Tag Archives: Russel Wright

Art Deco and Modernism at the Brooklyn Museum

Eastern Parkway entrance to the Brooklyn Museum.

The main entrance to the Brooklyn Museum on Eastern Parkway. Photo by Virginia Rollison from Timeout.com

The Brooklyn Museum, in its namesake borough of New York City, is a must destination for anyone with an interest in Art Deco. The museum’s collection encompasses many areas, but its decorative arts section is truly fantastic. Chris and I did visit the museum back 2016 and will revisit again once the pandemic is behind us. But the museum is currently open to visitors with reduced hours and limited number of admissions. Before visiting please check their website for their guidelines.

 

The Brooklyn Museum antecedents date back to 1823. The famed architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White designed the neoclassical building for the museum’s permanent home in the Park Slope section of the borough. Construction took place in stages between 1895 and 1927, with the museum doors opening in 1897. The museum is New York City’s third largest and holds over 1.5 million works in its collection. And the breadth of the their catalog is enormous. It embodies the artistic heritage of world cultures. It ranges from Egyptian and African art through works from the 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st centuries and disciplines from painting, sculptures and decorative arts. And the Brooklyn Museum’s collection of Art Deco and Modernist pieces is one of the best anywhere.

 

The Brooklyn Museum in 1910. Image from The New York Historical Society / Getty Images.

Museum of Arts and Science (Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences; Brooklyn Museum), Brooklyn, New York, New York, 1910. (Photo by Geo. P. Hall & Son/The New York Historical Society/Getty Images)

 

The Williamsburg Murals

One of the major pieces of modernist art in the collection of the Brooklyn Museum are the Williamsburg Murals. During the mid-1930s, New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia began a campaign to remove slum housing. Replacing them were new, low rent apartments having lots of natural light, green spaces and community rooms. One of the first of these projects, the Williamsburg Houses, was built between 1936 and 1937.

Architect William Lezcase (1896 – 1969) wanted art work to be part of the basement community rooms. Commissioning artists through the WPA’s Federal Art Project four individuals created the works for these spaces. But these are very unlike the usual WPA murals going up concurrently in Post Offices across the United States. Unlike the local history theme of most WPA murals these are bold and abstract, reminiscent of Bauhaus art. The commission for these works went to four American abstract artists, Ilya Bolotowsky, Balcomb Greene, Paul Kelpe and Albert Swinden. These were the first public murals of this kind in the United States.

 

Albert Swinden mural, circa 1939. From the Williamsburg Houses.

Untitled, oil on canvas. Williamsburg Mural by Albert Swinden, circa, 1939. Image from brooklynmuseum.org.

 

As the years passed the community rooms became offices or storage spaces and the murals suffering from neglect were painted over. Their rediscovery beginning in the late 1980s is an amazing story of art restoration. These murals on now on loan to the Brooklyn Museum from the New York City Housing Authority.

 

 

Untitled by Iyla Bolotowsky, one of the Williamsburg Murals.

Untitled by Iyla Bolotowsky on display at the Brooklyn Museum. Image from tru-vue.com.

 

Below are a few of the great objects in the museum’s collection.  Some of these pieces are on display in the Decorative Arts section on the fourth floor. While other not currently on exhibition are viewable in the Luce Visible Storage and Study Center on the fifth floor.

Ronson Touch-Tip

Circa 1935 Ronson Touch Tip lighter.

Louis V. Aronson. Cigarette Lighter, “Ronson Touch-Tip,” ca. 1935. Chrome and black-enameled metal, 3 3/8 x 4 3/8 x 2 1/4 in. (8.6 x 11.1 x 5.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of David A. Hanks.

Catalog Description

“Ronson Touch-Tip” model, streamlined, tugboat shaped tabletop lighter (a) with wick holder (b). Flat chrome-plated base rounded at one end, square at the other end. Incised all around with two parallel bands painted black. Chrome-plated turret-like top rounded on one side. Side elevation of top is quarter round curved down in back to meet base. All the vertical planes of the top are painted black. Three parallel chrome bands curve around the sides of the front extending about 1/3 of the length. On the horizontal plane at very top are a knob (b) attached to a flint that fits into hole and a finger depressor to activate mechanism.

 

Polaroid Desk Lamp Model #114

Walter Dorwin Teague Polaroid Desk Lamp, Model #114, 1939.

Walter Dorwin Teague (American, 1883-1960). Desk Lamp, Model #114, ca. 1939. Aluminum, plastic, 12 3/4 x 11 1/2 x 10 1/4 in. (32.4 x 29.2 x 26 cm). Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund.

Catalog Description

Desk lamp, Model #114. Low, hemispherical brown plastic (bakelite?) base with a cylindrical metal switch at the front and the lamp stem at the rear; wire cord attached through bottom rear of base. Stem is an aluminum cone tapering out from bottom, rising at a slight angle; four vertical slots at bottom rear of stem. Top of the stem is an irregularly shaped half circle punctured with circles and four screws with plastic heads that attach to the shade. Brown plastic shade in general shape of three-dimensional isosceles trapezoid with basically straight sides but rounded on all edges, and widest at the front. Shade slopes downward on top toward the front. Center of shade is slightly raised with four slots for ventilation along the rear and two on each side of the raised section. Interior of shade is spray-painted white and has two metal reflectors, curved one at back and flat one on inside top; underside covered with a thin, soft piece of green or brown plastic, held in place by a wire frame (intended to produce glare-free light).

 

E & J Bass Company Cocktail Glasses and Ice Bucket

E & J Bass Company Cocktail Glasses and Ice Bucket, 1928.

Elsa Tennhardt (American, born Germany, 1899-1980). Stem Glass, Part of Five-piece Set, Patented 1928. Silver-plated brass, 4 7/8 x 2 3/4 x 2 3/4 in. (12.4 x 7 x 7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Designated Purchase Fund.

Catalog Description

Cocktail glass on stem, silver-plated brass; part of a set with ice bucket, stem glasses, and salt and peppershakers. Glass has triangular base and irregularly shaped, curving stem that supports inverted cone-shaped bowl with three applied, triangular decorative motifs.

 

Russel Wright Coffee Urn

Spun aluminum coffee urn designed by Russel Wright, 1935.

Russel Wright (American, 1904-1976). Coffee Urn, ca. 1935. Spun aluminum and walnut, 16 x 13 x 8 1/4 in. (40.6 x 33.0 x 21.0 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Paul F. Walter.

Catalog Description

Coffee Urn. Spun aluminum, wood. Spherical form on cylindrical stand. Spherical wood knobs on metal cylinders for handles, final, and pourer. Narrow cylindrical spout at base of sphere. Metal percolator basket with lid in interior.

 

Air King Radio

Air King plaskon radio, 1933.

John Gordon Rideout (American, 1898-1951). Radio, 1930-1933. Plaskon (plastic), metal, glass, 11 3/4 x 8 7/8 x 7 1/2 in. (29.8 x 22.5 x 19.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Purchased with funds given by The Walter Foundation.

Catalog Description

Radio, plastic case with metal and glass parts. Rectangular, box-like form of light green plastic with two narrow steps attached to each side. The front decorated with series of seven vertical striations from top to bottom, and four horizontal ones near base. Black on/off and volume buttons to right and left near base and large green tuning knob at center of face. Near top is metal (brass?) plaque showing a male and a female figure in ancient dress placing their hands in middle of abstracted symbol (for radio wave?).

 

Revere Normandie Pitcher

Chrome plated pitcher designed Peter Muller-Munk for the Revere Copper and Brass Company.

Peter Muller-Munk (American, born Germany, 1904-1967). “Normandie” Pitcher, ca. 1935. Chrome-plated brass, 12 x 3 x 9 1/2 in. (30.5 x 7.6 x 24.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund.

Catalog Description

“Normandie” pitcher of chrome-plated brass. Streamlined, in plan, a teardrop shape with a flat, strap handle curving out from lip of rounded rear side of pitcher, and down to same rounded side of base. Body of pitcher comes to a point at front end, forming a straight line running from pouring spout to base. Top of pitcher dramatically raking up from handle at rear to point of pouring spout.

 

Weil-Worgelt Study

The extent of the change in 1930s modernism in less than a decade is seen to best advantage by a comparison of the Williamsburg Murals to the Weil-Worgelt Study of 1930. The biomorphic forms of the murals would soon become a popular furniture trend starting in the late 1930s. While the study is an excellent of the pure early style of French modernism of the 1920s.

 

The Weil-Worgelt Study, 1928-1930.

Alavoine of Paris and New York. Weil-Worgelt Study, ca. 1928-1930. Lacquer, glass, leather, veneered panels, 119 x 201 1/2 x 176 1/4 in. (302.3 x 511.8 x 447.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Raymond Worgelt,

Catalog Description

Designed by the New York office of the Parisian decorating firm Alavoine, this elegant study, made for an elite client, was a conservative interpretation of the Art Deco style; this can be seen in the geometric paneling of palisander and olive wood veneers and the large abstract lacquer panel, designed by Henri Redard and executed by Jean Dunand. A small, concealed bar, with etched glass walls that salute France, is hidden in the corner in defiance of Prohibition, which forbade alcohol consumption in the United States from 1919 to 1933. Interestingly, while this room was furnished in the Art Deco style, the public rooms in the rest of the Worgelt apartment were furnished in a more conservative French eighteenth-century-revival style.

 

 

So if you love Art Deco and / or Modernism and you find yourself in Brooklyn, stop in at the Brooklyn Museum, you’re sure to enjoy your visit.

 

Anthony & Chris (The Freakin’, Tiquen’ Guys)

 

Virtual Visits: The Art Institute of Chicago

1930 Illinois Central travel poster. Circa 1930 Illinois Central travel poster. Image from amazon.com.

 

The Art Institute of Chicago is one of the largest and renowned art museums in the United States. Among its collection are some of the most famous paintings in the world. And no trip there is complete without seeing, George Seurat’s A Sunday of La Grande Jatte (1884-1886),

 

A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, by George Seurat, from the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, by George Seurat (1884-1886). In the Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Image from Wikipedia.

 

American Gothic, the 1930 painting by Grant Wood,

 

Grant Wood's 1930 painting, American Gothic, now part of the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. American Gothic (1930), by Grant Wood. Image from Wikipedia.

 

and a personal favorite, the 1942 painting Nighthawks, by Edward Hopper.

 

The 1942 painting Nighthawks, by Edward Hopper. Nighthawks, Edward Hopper’s 1942 painting. Image from Wikipedia.

Former members of the Chicago Academy of Design founded The Chicago Academy of Fine Arts in 1879. That same year they acquired the assets of the Academy of Design at a bankruptcy auction. Changing their name to The Art Institute of Chicago in 1882 they also moved to a building on Michigan Avenue. Needing more space the institute built a new impressive building on the lot directly to the south in 1887. But with the coming of the Columbian Exposition in 1893, the art institute decided on a new home in Grant Park along Michigan Avenue. Constructed for the fair the Art Institute moved to their new and permanent home on October 31, 1893.

 

The 1893 building for the Art Institute of Chicago. The Art Institute of Chicago. Built for the 1893 World’s Fair in Grant Park. Image from Tripadvisor.

Now that we’ve seen some highlights, let’s start our virtual visit. I have to say that the Art Institute has one of the most user friendly websites of any museum. Here is the homepage where your “visit” begins at artic.edu.

 

Homepage for the Art Institute of Chicago. The Art Institute of Chicago homepage.

Once here, click the magnifying glass in the upper right. That will take you to this window.

 

The search page. The search page.

 

In the light gray box, I used Art Deco as my keyword search term. And here were my results.

 

The results of the Art Deco keyword search. The results of the Art Deco keyword search.

 

From here, scroll down to the middle of the page to see the collection items.

 

Art Deco Collection items. The start of the Art Institute’s Art Deco collection items.

 

As you can see, this search brought up a total of nearly 35,000 items. If this is too daunting a number (and not all of these are Deco items, this is bringing up any item with the words Art and Deco). There are ways to ratchet this search down. Click on “See all 34846 artworks”.

 

Using the filters to ratchet down the number of items in the search. Using filters to refine the search.

 

That will bring you to this window. On the left side of the screen there are filters to help refine the search. I keep “SORT” on relevance and move “DATE” to begin at 1900. Then click “OK”.

 

Results after refining the search using the built in filters. Results after refining the search using the built in filters.

 

This brought the search down to a reasonable 13,188 items. Now you can spend the next few hours enjoying some amazing Art Deco items and art works. Here are some of the items that caught Chris and my eyes.

 

Chris’s Picks

 

Protodeco Danish vase by Effie Hegermann-Lindencrone. Covered Vase (1916) by Effie Hegermann-Lindencrone.

 

KEM Weber arm chair (1928/1929) for the Grand Rapids Chair Company. KEM Weber arm chair (1928/1929) for the Grand Rapids Chair Company.

 

Deer and Hinds vase, 1924. 1924 Deer and Hinds vase by Boch Frères Keramis, designed by Charles Catteau.

 

Limoges vase, circa 1930. Limoges vase by Bernardaud & Co., circa 1930.

 

1925 Les Fontaines plate by Johnson Brothers. 1925 Les Fontaines plate by Johnson Brothers.

 

Anthony’s Picks

 

Carpet, made in France, circa 1925. Carpet, made in France, circa 1925.

 

Diana the Huntress, wall panel. André Marty wall panel of Diana the Huntress, 1925.

 

Skycraper Cabinet designed by Paul Frankl, 1927. Skycraper Cabinet designed by Paul Frankl, 1927.

 

Table Lamp by Walter von Nessen, 1930. 1930 Table Lamp by Walter von Nessen.

 

Casino Ware Tureen, 1932-1934. Casino Ware Tureen, Royal Doulton, 1932-1934.

 

And collection  item we both picked

 

Russel Wright spun aluminum and cork cocktail set, 1930. Cocktail Set Model 326 designed by Russel Wright in 1930.

 

These are only a very few of the many Art Deco items in the Art Institute of Chicago’s collection. Chicago is a city that Chris and I have only visited briefly once. It is full of Art Deco treasures, so I know we will be Driving for Deco there once the pandemic is no longer with us.

 

Anthony & Chris (The Freakin’, Tiquen’ Guys)