Palm Beach Art Fair to Debut the Late Fashion Designer and Artist Mark Eisen’s Work
Fourteen months after the death of the fashion designer-turned-artist Mark Eisen, his sculpture will be featured in next week’s art fair in Palm Beach.
Although Modern Fine Art’s founder Ray Waterhouse never met Eisen personally, the artist and his wife Karen visited its London gallery in 2012, and kept up with what it did. After Eisen’s unexpected death in November 2023, she reached out to Waterhouse, whose gallery is now representing the late artist’s work. Karen Eisen had inquired about “realizing their dream of promoting his sculpture,” he said.
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Eisen’s work will be shown at Art Palm Beach, which runs Jan. 22-26 at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. Varying in geometric shapes, the height and the width of each of his pieces are 50 inches by 50 inches. They are meant to transform light, movement, and space so that viewers are drawn in to the experience.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Eisen had made a name for himself as an up-and-coming designer in the then-buzzy New York City fashion scene. Jodie Kidd, Carolyn Murphy and Esther Canadas were among the models he enlisted for his runway shows. In his prime, Eisen had design studios in New York, Italy, Japan and Hong Kong. His collections — which focused on sleek and minimalist designs — sold for 18 years in more than 800 stores in 18 countries. In 2000, Eisen struck up a 50-50 partnership with Sportswear Co. SpA, the Italian firm behind the C.P. Company and Stone Island labels, to produce and distribute the Mark Eisen Collection. Before exiting the industry, his company was a $20 million operation.
After marrying his wife in 2006, the couple went on to raise two children, and family life became Eisen’s main priority. In 2007, he moved back part-time to his homeland of South Africa, where he bought and renovated a 17th-century French Huguenot wine farm. In addition to making wine, Eisen used that time on the farm to focus on industrial design for the luxury group Compagnie Financière Richemont. Simultaneously, Eisen pursued his art as a sculptor.
Eisen died by suicide at the age of 65 in November of 2023.
Noting how the artist Anish Kapoor’s mirrored work sells between $500,000 to $2 million, Waterhouse said Eisen’s work is “far better produced.” Despite sounding contradictory, Eisen’s pieces appear to be very simple, but the minimal creations have complex shapes including concave ones. The sculpture is also very reflective, because Eisen wanted the viewer to become part of the work, the gallery owner said. “That’s what happens, because as you move around the room, your reflection is shared,” he added.
After 50 years in the art market, Waterhouse said he has never seen anything so well-made as Eisen’s sculptures. The investment in production and for the exhibition was between $600,000 and $700,000. Eisen traveled to foundries in California, upstate New York and Germany to size up the quality at each. A few of the sculptures were produced in New York, but the best ones were from Germany, Waterhouse said. Each piece costs between $70,000 and $170,000 just to be made, he added. “They are unbelievably well-made. The production is absolutely superb,” he said.
Should additional orders be made, Modern Fine Art will need an up to six-month lead time, due to the time that is required to get into what Waterhouse described as the “best foundry in the world” in Germany. If you didn’t know that Eisen was a designer, his art would not shout that at you, according to Waterhouse, who also has a gallery on the Upper East Side. However, his attention to detail, and “the wish just to be simple and pure” hints at his first career, he said.
Acknowledging how the debut of Eisen’s art is bittersweet, in light of his death, Waterhouse praised his wife for doing her best to realize his dream to have these sculptures exhibited and appreciated. Karen Eisen, who preferred not to comment, will attend Art Palm Beach.
Fern Mallis, fashion consultant, host of “Fashion Icons,” and the former executive director of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, recalled Thursday how Eisen had invited her to lunch in October of 2023, after not having heard from him or seen him for several years. “He made a special trip into the city from Massachusetts for lunch and to share with me his art — the massive, beautiful sculptures he was doing. He was so excited about them and said he had finally found his passion. His work was beautiful. I was going to help him identify some galleries and contacts in New York,” she said. “And maybe three weeks later he took his life.”
She added, “I am thrilled that his work will be seen finally. I know he’d be smiling from ear to ear. He was so excited and proud of this new world of art that he entered — leaving fashion far behind him.”
The first edition of Eisen’s work is being offered at a reduced price for collectors at Art Palm Beach. Waterhouse said he expects the pieces to do “very well,” “purely based on merit and their beauty and impact.” Although he offered that what he has often thought would sell, does not, and vice versa. “But I think Palm Beach is a very good place to initiate the promotion. We need people with taste, money, and appreciation of how beautiful they are,” he said.
If you or anyone you know is contemplating suicide, a list of global suicide hotlines can be found at www.suicidestop.com. In addition, dialing, texting or chatting 988 in the U.S. will route you to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The Lifeline’s phone number is 800-273-8255 is also available for anyone experiencing emotional distress or suicidal crisis.
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