Maison Gerard was founded by Gerardus A. Widdershoven in 1974. The gallery quickly established a reputation as New York’s premier source for fine French Art Deco furniture, lighting, and objets d’art. In addition to presenting important works of Jean-Michel Frank, Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann, and Jules Leleu, the gallery has been instrumental in building numerous private and public collections, notably the collection of Walter Chrysler Jr. (now housed in the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, VA), and the Design Collection of the Utsonomia Museum in Japan.