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35 FALL 2025 At the time, there was a growing enthusiasm for decorative arts among scholars and collectors who followed the American Arts and Crafts movement, which encouraged artists to create objects with everyday materials (such as mud). Rago became a self-taught expert and developed an eye for knowing which pieces could have value. He adopted a dictum from Arts and Crafts designer William Morris that he has carried into his own business philosophy and that he has displayed on his desk even today: "Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." By the early 1980s, Rago was well known in art circles as a specialist in 19th- and early 20th-century arts, and he worked in various galleries in New York. He founded his auction company in 1984 and now runs it with his wife, Suzanne Perrault. It started as a small operation, with Rago loading up at his warehouse in New Jersey and heading into New York solo to participate in auctions. In 1996, Rago bought the warehouse in Lambertville and began hosting auctions there. They expanded in 2016, and Rago Auctions now employs 135 people. In all, Rago Auctions holds 175 auctions each year, some in partnership with five other independent auction houses around the country. Still, Rago is quick to point out that they are relatively small in a world of auction houses like Christie's or Sotheby's. "We did $121 million last year," he says. "That's one painting at Christie's." RUNNING an auction is an art form in and of itself. Rago and his team classify each auction into a theme based on artist, type of art, or special collection: say, for example, 20th-century ceramics or post-war design. Then the items to be sold are catalogued and carefully arranged in an order for bidding that would hopefully establish a rhythm for the overall sale. For Rago, an auction is as much about the storytelling as it is the actual art. He considers the bidders who will be there and which works are more likely to be sold and at what price point. "The ordering — like editing together strips of film for a movie — is very intentional," he says. "Pacing is like an oscillating line, starting with high points and then introducing less expensive work and then up again, to create the ebb and flow of the energy of an auction session." Rago's skill as an auctioneer also contributes to the unfolding of the story of any given auction. "I try to be in the moment," he says. "And I use the pace of my language to build interest — sometimes not saying anything at all, or modulating my volume, or making ABOVE: A note that hangs in David Rago's Lambertville, New Jersey auction house, reminding staffers to be mindful of delicate pieces. RIGHT: George Ohr pottery ready for auction.

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