BmoreArt

For a hundred years, Alex Cooper has been an institution in the Mid-Atlantic and beyond. What began as a modest auction house on Howard Street in 1924 has grown into a 24,000 square foot space on York Road with new auction items on display there every five weeks. A staff of nearly 50 includes department heads, specialists, auction techs, auction coordinators, an accounting team, admin staff, and four full-time photographers. They work to bring real estate, antiques, rugs, and more to the public, drawing vast knowledge of the inventory, and a passion for the objects in their care.

Most importantly perhaps, is the compassion staff have for the clients, understanding that the items carry not only monetary value for them, but also emotional significance. Hamill says, “These are people’s family treasures. We have to know what we’re talking about, and we have to care about it.” Jewelry specialist Christine Apostoulou echoes this, noting that every item has a story to tell, and one of the pleasures of the job is learning about the rich history of each piece.

Indeed, many staff have master’s degrees in museum studies and years of experience in the auction business. Director of Sales and Fine Jewelry, Selden Morgan, says, “I’ve been in the jewelry business for 30 years. I’m a certified graduate gemologist and a jewelry historian.  I love working at Alex Cooper where every department has someone who is as passionate about their area of expertise as I am about jewelry.”

The result is that the team consistently represents the items for sale with accuracy and care, which is integral to the success of any auction house. This is no easy feat. With a constant influx of goods—thousands of new items every month—and the fast pace of the auctions themselves, employees are constantly researching, documenting, meeting with clients, and curating the space.

Morgan explains the process of putting together the lots for the gallery auctions: “Often, we work as a team to assist larger estates, collectors or downsizers. The Directors of each department work together with their teams to curate the items for their auctions. We are a bit constrained by the inventory that we have or the estates that we have recently received, but a great deal of thought goes into how to best present the pieces in a manner that is cohesive.”

Another notable fact about the staff at Alex Cooer is that the team includes members from three generations of Coopers. For a family business to survive four generations is incredibly rare, and even rarer is the fact that three of those four generations are still active members of the workforce, including nonagenarian Joe Cooper who still comes to work nearly every day. At a recent preview event for upcoming auctions, Joe Cooper strolled the gallery spaces, chatting with staff and clients, checking in at the jewelry counter on a breathtaking piece—a nearly 6.5 carat diamond ring from the estate of Phyllis Meyerhoff which is expected to bring in six figures. He shared with great pride that his grandson, Matthew Cooper, is now running the company.

While the Cooper family has been a constant since the business began, the logistics of the auction itself have changed over time, and especially in the last decade as more of the experience has shifted from in-person to online. People can still visit the auctions at the York Road location, but virtual attendance is increasingly popular, and people from all over the world place bids.

Morgan explains: “Our app allows you to virtually be in an auction and participate as if you are here in the room… While our auctions are not as full of people in the room bidding, our virtual room is ten-fold compared to what it used to be.” There are up to 100,000 participants in each auction, placing their bids from Towson to Toulouse.

As exciting as it is to have an international presence, Hamill is invested in the local side of Alex Cooper. “When people are having conversations about art in Baltimore,” she says, “I just want Alex Cooper to be a part of it.” Her work reflects this value in numerous ways. A gallery auction at the end of September featured fifteen pieces from Mary Fredlund, a Baltimore artist who taught at MICA. Included with her work were be pieces from other prominent Baltimore artists including Herman Maril, Eugene Leake, Grace Turnbull, and Gladys Goldstein.

“When I came here, I wanted to connect Alex Cooper to the Baltimore community at large,” says Hamill. “Before I came to work here, I had an art consulting business, and the mission I had was placing Baltimore art in Baltimore spaces because I really wanted people to buy the artwork that was being created in our city.” Hamill brought that mission with her to Alex Cooper. “I really want people to come into this building. We have museum quality pieces sitting right here on York Road, and I would love to have more people come in and see.”

In addition to showcasing Baltimore artists to get people through the door, Hamill brings people in through the Art Discovery Auction. This endeavor provides a way for beginner collectors to acquire art. “Everything begins at $20,” explains Hamill. “It’s accessible. I love when younger people start collecting art through either Art Discovery or some of the lower end pieces. Sometimes it is just as affordable to collect a piece of real art as it is to go to a HomeGoods or something like that. I’m a big proponent of stretching your budget just a little bit and buying something that will continue to hold its value. It’s a really good investment, and it also holds an emotional value… I want to create lovers and collectors of art.”

Art Discovery Auctions, held four times a year, include paintings, engravings, lithographs and serigraphs, exhibition posters, Japanese prints, etchings, sculptures, photographs, and vintage movie posters – a bounty of beautiful items to help anyone start a quality collection.

The Discovery Auctions at Railroad Crossing in Cockeysville offer another entry-level experience with all bidding taking place online. Like the gallery auctions on York Road, these are open for two weeks, and like the Art Discovery Auctions, all lots begin at $20. Here one might find antique train sets, patio furniture, fur coats, Coach purses, vintage luggage, glassware, coins, costume jewelry—a mix of high and low-end items. Some items you might just as easily come across at Goodwill, while others you would see in the glossy pages of a Sotheby’s catalog.

There are also rare and quirky finds scattered throughout the space: a bronze stanchion sign, “Funeral Parking Only,” a set of framed exotic butterflies, a vintage wall mount emergency telephone, and a NASA prototype urinal for use in space. Comic books, LPs, vintage cars–all these and more have gone through the space at Railroad Crossing.

Upcoming auctions, according to Morgan, “will be filled with fabulous art, jewelry, silver, decorative arts and art.” Of particular note, she adds, are paintings “from the Estate of Anne Hopkins, Bel Air, MD (originally collected by her grandfather Thomas Fitchett) which includes works attributed to Thomas Gainsborough, two works by Narcisse Diaz de la Pena, and two not-to-be-missed paintings by George Inness.”

Whether you are looking to decorate your home, hoping for a deal on a designer handbag, or just interested in browsing the furniture and rugs, you will find a welcoming and knowledgeable staff at Alex Cooper who treat their clients and their estates with care. The team seems to accept as a given that each object carries with it far more than a price tag – and the overwhelming attitude is one of deep curiosity about and respect for very object that comes to them. The gallery glows with positive energy and excitement about the fast-pace and variety inherent in the auction world. Hamill notes, “What’s really fun about working here is that it’s never the same thing twice. There’s always something different.”