Lloyd Macklowe, founder of Macklowe Gallery, a celebrated New York City retailer of jewelry and antiques, died on Sept. 7. He was 90.
According to a store bio, when Macklowe married wife Barbara in 1964, they had “almost nothing to their name.” After furnishing their first home with secondhand pieces, they began to appreciate the value of old objects. They started buying pottery at local antique shows, first selling it wholesale, then later through a mail-order business that advertised in Hobby magazine. Eventually they expanded into antiques and jewelry.
In 1971, the Macklowes opened their first retail location, at Madison Avenue and 82nd Street. In 2017, Macklowe Gallery moved to its current home, a 6,000-square-foot space on Park Avenue at 57th Street.
A-list customers have included Barbra Streisand, Faye Dunaway, Rod Stewart, Whoopi Goldberg, and a young Steve Jobs.
The Macklowes’ keen eye got them dubbed an “art power couple,” whose love of antiques went way beyond business.
“The couple’s Fifth Avenue apartment contains one of the most important collections of French art nouveau furniture,” wrote The Wall Street Journal in 2015.
Macklowe placed gallery acquisitions in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Australian National Gallery. In 1995, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts named the Macklowes “Collectors of the Year.”
Lloyd Macklowe retired in 2019.
He is survived by his wife; son Benjamin, who now runs the gallery; daughter-in-law Hillary, who serves as its creative director; daughter Amanda; four grandchildren; and brother Harry, a prominent New York City real estate developer.
(Photo courtesy of Macklowe Gallery)
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