says his daughter. “There was not a moment in the day he wasn’t occupied with something—sculpting, painting, drawing, reading.”

Modern art gallery with large abstract paintings, sculpture, bench seating, and dim lighting on polished dark floor.
A view inside Thierry Despont’s New York City office. Photo: Michael Mundy, courtesy of Maison Gerard
Cozy library with wooden shelves filled with books, art pieces, and a small statue on a pedestal in the center.
A view inside Thierry Despont’s New York City office. Photo: Michael Mundy, courtesy of Maison Gerard
desk with framed photos, glasses, pen holder, small statue of liberty, papers, and a camera on a wooden surface
Items from Thierry Despont’s collection, displayed inside his New York office. Photo: Michael Mundy, courtesy of Maison Gerard
Art gallery with framed portraits and stone sculpture, exhibits in glass cases with abstract artworks in a dimly lit room.
Interior of the artist studio at Thierry Despont’s Hamptons home. Photo: Pascal Perich, courtesy of Maison Gerard

The ultimate example of this is Despont’s Cabinet of Curiosities—Bibliotheca Selenica. Standing at over 12 feet wide and nine feet tall, it contains one of the most complete archival collections of research material on the moon: over 200 books (including a second edition of Galileo Galilei’s Sidereus Nuncius, originally published in 1610), historical manuscripts, etchings, maps, artifacts, and other items compiled over several decades. “For me, this is a museum piece,” notes Catherine Despont. “It is very researched and scientific, and at the same time it is deeply poetic. It is so particular, I think, to the way he thought about things.”