Inspired by her mother, Countess Ruth Costantino, Helen Costantino Fioratti worked hard to become successful in her field. Her mother was the first female fine arts dealer in the United States and helped to form some of the great 20th century private collections of French furniture. Mrs. Fioratti embarked on her career, attending the Parsons School of Design in New York City (which was then affiliated with New York University), where she obtained a Bachelor of Science. Her first real success was as an artist, where she had several one-woman exhibits at a New York gallery that sold out to such people as Stavros Niarchos, the Duchess of Windsor and Greta Garbo. Following in her mother’s footsteps, she and her husband founded the antique gallery L’Antiquaire in 1965, where she served as president. During this time, she also served as vice president of her mother’s gallery, The Connoisseur. The two galleries merged in 1982 to form L’Antiquaire & the Connoisseur Inc. She took on the role of president in 1988. Through her work with the gallery, Mrs. Fioratti has supplied works of fine art to various museums both nationally and internationally. Her gallery can be viewed at 36 East 73rd Street in New York, NY.
In addition to leading the gallery in New York City, Mrs. Fioratti is an artist and illustrator as well. She has exhibited one-woman shows of her own paintings, which then sold out, and has organized other exhibitions and catalogs throughout her career. She was also a designer of interiors, jewelry and textiles, and an illustrator. With an expertise in French, Italian, 18th century and Renaissance furniture, she has also designed interiors across the globe. Most notably, she designed and interior decorated multiple homes for the Royal Family in Kuwait. Outside of work, Mrs. Fioratti enjoys cooking and has prepared Renaissance Italian banquets. She has lectured on the food of Renaissance Italy. In fact, The New York Times wrote of her cooking, as did the Food and Wine Magazine. She is on the board of directors of the Art and Antique Dealers League of America (AADLA) and is a member of the Accademia Italiana della Cucina.
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