FRIEND's DESIGN 2 - WALLPAPER BY ADRIENNE NEFF

My friend, interior designer Adrienne Neff, has just debuted her sensitively designed line of wallpaper, available to the trade in New York at Holland and Sherry. The Uzu collection is "inspired by ancient decorative arts" and "the universal symbols of organic growth, rejuvenation and renewal: water, earth, clay, rock, and vegetation." Although the nature inspiration is evident there is a strong geometric component that makes the patterns look like mod for the new millenium. Depending on the colorway the patterns would look equally lovely on the walls of a quiet country retreat or a hip urban habitation. There are seven patterns with an almost infinite number of custom colors available. I'll let the designer describe the story of each pattern:

Uzu (spiral water in Japanese) pays
homage to 17th century Japanese ceramics

Jagged Agate is an abstract interpretation of the patterns formed by cut agate rock

Yamanoma (hillside in Japanese) evokes the spirit of 16th century Japanese screens

Renjyu (spiral repeat in Japanese) is inspired by Japanese Neolithic pottery designs circa 2,000 B.C.

Giant Onion is an abstract geometric celebration of the
humble onion.

Acoma This lively pattern is inspired by Pueblo Indian ceramic water jars circa 1,000 A.D.

The wallpapers are hand-block-printed in Brooklyn (where the blocks were hand carved) in water-based inks on recycled and renewable paper.
Adrienne collaborated with photographer Don Freeman and stylist Becky Hubbert on the images below for which they bound books with her new wallpapers (the bindings were done in a traditional Japanese technique).

DECLUTTERING

I am decluttering again and editing my collection of books and magazines. I dropped off a donation of a big bag of books at the Zabar Art Library at Hunter College (I'm a Hunter alumnus) and then spent the rest of the afternoon at the Modernism show at the Armory. In the process of sorting through my books and magazines I decided to let go of the copies that I had accumulated of the "Tresors de la Rive Gauche," a lavish annual promo compiled by the art and antiques dealers of Paris' chic left bank. The annuals were filled with images of the fantastic treasures on display in the galleries but nothing was quite as splendid as this 23 inch wide block of amethyst mounted in gilt bronze offered by Babylone International. The mount was created in 1919 by Bachruch, a jeweler with workshops in Vienna and Budapest. Another reason to get myself over to Paris.

PURDO ARTICLE OUT NOW

My article on 84 year old silversmith Dane Purdo is out now in the September/October 2009 issue of Silver Magazine: http://www.silvermag.com/. Some pictures of his work from the 1950s and an excerpt below. See my previous for more on Purdo.

In the 1950s and early 1960s, regional and national juried craft shows were an important and exciting aspect of the crafts scene. It was an honor to be invited to show one’s work and a further distinction to be recognized by an award or prize. Purdo exhibited in numerous competitive shows throughout his career and served as a juror at many as well. His display at the Wichita Art Association’s Decorative Arts and Ceramics exhibition received a special award for best group of works in metal three years in a row, from 1959 to 1961. Purdo participated in the Fiber, Clay, Metal biennial at the St. Paul Gallery in Minnesota in 1955, 1957, and 1959. From the 1959 biennial, one of his pieces was selected by the United States Information Agency to be exhibited abroad in a show of works by American craftspeople. His 1964 entry to the Annual Exhibition of Michigan Artist-Craftsmen at the Detroit Institute of Arts received the highest honor awarded, the Founder’s Society Purchase Prize. In all, Purdo exhibited in almost seventy shows over a period of nearly forty years.

After 1991, Purdo continued to make jewelry and now enjoys complete retirement in Appleton. In conjunction with the 1958 Fulbright exhibition, Edgar Kaufmann, Jr. wrote that “in design, as in other fields, we are learning that America’s advantages, while great, are not guaranteed; we can maintain them best by a friendly participation in world activity and in the accompanying criticism and progress.”7 E. Dane Purdo’s career was marked by participation in the crafts community on the regional, national, and international levels—as a student, teacher, exhibitor, colleague, and craftsman. The words he applied to the rim of a 1961 punch bowl, although written by Ben Johnson 400 years ago, would seem to be the message that Purdo has sent out to those who have had the pleasure to use and view his works in silver: “Let those who are learned, sophisticated, cheerful and honest gather around.”

DANE PURDO

After a hiatus of several months I am blogging again! I just finished an article on silversmith E. Dane Purdo which will be published in the September issue of Silver Magazine. An excerpt and some pictures of his exquisite work below.

E. Dane Purdo's work in sterling silver displays the highest level of skill in both handcraftsmanship and design. His long career as a silversmith and teacher is highlighted by a distinguished list of exhibitions and a legacy of outstanding hollowware. . . . The sterling hollowware that Purdo created was characterized by carefully controlled contours, perfect balance between convex forms and concave outlines and mirror-smooth surfaces. The fitted lid and integral hinge on a 1957 teapot reveal perfection of technique and design. Occasional incidents of restrained ornament include little protuberances like a patch of mushrooms growing from the convex lid of pillbox and a "crown of thorns" disposed around the stem of a chalice which is visually balanced between prickly verisimilitude and gnarled abstraction. . . . In 1960 Purdo's hollowware was exhibited in a three-person exhibition, called "Dimensions 1960" at New Mexico Highlands University Art Gallery in Las Vegas, New Mexico. The other two exhibitors were weaver Lenore Tawney and ceramist Peter Voulkos, both renowned today for their pivotal positions in 20th century crafts. Writing in Craft Horizons magazine, Ray Drew acknowledged Purdo's "excellence of craftsmanship" and observed that the works shown were "quietly pleasing" but "not as unusual as the ceramics and weaving"

Shown below, works from 1955 to 1958:

NEW ORLEANS 2009

I was in New Orleans again, as well as Natchitoches and Baton Rouge Louisiana over the past few weeks. In New Orleans I had the wonderful opportunity to see the Mardi Gras Indians doing one of their occasional practice runs. As you may know the Indians are really Africans (or African-Americans, or African-French, or Afro-Creole or whatever). The men work all year on their hand beaded, sequined and feathered costumes. There was music, dancing in the street, grilled sausages and homemade pralines.

LECTURE IN LITTLE ROCK

I am pleased to announce that I am giving a lecture on American mid-20th Century enamel art/craft/design at the Arkansas Arts Center on March 31st. If you happen to be in Little Rock I hope you will attend. The AAC has an outstanding collection of 20th century crafts. Check out their website and some images from my lecture below:
http://www.arkarts.com/

Edward Winter

Edward Winter
Karl Drerup

Karl Drerup
Karl Drerup
Jean Ames

Margo Grant Walsh

My article on modern silver collector Margo Grant Walsh appears in the August/September 2008 issue of American Craft, which is out now. An excerpt is below. If you are in Houston you can see a large selection from her collection until 10 August at the Museum of Fine Arts: http://www.mfah.org/. Check out some of the other contents of the magazine at: http://www.americancraftmag.org.

Margo Grant Walsh spent decades in a career designing sleek corporate interiors in executive positions at Skidmore Owings and Merrill and Gensler, two of the biggest and most prestigious global architecture firms. Visitors to the New York apartment of this distinguished interior architect might expect to find furniture by Marcel Breuer and Mies van der Rohe, but instead of the shine of chrome and glass they will discover the warm glow of hammered copper and the cool gleam of hand-made silver. All around, on shelves, in bookcases and on tabletops is the magnificent clutter of one of the most important collections, anywhere, of silver and metalwork from the late 19th century to the present. The emphasis in her décor is on comfort rather than cachet and Margo Grant Walsh herself and her splendid collection provide the latter in abundance. . . . In a recent conversation Grant Walsh discussed how her collection began, how it evolved and where it is going. Her guiding principles have always been design, form and function, not surprising for an interior architect: "I collect for design and everything I have you can use: I don't collect anything that could be called table sculpture." . . .

Margo Grant Walsh:

Muffineer by Charles Robert Ashbee, 1905:

Coffee, Chocolate and Tea Service by Charles Boyton, 1947:

Earl Krentzin Cover Story

The March/April of Silver magazine is now out with my article on Earl Krentzin as the cover story. Cover and some unpublished images of Krentzin's work from the 1950s-1960s below. If you would like a pdf of the article please contact me.

Earl Krentzin

My article on Earl Krentzin will be appearing in the March/April issue of Silver magazine. A preview is below, plus images of three pill boxes and two chests, all from 1970-71.

Much has been made in the design press of late about the blurring of boundaries between design and art. The New York Times recently declared that "design is the new art," suggesting that the decorative arts are just now getting the respect that painting has received for centuries. A recent article in Vogue Living noted that "design was once considered a shabby cousin to the art world and was kept at a disdainful distance, but now the two are becoming increasingly linked." Much of the buzz is about the affinity between the design and art of our time (meaning the last 15 minutes) and the embrace of 20th and 21st century design by collectors of contemporary art. But is it all really so new? Creators as diverse as ceramist/sculptor Peter Voulkos and painter/textile-designer Vera Neumann were obliterating the boundaries half a century ago. Earl Krentzin has been doing it with sterling silver since the mid-1950's. Krentzin's work defies the either/or categorization of art versus design and demands to be analyzed as both (although to defy and demand are not actions that one would associate with this humble and gracious artist). His functional-sculptural objects echo the relational forms and expressionistic surface of so-called "primitive" art but also carry on the tradition of virtuoso craftsmanship with precious materials conveyed in the exquisite objects of Cellini or Faberge. Krentzin's boxes, bowls, canisters and goblets are also sculptures, comprised of adorably grotesque humanoid or animalesque forms, single or grouped to tell odd little stories. The functional and material characteristics of his objects are traditionally attributed to crafts while their narrative quality is associated with the pictorial tradition of fine art. In 1968 Frank Getlein acknowledged the merging of these traditions in Krentzin's works by stating that they appeared "as if they were created by Peter Carl Faberge after designs by Hieronymous Bosch."