Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA)

An irrepressible business woman and sister to Berry Gordon, Gwen Gordy Fuqua was a critical force of nature behind the emergence of Motown and the astronomical success that followed. Raised in Detroit during the Great Depression, Fuqua made what was likely her first major business investment in 1956 when she purchased the photography and cigarette concession of Detroit's infamous Flame Show, where Billie Holliday, T-Bone Walker, and Dinah Washington, among many others, performed. A decade and a half—and many savvy business decisions—later, in 1972, both Fuqua and Motown Records would relocate to Los Angeles, where she took up residence in the 10,000 square foot Mediterranean estate at 1004 Benedict Canyon Drive. Around the corner from the Beverly Hills Hotel, the home became the center of Motown meetings as well as legendary parties—integral to the setting were the Paul Evans furnishings that Fuqua selected as her backdrop for entertaining, presented here at auction.

Fuqua came a long way from driving a truck in coveralls for her father's construction business to hosting stars at her own Hollywood mansion. Though her brother Berry may be more of a household name, it was indeed Fuqua who helped him make his first important music business contact when she introduced him to Al Green. Fuqua possessed a keen understanding of the power of presentation, particularly in overcoming firmly entrenched racism and gender discrimination. After Fuqua's own record companies, Anna Records, Harvey Records and Tri Phi Records, all officially merged with Motown in the 1960s, Fuqua established the label's Artist Development Department. The department would train the label's artists on how to present themselves publicly, including dress, body language, and general etiquette, and was famously managed for many years by Maxine Powell. As NPR reported "Motown was a kind of machine: Songs were written by committee, and artists had their images meticulously managed and cultivated. This meant that Motown's artists made incursions into places that black artists were not often seen."

In 1977, Gordy founded her company Gwen Glenn Productions, working to produce Motown acts including High Inergy. She retired in the early 1980s, but continued to put her talents to work—not least at the horse track, where she took to breeding and racing her own horses and allegedly delighted in "beating old white men at their own game." In 1993, Fuqua was given a diagnosis of brain cancer with six months to live; instead she fought the disease for six years and, tired of wigs, designed crystal-studded turbans for herself to wear. She passed away in 1999 at the age of 77, and was honored with two funerals, one in Los Angeles and one in Detroit, where she was donned in two separate outfits. Today, Motown's presence in Los Angeles is commemorated by Berry Gordy Square, located at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Argyle Avenue, next the building that once housed the beloved and boundary-shattering label.