Estimate: $20,000 - $30,000
Price Realized:
$24,320
Includes buyer's premium
Please contact the gallery if you would like any additional information. To ensure we can assist you promptly, we encourage you to reach out at least 24 hours before the auction. We want you to bid with confidence and encourage viewing items in person or requesting additional photographs.
Any condition statement given by us is done as a courtesy, is an opinion, and should not be treated as a statement of fact. Capsule shall have no responsibility for any error or omission. All lots offered have been previously owned and are sold “as is”. Capsule does not provide refunds based on condition.
Art has not been examined out of the frame unless otherwise stated. Frames, lampshades, or items described as “supplementary” are not considered integral to a lots value and are excluded from condition assessments. This includes any mat, mounting, glazing, hanging apparatus, case, box, or stand. Timepiece movements, lighting elements and items with mechanical or electrical components have not been thoroughly tested and are not covered under warranty by Capsule.
Ilon Specht was a pioneering advertising copywriter and creative director who first carved a place for herself in the heady "Mad Men" era of New York advertising. While still in her twenties, she created the iconic "Because I'm Worth It" campaign for L'Oreal Paris. Specht was a subject of author Malcom Gladwell and Oscar-winning documentarian Ben Proudfoot, whose documentary short The Final Copy of Ilon Specht is streaming on Amazon Prime. Her L'Oreal Paris campaign would change beauty advertising forever, catalyzing a pivot from an emphasis on pleasing men to promoting women's self-confidence and empowerment. Ilon also did groundbreaking work for the Peace Corps, Oxy 5, Underalls, and Life cereal. She was an avid collector, especially of Deco and American country, with an eye that transcended eras and fads. Unlikely collections adorned all corners of her dazzling apartment in the Dakota. After retiring from advertising, she moved to California and devoted herself full-time to making and dealing in beautiful things. As a mother, a stepmother, a friend, and a boss, Ilon Specht was caring, generous, courageous and brilliant. She changed many lives.
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