Albert Sack

Sack was born on March 24, 1915, in Lynn, Massachusetts. He was the second and middle son of Israel and Ann Sack.[1]

He attended the University of Pennsylvania but had to leave school when the Great Depression damaged his father’s business, so he was needed to help.[1]

In 1948, Albert Sack wrote an article, "Good, Better, Best", which was published in The Magazine Antique.[7] Editor Alice Winchester asked Sack to expand it into a book.[8][7]

The resulting book, Fine Points of Furniture: Early American, was originally published in 1950,[9] and has been called the "definitive reference book for antique dealers."[10] It became a bestseller, and was reprinted 24 times.[8]

In 1993, he co-authored a sequel with his protégée, Atlanta antique dealer Deanne Levison. Entitled The New Fine Points of Furniture, it was updated and revised to include the categories of “superior” and “masterpiece",[8] and became an "essential text" in the business.[7][upper-alpha 1]

While summarizing his professional standards, Albert Sack hearkened back to his father's counsel. "Everything ... was from the standpoint of the inspiration and talent of the craftsman ... A truly great craftsman had a god-given talent that transcended that of most of his peers."[7][upper-alpha 2] Sack posited that American furniture epitomized "what America started out to be, was, and is. It is a tangible historical product, free and unleashed from its European roots."[7]

This led to the Sacks firm's publication of the serial volumes American Antiques from the Israel Sack Collection which helped professionalize the antique trade in America. This goal was further fostered by a rich schedule of appearances and lectures, accompanied by "glamorous, gallery-style installations."[8]

He was a regular contributor/appraiser at The Antiques Roadshow on the PBS.[11]

His wordsmithing, gift of description and judgment have been favorably reviewed. They were deemed seductive:

"When Albert Sack describes a piece of furniture, it comes to life. One can never look at a hotel room reproduction without feeling offended, on a deep level, by its ugly, shiny newness. One wants patina after reading Albert Sack. One wants age and mellow wood and the evidence of human hands rubbing the edges of a thing. One wants a perfect curve to its leg."[12]

He was a furniture advisor to the White House during the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower and he donated a sofa to the Diplomatic Reception Room.[13]

In 1934 he joined Israel Sack, Inc, which was moving from Boston to New York City. His older brother Harold worked at the firm, too. From 1942 until 1946 he served in the United States Army. Upon detachment, he rejoined the firm of Israel Sack until it closed in 2002. Declining to retire, at age 87, he then matriculated to Northeast Auctions, working for three years.[2]

According to The Washington Post, Sack's firm was "reputed to have invented the American antique market."[14]

He and his father were influential in steering their clients to gift important American pieces of furniture to American Museums. This cast an indelible mark of "masterpieces of our heritage" in the public mind. Further, Albert donated a vast collection of photographs and related ephemera of antique furniture to the Yale University Art Gallery. which had a palpable effect on research and scholarship in the field.[upper-alpha 3]

He, his older brother, and the firm created the "Israel Sack Galleries" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[2][3]

Donated by the family in 2011, the Sack Family Archive and the Israel Sack, Inc., Archive are reposed at the Yale University Library and the Yale Art Gallery.[10][16]

He died on May 29, 2011, in Durham, North Carolina at age 96. He had been treated by hospice at Duke University Hospital for several months. He was the last survivor of the family firm.[1] Israel Sack, Inc., had sold more than 2,600 objects during its century-long existence.[10]

In 1996, the Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library awarded the Henry Francis du Pont Award posthumously to Sack and his three sons for having “dedicated themselves to the connoisseurship, preservation, and collecting of American furniture.”[17]

In his memory, the Antiques Dealers' Association of America hosted a tribute and memorial in January 2012 in the Tiffany Room at the Park Avenue Armory. This was conjoined with the Winter Antiques Show.[18] Albert Sack was the first recipient of the ADA Award of Merit.[18]

• Sack, Albert (1993). The New Fine Points of Furniture: Early American, Good, Better, Best, Superior, Masterpiece (Hardcover). United States: Crown Publishers. ISBN 9780517588208. A guide to comparing and evaluating early American antiques compares furniture similar in form but varying in proportion, craftsmanship, and design and features photographs of chairs, beds, bureaus, clocks, desk, and other items. 20,000 ...
• Sack, Albert; Levison, Deanne (2007). Fine Points of Furniture: Early American (Paperback). United States: Schiffer Publishing. ISBN 9780764327377.
• Sack, Albert. Israel Sack A Record of Service, 1903-1959. N.p.: n.p., (n.d.).

• Greenfield, Briann G. (2009). Out of the Attic: Inventing Antiques in Twentieth-century New England. United States: University of Massachusetts Press. ISBN 9781558497092.
• Sack, Harold; Wilk, Max (1994) [1986]. American Treasure Hunt (Paperback). Random House Publishing Group, Little, Brown Alliance Publishing, Incorporated. ISBN 9780345348319.

• "The Fine Points Of Albert Sack" (Video). June 7, 2011 – via YouTube.