Ulysses Grantz Dietz

Rago Arts and Auction Center in Lambertville will host curator and author Ulysses Grantz Dietz on January 18 as he delivers a presentation titled “It Was All Modern: Art, Craft, and the Rhetoric of the Marketplace.”

The presentation looks at a range of modern objects, from the 1890s to the 21st century, and explores different meanings of “modern.”

Curator of decorative arts at the Newark Museum since 1980, Dietz has organized or hosted more than 100 exhibitions during his tenure, ranging in topics from quilts to jewelry and from colonial to contemporary. His proudest achievement was the dramatic restoration and reinterpretation of the Newark Museum’s 1885 John and Jeanette Ballantine House, a national historical landmark. Dietz is the author of more than a dozen books, and scores of articles and essays on every topic from furniture and silver to all sorts of ceramics.

The auction house opens on Thursday, January 18 at noon. A wine and cheese reception begins at 5 p.m. The presentation will begin at 6 p.m.

RSVP to raac@ragoarts.com or (609) 397-9374. If you are unable to RSVP in advance, please join them. All are welcome. Rago Arts and Auction Center is located at 333 North Main Street in Lambertville.