Lars Bolander: His Swedish Chic Style At Auction

Architectural Digest, Elle Décor, House Beautiful … when their monthly issues hit our inbox, we have a systematic circulation system worked out. But two weeks ago, we got the catalogue for the March 21st auction of renowned interior designer Lars Bolander’s private collection at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers in West Palm Beach. It’s so flush with fantastic pickings that we’ve been grabbing it off each other’s desks ever since and layering it with Post-Its.

In the world of luxury interior design, Bolander is the Swede who helped bring Scandinavian style to Americans when he came here in the 1980s. He was in the vanguard here for his interiors that blended Anglo classicism with Scandinavian interior design and featured clean lines, subdued color schemes and natural materials. But he also incorporated eclectic or idiosyncratic art and artifacts he collected from all over the world into everything he did, making his projects unexpected and intriguing.

The unique antiques in this auction represent his wide-ranging ‘eye’ on luxury interior design. There are dapper Gustavian fauteuils upholstered in natty gingham—and wildly ornate bone-inlaid chairs that look like they’re straight out of a sheik’s palace. Scads of serious British portraits are balanced with boisterous pieces of non-figurative contemporary art. And refined silver serving pieces offer counterpoint to rustic carved fruitwood animal heads much more mannerly than the real thing.

The chance to buy all these breathtaking pieces at auction is not only exciting, it’s smart because it offers a chance to land something special almost effortlessly. In the luxury interior design business, we hunt high and low for these glorious goods. With a curated selection such as this one, all it takes is browsing the catalogue or the Leslie Hindman Auctioneers website and bidding online or by phone during the auction.

Considering Bolander’s significance, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers deserves kudos for snagging the right to sell this extraordinary private collection. Bolander studied design under Carl Malmsten in Stockholm, then worked for famed industrial and interior designer Gaby Schreiber in London before coming to the U.S. While he became renowned for his interior design work, he became equally prominent for the showrooms displaying his collected treasures in East Hampton, New York and West Palm Beach. He will still operate his New York showroom going forward.

And as for our intentions, given our Post-It covered catalogue it’s safe to say we’ll be bidding on more than a few things, but we don’t dare tell you what we’re after. We don't want the competition.

The Lars Bolander auction catalogue is online here. Interested shoppers must register for the sale by 10 a.m. Eastern time on March 21.