Javascript required
Skip to content Skip to sidebar Skip to footer

Plywood and Paint Art Jordan Schnitzer Plywood and Paint Art African American

About

The Art of Seating: 200 Years of American Chair Design

Within the American home and workplace, chairs are usually regarded as simple, commonsensical objects that provide seating and a modicum of comfort. This exhibition offers a fascinating historical survey of artistic, technical and engineering developments in American decorative styles. The chair emerges as a circuitous artistic invention that embodies American ingenuity in blueprint and reflects a multifariousness of socio-cultural, economic and political values.

Organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, the Art of Seating includes more 40 distinctive chairs selected from the Jacobsen American Chair Collection. The Figge Art Museum will be the offset museum venue to host this meaning exhibition on its national touring schedule.

A large portion of the exhibition highlights trends in Victorian design, noted for its eclectic revival modes and lush, intricate ornament. Examples include the exotic Oriental Peacock Lady's Reception Chair, c. 1855, and the Gothic Revival Arm Chair, c. 1854-55.

At the turn of the century, the ornate formality of Victorian furniture was replaced by a radical modernistic sensibility associated with the Viennese Secession and the American Arts and Crafts movement. Rejecting the anonymity and inferior quality of industrial mass production, these trends stressed purity of class and unique handmade methods of fabrication, every bit seen in the Stickley Brothers Oxbow Arm Chair, c. 1903.

In contrast to the Craft movement, modernist 20th-century innovations in chair design were strongly influenced by the industrial machine aesthetic of the Bauhaus. This exhibition includes modernist chairs by such renowned architects and designers every bit Frank Lloyd Wright, Eero Saarinen, Charles and Ray Eames, Isamu Noguchi and Harry Bertoia. Utilizing streamlined geometric forms to revolutionize chair blueprint, they also sought to enhance the physical condolement of modern American furniture by experimenting with ergonomic engineering principles. A prime number example of this progressive development is Wright'south 1938 chair for the Johnson Wax Company, which used oval and tubular elements resembling the company edifice'southward striking interior columns. During the 1950s, Charles and Ray Eames explored new industrialized materials and methods of construction, and used inventive techniques like molded plywood to create their famed LCW "White potato Chip" Lounge Chair that was hailed every bit the "Chair of the Century."

Modern chair pattern reflects a democratizing impulse in postal service-state of war American consumer culture, which demanded a new emphasis on casual informality combined with stylistic sophistication and affordable products. In the Postmodern era of the 1970s and 1980s, Frank Gehry'southward High Stool and Robert Venturi's Sheraton Chair signify a playful rejection of modernism'due south functionalism and formal austerity.

The chairs in this exhibition will be presented in an historical context through a multimedia display of patent drawings, documented upholstery, period photographs and informative interpretive labels. Hosting The Art of Seating reflects the Figge's mission to showcase unique forms of American craft and civilisation.

This exhibition volition continue through September 4, 2011

Related Events

Free Guided Art Activity
half dozen pm Th, August 18 • "A Chair for Your Shelf"


Parent & Kid Gallery Search

Download this guide to enhance your family's feel as you explore the Fine art of Seating exhibition. Learn more about the variety of this exhibition as you go along a scavenger chase to find the right seat.

Sponsored by Sears Manufacturing, Paragon Commercial Interiors, Inc., and Rick Bowers.

The Fine art of Seating is developed by the Museum of Contemporary Fine art Jacksonville and the Jacobsen Collection of American Art; bout organized by International Arts & Artists, Washington, D.C.

images: Designed past Thomas Eastward. Warre, manufactured past the American Chair Co. (1829-1958), Troy, New York, Centripetal Bound Arm Chair, c. 1850, photo by Michael Koryta and Andrew Van Styn, director of acquisitions, conservation, and photography

Designed by Warren McArthur, manufactured past Warren McArthur Corporation, Rome, New York, Sling Seat Lounge Chair, c. 1935, Patent March 31, 1936, photo by Michael Koryta and Andrew Van Styn, director of acquisitions, conservation, and photography

Unknown designer, manufacturer attributed to Pottier & Stymus and Visitor, est. 1859, New York City, Egyptian Revival Side Chair, c. 1875, photograph by Michael Koryta, Andrew Van Styn, director of acquisitions, conservation, and photography

fishbournesockell.blogspot.com

Source: https://figgeartmuseum.org/art/exhibitions/view/yuriko-yamaguchi-interconnected-in-art-nature-science-and-technology/85/view/young-artists-at-the-figge/118/view/figgeo-video-janet-biggs/221/view/african-american-art-since-1950-perspectives-from-the-david-c-driskell-center/89/view/the-art-of-seating-200-years-of-american-chair-design/146