Displaying items by tag: Modernism

The monolithic concrete that forms some of our most creative 20th-century architectural heritage is in danger of disappearing. Brutalism, that heftily named form of modernism that favors right-angles and a palette with the colors of a storm, is facing demolition and decay around the world, whether the Birmingham Central Library in England demolished this month, or Chicago’s Prentice Women’s Hospital torn down last year.

Max Weber: In Retrospect, Gerald Peters Gallery, New York, NY
On view through November 20, 2015
In celebration of its fifteen-year association with the Estate of Max Weber, the Gerald Peters Galleries of New York and Santa Fe are pleased to announce Max Weber: In Retrospect, an exhibition of paintings and drawings that span the life and career of this most influential of American modernist artists. From his arrival in Paris in 1905, Max Weber (1881-1961) devoted himself to modern art. In the classroom of Henri Matisse, he absorbed the tenants of Fauvism; on the walls of the Salon d’Automne, he encountered the work of Henri Rousseau, with whom he forged an influential friendship; and within the confines of the...

1. It doesn’t get any better than this Modernist masterpiece by Richard Meier.

esigned by the world renowned architect Richard Meier, the 11,000-square-foot “White Castle” was built in Old Westbury, New York, in 1972. A minimalist study in Meier’s signature white, the dramatic home features glass walls and a skylit gallery hall -- ideal for displaying a stunning art collection. The striking home is situated on five sprawling acres and features six bedrooms, a tennis court, a pool, and a pond. The “White Castle” will...

Today the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York detailed its plans for the Met Breuer, the museum’s annex for modern and contemporary art, which is set to open in March 2016 at the Whitney Museum of American Art’s former, Marcel Breuer–designed headquarters. The high modernist building will be renovated prior to the beginning of the Met’s eight-year lease and will include a “book bar,” the museum announced.

1. Ever thought about living in one of the world’s most iconic pieces of architecture?

Comedian Bob Hope and his wife, Dolores, commissioned John Lautner to design this futuristic Palm Springs pad in 1973. Completed in 1980, the 23,366-square-foot, 10-bedroom estate is the largest private residence ever created by the influential Modernist architect. Designed to resemble a volcano -- complete with a James Turrell-esque hole in the concrete roof above the central courtyard -- the home’s unique silhouette is one of the most iconic works of architecture in the Coachella Valley. Perched on over six acres  in the posh Southridge community, the home boasts panoramic views of the valley, Palm Springs, and the San Jacinto Mountains. Additional amenities include...

Legendary modernist architect Marcel Breuer designed one of his most striking residential properties, the Stillman House, in idyllic Litchfield, Connecticut. Constructed between 1950 and 1953, the estate was the first of four that Breuer devised for Rufus and Leslie Stillman, who sold it to the current owners in 2009. The 2.8-acre property, which has since been meticulously restored with the aid of archival photographs, will be offered in Wright’s “Design Masterworks” auction on November 19.

The first carved woodblock prints by Wharton Esherick, an artist who was a major figure in American crafts, have just been republished. They illustrated "Rhymes of Early Jungle Folk," a book of children's verse, published in 1922.

Pieces by Esherick, known for his expressive, modernist furniture and wood sculpture, are now collected by major museums around the world. But he started as a painter at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia.

Unfortunately, nobody wanted his paintings.

Only a short time remains for a special exhibition of the work of American modernist Gershon Benjamin (1899-1985), a Romanian-born, Montreal-educated artist remembered as an Expressionist for his individualistic style and use of color. The exhibition, Gershon Benjamin: Modern Master features more than 60 portraits, still lifes, landscapes and city scenes in oil, watercolor and charcoal—all representing more than seven decades of work.

Benjamin was part of a 1920s New York scene of progressive artists who favored European modernism to the popular American Scene and Regionalist art of the day.

Was the paradigm-changing architect known as Le Corbusier a fascist-leaning ideologue whose plans for garden cities were inspired by totalitarian ideals, or a humanist who wanted to improve people’s living conditions — a political naïf who, like many architects, was eager to work with almost any regime that would let him build?

These questions, long debated by experts, are at the heart of fresh controversy in France set off by three new books that re-examine that master Modernist’s politics and an exhibition on Le Corbusier at the Pompidou Center here through Aug. 3, commemorating the 50th anniversary of his death.

The Shaker Museum|Mount Lebanon opened its main season exhibition, Side By Side: Shaker and Modern Design, to the public on Sunday, June 28. The exhibition, which pairs Shaker works with works by contemporary and modern designers, will be on view during the museum’s hours, 10AM-4PM every Friday-Monday through October 12.

Shaker furniture has been has been widely influential to modern furniture designers. This exhibition examines the idea of modernism and its connection to ideals of utopian social reform through the lens of Shaker and modern furnishings, with works by iconic designers such as Jens Risom, Børge Mogensen, George Nakashima, and Wharton Esherick shown alongside Shaker works from the nineteenth century.