Free tours will be led by the faculty members of New York City public schools through the world renowned galleries of Madison Avenue. Beginning at 11am tours will commence each hour from the Event Information Centers which will be set up in the Fuller Building-Vornado Realty Trust and in the Arader Galleries.  The final tour will begin at 4pm.

The galleries, including Phoenix Ancient Art, are all found on a one-mile stretch of Madison Avenue, between 57th Street and 83rdth Street on the East Side of Manhattan. Some of the galleries are located on the side streets, but not more than half a block from Madison.

Monies raised by the Gallery Walk will be used to help The Fund for Public Schools so that it can support arts education in New York City public schools.

There will also be a scavenger hunt all day. The hunt is family oriented and the winners will receive a 2 for one admission to the Whitney Museum of American Art. Guides and more information for the scavenger hunt will be available at either of the information centers.

Phoenix Ancient Art, as well as many of the other galleries on the walk, will be offering talks and discussions throughout the day.

Cycladic Goddess

In late October, 2009, the Old City of Geneva celebrated its [newly revived appearance] with an art show featuring 16 local amidst the regular permanent GENEVA galleries such as Bang and Olufsen, and Michael Castellino, who showed an unknown local Geneva artist by the name of Philippe Jaccard.

The center of the fair was Phoenix Ancient Art on Verdaine Street. Especially prominent in the gallery was the exhibition, “Goddesses”, lovingly exhibited by proprietors Ali and Hicham Aboutaam. A visit to Phoenix Ancient Art can be as enjoyable as a visit to an art museum, with the added bonus of no admission charge.

Some of the ancient art on view at Phoenix is even more marvelous than what is found in many museums. After all, what public institution has anything like this incredible marble statuette from the Cyclades which somehow, by some miracle, is completely intact?

A visit to the galleries of Phoenix Ancient Art is like traveling though time to the dawn of Western civilization. Through the beautiful antiquities on view at Phoenix we can travel over thousands of years and thousands of miles to visit the sources of today’s art and religion. The Aboutaam brothers will be your guide to objects as old as the 6th millennium BCE and as “recent” as the 14th century AD. Your trip will include stops at the Iberian peninsula, Egypt, the Near East, Central and Northern Europe, the Balkans, Eurasia, Southeast Asia and the Indus River Valley, where the first major Indian civilization flourished.

Perhaps you will fall in love and buy one of these fine antiquities as a souvenir of your travels. In any event, you will be glad that you came.

“DÉESES”

Divinités Féminines des Civilisations Méditerranéennes

Roughly translated as Goddesses: Feminine Deities of Mediterranean Civilisations.

“The Geneva Gallery is located at 6, rue Verdaine. The Aboutaams hope to see you there.

Phoenix Ancient Art’s hours of operation are:
• Geneva : Mon. – Fri., 10:30 am to 6:30pm, Sat. – by appointment
• New York: Mon. – Fri., 9:30 am to 5:30pm, Sat. – by appointment

Hicham Aboutaam and his team carefully select each artefact and work of art on view for its historical importance as well as its intrinsic beauty and artistic value. First and foremost, Phoenix Ancient Art desires the works of art and antiquities to be appealing to the eye, and  then its other facets – age, culture and historical significance add a further dimension.  Each object on display is an example of great craftsmanship and refinement as well as an exemplar of the different civilizations that span the displays.

Hicham Aboutaam and his team at Phoenix make sure to have their displays do the utmost to let the antiquities speak for themselves.

The display of each item by Aboutaam in his gallery is unique, and you will find the works of art displayed against settings of simplicity and elegance. Thus, the object on display takes possession of its space and speak for itself. This also allows collectors and the general public to solely focus on each individual artefact.

Hicham and Ali have taken over their father’s business, and they have made great leaps forwards since assuming the reigns of Phoenix Ancient Art.