While the show has slightly altered its name, from the Nantucket Summer Antiques Show to the aptly succinct The Nantucket Show, the sentiment behind the annual event remains the same: a longstanding history showcasing the finest designs in art, antiques, historic objects and more. Every year in late summer, this idyllic East Coast island hosts four days of historic art exploration, in which visitors can purchase fine art and antiques from over 30 internationally-recognized exhibitors.
Daniel Ridgway Knight (1839-1924), Coming Through the Rye. Oil on canvas, 32½ x 26 in. signed and inscribed: ‘Paris’. Courtesy Rehs Galleries, Inc.
“In addition to offering fine antiques, mid-century furniture...jewelry, silver and garden antiques, The Nantucket Show has always featured a number of fine art dealers from Europe and the United Kingdom as well as the United States who exhibit traditional to contemporary paintings, works on paper and sculpture,” says Kaye Gregg, director of shows for the Antiques Council.
John Stobart (1929-2023), Busy Day in the East River. Oil on canvas, 26 x 42 in., signed. Courtesy Rehs Galleries, Inc.
Returning dealers at the 2023 event include Rehs Galleries and Rehs Contemporary of New York; David Brooker Fine Art of Woodbury, Connecticut, and London, England; Fine Antique Prints based in Wayne, Pennsylvania, and many more.
“We are excited about three new art dealers who will be joining us this year for the first time, [and] all are great additions to the show,” Gregg adds, citing Arader Galleries, which shows works on paper, paintings and rare books; as well as the Parker Gallery specializing in sporting art and wildlife art; and Antique French Fine Art, dealing in French fine drawings, paintings and antique bronzes.
Among the highlights in American art is a set of John James Audubon prints from Arader Galleries. “The Audubon prints…come to mind as great historic American art. The ‘Black-bellied Darter’ print from John J. Audubon’s Birds of America is a wonderful example,” says Gregg. She also cites Winslow Homer’s Eight Bells, a particularly significant piece in relation to Nantucket’s strong nautical history.
Richard Hayley Lever (1876-1958), Gloucester Rooftops and Harbor, ca. 1920s. Oil on canvas, 20¼ x 24½ in., signed lower left: ‘Hayley Lever’. Courtesy Rehs Galleries, Inc.
James Edward Buttersworth (1817-1894), Yacht “Puritan”. Oil on board, 7½ x 11 in., signed lower right. Courtesy Roberto Freitas American Antiques and Decorative Arts.
“Also very appropriate for Nantucket is a James Edward Buttersworth painting from Roberto Freitas American Antiques and Decorative Arts,” she adds. “Although born in England, Buttersworth moved to the United States in 1845 and established a career as an American marine artist.”
The Nantucket Show kicks off with a gala preview party benefiting the Nantucket Historical Society on the evening of Thursday, August 3. The show then opens to the public Friday, August 4 and runs through August 7.
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