Wiener Werkstätte, The Galerie St. Etienne, New York, 1966. 32 pages, Softcover. The first commercial gallery retrospective in New York.—JZ
The Arts and Crafts Movement in America 1876 – 1916, The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1972. 190 pages, Softcover. The first survey exhibition, and a valuable guide to the early collections.—JZ
California Design 1910, Pasadena Center, 1974. 148 pages, Softcover. First edition. After years of focusing on contemporary design and craft, the California Design program led by Eudora Moore separated itself from the Pasadena Art Museum and produced this important early exhibition on the Arts & Crafts Movement in California.—JZ
Fine Woodworking, Sept 1978. Provenance: Daniel Loomis Valenza. Essential early essay on Greene & Greene by Alan Marks.—JZ
Greene & Greene: Furniture and Related Designs Randell L. Makinson, Peregrine Smith Books, Salt Lake City, 1979. 163 pages, Softcover.
Vienna 1900: Vienna, Scotland and the European Avant-Garde Peter Vergo, National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland, Edinburgh, Her Majesty’s Stationary, 1983. 80 pages, Softcover.
Vienna 1900: Art, Architecture & Design Kirk Varnedoe, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1986. 259 pages, Softcover. My first-ever visit to an exhibition on design.—JZ
“The Art that is Life”: The Arts & Crafts Movement in America, 1875-1920 Wendy Kaplan, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, New York Graphic Society/Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1987. 410 pages, Hardcover with dustjacket. First edition. One of the essential publications of Modern Design, and responsible for the tremendous growth of interest in the Arts & Crafts movement, in terms of both museums and the market.—JZ
American Arts and Crafts: Virtue in Design, Bulfinch Press/Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1990. 225 pages, Softcover. A Catalogue of the Palevsky Collection and Related Works at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.—JZ
Gamble House: Greene and Greene Edward R. Bosley, Phaidon Press, Architecture in Detail series, 1992. Softcover.
At the intersection of scholarship and connoisseurship lies Curated: The Design and Library of James Zemaitis—an offering that reflects a career spent exploring, documenting, and shaping the discourse around modern and contemporary design. This carefully assembled selection includes both a compelling group of design works and a rich library of publications that have guided and inspired James Zemaitis throughout his decades in the field.
As Director of Museum Relations at R & Company since 2016, James has played a central role in developing exhibitions and fostering institutional partnerships. His recent curatorial projects, including Born Too Tall: California Women Designers, Postwar to Postmodern, demonstrate a thoughtful and inclusive approach to design history. Prior to his time at R & Company, James held leadership positions at Sotheby’s and Phillips, producing over fifty design sales and helping shape the trajectory of the postwar and contemporary design market.
This collection reflects James’s deep engagement with the material and intellectual history of design. The included library—rich with foundational texts, rare catalogues, and scholarly references—provides a rare window into the ideas and research that have underpinned his work as a curator, advisor, and educator.
This auction brings together design and scholarship in a way that reflects a lifetime of passion and purpose. We are honored to invite collectors, curators, and enthusiasts alike to discover a collection shaped by insight, research, and enduring care.
