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Oral history interview with Wendell Castle

Interviewee:
Castle, Wendell, 1932-2018  Search this
Interviewer:
Brown, Robert F.  Search this
Names:
School for American Crafts  Search this
Esherick, Wharton  Search this
Extent:
145 Pages (Transcript)
1 Item (sound file (2 min. 21 sec.) Audio excerpt, digital)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1981 June 3-December 12
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Wendell Castle, conducted 1981 June 3-December 12, by Robert F. Brown, in Scotsville, New York, for the Archives of American Art.
Castle speaks of his early work, in Kansas, in industrial design and sculpture; the transition he made in the early 1960s from sculpture to furniture design; teaching furniture design at the School for American Craftsmen, Rochester, New York; Wharton Esherick; the importance of creative design and sound workmanship; exhibitions and commissions; current interest in French 18th Century and Art Deco furniture; the evolution of his work from laminated pieces to an elegant style; and efforts to gain fine art status for his furniture.
Biographical / Historical:
Wendell Castle (1932-2018) was a furniture designer, sculptor, and educator from Rochester, New York. He taught at the School for American Craftsmen and Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 5 hr., 27 min.
Provenance:
These interviews are part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art's website.
Occupation:
Furniture designers -- New York (State)  Search this
Educators -- New York (State)  Search this
Sculptors -- New York (State)  Search this
Topic:
Decorative arts -- United States  Search this
Industrial design  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Identifier:
AAA.castle81
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9346885e1-793c-4300-8913-d8be341050d0
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-castle81
Online Media:

Florence Knoll Bassett papers

Creator:
Knoll, Florence, 1917-2019  Search this
Names:
Cranbrook Academy of Art  Search this
Cranbrook Kingswood School (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.)  Search this
Hans G. Knoll Furniture Company  Search this
Knoll Associates, inc.  Search this
Knoll International, inc.  Search this
Cheek, Leslie, 1908-  Search this
Eames, Charles  Search this
Gandhi, Indira, 1917-1984  Search this
Graham, Katharine, 1917-  Search this
Helm, John  Search this
Johnson, Philip, 1906-2005  Search this
Knoll, Walter C.  Search this
Miller, R. Craig  Search this
Milles, Carl, 1875-1955  Search this
Raseman, Rachel de Wolfe  Search this
Reagan, Nancy, 1923-  Search this
Saarinen, Eero, 1910-1961  Search this
Saarinen, Eliel, 1873-1950  Search this
Slavin, Maeve  Search this
Extent:
2 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sketches
Drawings
Photographs
Sketchbooks
Date:
1932-2000
Summary:
The papers of architect and designer Florence Knoll Bassett, measure approximately 2 linear feet dating from 1932 to 2000. Through correspondence, sketches, drawings, designs, subject files, photographs, and printed material, the collection selectively documents Knoll Bassett's education, her work with Knoll Associates from the 1940s until her resignation in 1965, and projects undertaken since her retirement. It is an important source of information on the development of interior architecture and design from the 1940s to the 1970s.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of architect, and interior designer and planner Florence Knoll Bassett, measure approximately 2 linear feet dating from 1932 to 2000. The collection selectively documents Knoll Bassett's education and her career at Knoll Associates, Inc. from the 1940s until her resignation in 1965, in addition to personal design projects and other activities after leaving the company. It is an important source of information on the development of interior architecture and design from the 1940s to the 1970s, chronicling the Knoll mission to synthesize space, furniture, and design by creating interiors based on practical use, comfort, and aesthetics.

The collection documents the growth of Knoll's international reputation for its modern furnishings and interiors and the impact of a business philosophy that encompassed design excellence, technological innovation, and mass production. The material includes a chronology of Knoll Bassett's career; a portfolio of sketches, drawings and designs; photographs of Knoll Bassett and others; subject files containing sketches and photographic material; letters from friends, colleagues, clients and others; awards received by Knoll Bassett throughout her career; and printed material.

Much of the material is annotated with historical and biographical notes written by Knoll Bassett which provide invaluable contextual information for the materials found therein. The notes are dated 1999 in the Container Listing, under the assumption that they were written by Florence Knoll Bassett as she was arranging her archival papers.
Arrangement:
Before donating her papers to the Archives of American Art, Knoll Bassett organized the material in portfolios and color-coded files and designed four containers for them. Because the method of arrangement in itself provides insight into Knoll Bassett's style and creativity the collection has been minimally processed with the addition of acid-free materials for preservation reasons and the transcription of labels which may, over time, become detached. The original order of the collection has been retained throughout.

The collection was organized into what Bassett termed "storage units," the first container being divided into three units and the collection as a whole being divided into six units. Knoll Bassett supplied a detailed inventory of the contents of each container and the subjects represented in each porfolio or folder. Subject headings from this inventory have been used in the Series Description/Container Listing. Knoll Bassett also supplied a vita summarizing her career and copies of this, and her original container inventory are enclosed with the collection and can be consulted at AAA's research center in Washington D.C.

The collection is arranged as seven series. These series represent the categories into which Knoll Bassett organized the material, with the exception that Letters and Awards are presented as two series in the finding aid. Most of the items in Series 1 to 4 are presented as portfolios in spiral-bound notebooks and the remainder of the collection is organized in folders.

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1932-1999 (Box 1; 1 portfolio)

Series 2: Selected Publications, 1946-1990, 1999 (Box 1; 1 portfolio)

Series 3: Drawings, Sketches, and Designs, 1932-1984, 1999 (Boxes 1-2; 2 portfolios)

Series 4: Photographs and Printed Material, 1956-1997, 1999 (Box 2; 1 portfolio)

Series 5: Subject Files, circa 1930s-1999 (Box 3; 1.0 linear ft.)

Series 6: Letters, circa 1930s-2000 (Box 4; 7 folders)

Series 7: Awards, 1954-1999 (Box 4; 6 folders)
Biographical Note:
Florence Knoll Bassett (1917-2019) was born Florence Schust and was affectionately known as Shu by her colleagues and friends. She was orphaned at age 12 and then cared for by Emile Tessin, a friend of the family whom her mother had appointed as Florence's legal guardian in the event of her death. When arrangements were being made for Florence to attend boarding school she was given the opportunity to make the selection. Kingswood School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, held a strong aesthetic appeal for her and she "made an immediate decision that it was the right place for me," beginning her architectural studies under the school's art director, Rachel de Wolfe Raseman.

At Kingswood Knoll Bassett met the Saarinen family, studying under Eliel Saarinen and developing her interest in texture and color through her friendship with Loja Saarinen who supervised the school's weaving studio. Following Florence's graduation from Kingswood in 1934, Eliel Saarinen encouraged her to spend some time at Cranbrook Academy of Art before attending an accredited architecture school. She spent the next two years at Cranbrook working closely with advanced students and artists such as the Saarinens and Carl Milles, and gaining experience in all aspects of design.

Knoll Bassett then studied for two years at the Architectural Association in London, spending summers with the Saarinens in Europe. She completed her formal training at the Illinois Institute of Technology where she studied under Mies van der Rohe, whom she credits with having "a profound effect on my design approach and the clarification of design."

After graduation Knoll Bassett worked for architecture firms in Boston and New York where she met Hans Knoll who was then in the process of establishing a furniture business. In 1943 she began working for him in her spare time as an interior space planner and designer. In 1946 the two were married and formed Knoll Associates, Inc.

As director of the Knoll Planning Unit, Knoll Bassett established herself as one of the most important and influential interior planners and designers of the second half of the twentieth century. Believing that intelligent design "strikes at the root of living requirements and changing habits," she established the practice of working closely with the corporate sector to determine the needs of the people who would actually use the spaces that her company designed. Her connections with leading contemporary architects and designers, and the company's commitment to crediting designers by name and paying them royalties, laid the foundations for the strong working relationships upon which the commercial success of Knoll Associates was built. Drawing on a pool of top architects and designers, many of whom were personal friends, Knoll Bassett directed the company's Bauhaus approach, incorporating design excellence, technological innovation, and mass production in a seamless package of "total design."

While Knoll Bassett oversaw the creative process of the Planning Unit's operations in its entirety, she was also directly responsible for many of the individual elements used in the Unit's projects. During the war years, she worked with her designers to overcome the scarcity of materials, establishing Knoll Textiles in response to the dearth of available fabrics and textile colors, and developing the company's hallmark style of spare clean lines and vibrant colors in a functional, comfortable, and aesthetically appealing space. Finding that much of the "fill-in" furniture, primarily cabinetry, that she envisaged in many of her plans was not available, Knoll Bassett designed the pieces herself. She used the Knoll showrooms as "experimental laboratories" to convince clients to use modern ideas and materials, showcasing and putting into production the classic designs of people such as Eero Saarinen, Mies van der Rohe, Jens Risom, Harry Bertoia, Isamu Noguchi, and Marcel Breuer.

After the war Knoll Associates expanded to Europe through a series of government contracts which resulted ultimately in the formation of Knoll International. When Hans Knoll died suddenly in an automobile accident in 1955 Florence became president of the company. She married Harry Hood Bassett in 1958 and began to divide her time between New York and Florida. In 1959 she sold her interest in Knoll Associates to Art Metal and retired as President of the company the following year, while continuing to work as a consultant and serving as Design Director. In 1961 she became the first woman to be awarded the Gold Medal for Industrial Design by the American Institute of Architects, one of many awards received over the course of her career. In 1965 she resigned from Knoll Associates entirely after completing the interior design for the CBS headquarters in New York.

Following her retirement Knoll Bassett devoted more time to private commissions and other interests such as her campaign against billboards in Miami in the mid 1980s. She spent summers in Vermont and winters in Florida with her husband, until his death in 1991. In July 2001, Metropolis magazine published a rare interview with Knoll Bassett in which she reflects upon the life she so skillfully documented in the extraordinary gift of her archival papers to the Archives of American Art.
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the Archives of American Art by Florence Knoll Bassett in 2000.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Architects -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Designers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Furniture designers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Topic:
Interior decoration firms  Search this
Interior decoration  Search this
Industrial design  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Women architects  Search this
Women designers  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sketches
Drawings
Photographs
Sketchbooks
Citation:
Florence Knoll Bassett papers, 1932-2000. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.knolflor
See more items in:
Florence Knoll Bassett papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw92a5be5e6-2fa4-4ce3-ae1d-b36626e44ddc
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-knolflor
Online Media:

Eyre de Lanux papers

Creator:
Lanux, Eyre de  Search this
Names:
Aragon, Louis, 1897-1982  Search this
Barney, Natalie Clifford  Search this
Casagrande, Paolo  Search this
Eyre, Paul  Search this
Eyre, Wilson, 1858-1944  Search this
Fahlman, Betsy  Search this
Ford, Consuelo  Search this
Lanux, Pierre de Combret, 1887-1955  Search this
Lear, Tobias, 1762-1816  Search this
Lee, Ann  Search this
Lenard, Alexander  Search this
Strong, Anne  Search this
Wyld, Evelyn  Search this
Extent:
10.6 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Drawings
Photographs
Diaries
Sketches
Sound recordings
Date:
1865-1995
Summary:
The papers of portrait painter, writer, and designer, Eyre de Lanux (1894-1996) measure 10.6 linear feet and date from 1865 to 1995. The papers include biographical materials, personal business records, sixty-four diaries dating from 1922 through 1988, writings and notes, research files, printed materials, artwork, and photographs of Eyre de Lanux, her family, and friends. There is extensive correspondence with her husband Pierre de Lanux and her long-time lover Paolo Casagrande, as well as with other friends and family.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of portrait painter, writer, and furnishings designer, Eyre de Lanux (1894-1996) measure 10.6 linear feet and date from 1865 to 1995. The papers reflect Eyre's personal life in Paris with her husband, Pierre de Lanux and her travels with longtime lover Paolo Casagrande. The bulk of the collection consists of diaries spanning 1922 to 1988 and correspondence. Also found are de Lanux's sketches and drawings, some of which depict Parisian scenes and portraits of her lovers and friends. Other materials found include biographical information, personal business records, writings and notes including short stories, research files on Tobias Lear and Wilson Eyre, printed materials, and scattered photographs.

Biographical records include various membership certificates, medical records, travel papers and tickets, and a transcript of a psychic reading. Also found is a sound recording concerning Pierre de Lanux.

Personal business records consist of addresses, a personal calendar, consignment and loan agreements concerning the sale of Eyre's art collection, miscellaneous receipts, rental and lodging forms, stocks, and a copy of a will.

Correspondence spans the years 1922 until 1995 and includes an extensive exchange between Eyre and her husband Pierre, her lover Paolo Casagrande, and her daughter Anne Strong (Bikou.) Other notable correspondents include Louis Aragon, Natalie Barney, Betsy Fahlman, Consuelo Ford, Alexander Lenard, and Evelyn Wyld. Much of the correspondence is personal in nature, however a folder of correspondence between Eyre and her literary editors is found at the end of the series.

The papers include sixty-four diaries dating from 1922 through 1988; there are no diaries for the period 1927 to 1947 with the exception of two small notebooks dated 1938 and 1945. The diaries resume in 1948, with Eyre's arrival in Rome, and continue, with multiple volumes for most years, until the late 1980s when her eyes failed. The handwriting is difficult to read, and moves from one language to another within entries, employing English, French, and Italian. Eyre de Lanux used her diaries to record her impressions of the world rather than to enumerate daily activities.

Writings include drafts, copies, and notes for de Lanux's short stories from the 1920s until the 1980s. There are also annotated entries and drafts of her magazine column, "Letters to Elizabeth", poems, a note written to Paris, and notes concerning interior decoration. Writings by others include poems by Ann Lee, travel journals by Paolo Casagrande and Paul Eyre, and a draft of Pierre de Lanux's "Memoires-Jours de Notre Vivre."

Research files consist of Eyre de Lanux's notes, drafts, photographs, published works, and research correspondence relating to her biography on Tobias Lear, the personal secretary of George Washington and a proposal for a work entitled Illusions of Identity. Other materials include copies of Betsy Fahlman's research on architect Wilson Eyre, de Lanux's uncle.

Printed material is scattered and includes periodicals with copies of writings by Pierre and Eyre de Lanux, one exibition announcement, printed reproductions of works of art, blank postcards, and souvenirs gathered from de Lanux's many trips abroad.

Photographs are of Eyre in her studio and of her family and friends including Louis Aragon, Natalie Barney, Paolo Casagrande and family, Alice Delmar, Paul Eyre, Consuelo Ford, Pierre de Lanux, Anne Strong, and Evelyn Wyld. There is a photo of Natalie Barney's 20 Rue Jacob Temple d'Amitie. Other photos are of buildings, travel, interiors, and works of art. Among the photographs of works of art include two portraits, one of Eyre de Lanux by Romaine Brooks and one of Romaine Brooks by Eyre de Lanux.

Artwork include sketches, drawings, prints, and paintings by Eyre de Lanux probably dating from the 1920s to the 1940s. There is a painted sketch of interior decoration from circa 1949. Sketches are of Parisian street scenes, portraits of friends, a design for a perfume advertisement for the fashion house Lucien Lelong, illustrated notes for Consuelo Ford, and miscellaneous subjects.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 9 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Information, 1965-1966 (Box 1; 10 folders)

Series 2: Personal Business Records , 1933-1989 (Box 1; 10 folders)

Series 3: Correspondence, 1924-1992 (Boxes 1-4; 3.0 linear feet)

Series 4: Diaries, 1922-1988 (Boxes 4-7; 3.5 linear feet)

Series 5: Writings and Notes, 1917-1995 (Boxes 7-8; 1.3 linear feet)

Series 6: Research Files, circa 1900-1980s (Boxes 8-9; 1.0 linear feet)

Series 7: Printed Material, circa 1910-1987 (Boxes 9, 11; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 8: Photographs, circa 1870-1973 (Box 10, OVs 18-20; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 9: Artwork, circa 1920-circa 1949 (Boxes 10-11, OVs 12-17; 0.8 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Eyre de Lanux (1894-1996) spent much of her life traveling between Paris, Italy, and New York. In addition to portrait and frescoe painting, de Lanux designed furnishings and was a prolific writer.

Elizabeth Eyre de Lanux was born on March 20, 1894, the eldest daughter of Richard Derby Eyre (1869-1955) and Elizabeth Krieger Eyre (d. 1938). As Elizabeth's mother suffered from depression, the responsibilities of parenthood fell largely to Richard Eyre, a successful patent lawyer.

Elizabeth attended Miss Hazen's School in Pelham Manor, Westchester County, New York and enrolled in classes at the Art Students League in 1912 and during 1914-15. Her teachers were George Bridgman and John C. Johansen. At this time, she resided at 47 Washington Square but soon moved to 15 W. 67th Street. She exhibited two paintings, "L'Arlesienne," and "Allegro," in the first annual exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists in 1917.

In early 1918, while working for the Foreign Press Bureau of the Committee on Public Information, Elizabeth met writer Pierre Combret de Lanux (1887-1955.) They married in New York in a civil ceremony on October 9, 1918. Immediately after the Armistice, they sailed for Paris, settling at Number 19 Rue Jacob. Their daughter, Anne-Françoise, nicknamed "Bikou," was born December 19, 1925.

Possibly from the beginning of their marriage, but certainly from the early 1920s, Eyre and Pierre accorded one another the freedom to take other lovers. From 1923 to 1933, Pierre de Lanux was based mainly in Geneva, where he worked for the League of Nations as director of the Paris Office. The marriage endured until Pierre's death in March 1955.

In Paris, from 1919-20, Elizabeth continued her painting and drawing studies. At this time, she began signing her sketches "Eyre de Lanux." Café society at Le Boeuf sur le Toit was an inexhaustible source for portrait subjects, as were socialite Natalie Clifford Barney's Friday salons. A series of "Outlines of Women," line drawings touched with wash, were exhibited in May 1921 at New York's Kingore Galleries. On view was Eyre's portrait of Barney, identified as "Amazone" in the exhibit leaflet, and those of various high-society figures, including Marion Tiffany, actress Eva Le Gallienne, and tennis champion Julie Lentilhon.

Eyre and Pierre resided in the United States from September 1920 to April 1922, and lived at the Chelsea Hotel during the spring of 1921. While Pierre traveled, Eyre completed work on a pair of oak doors painted in tempera, vermillion, and gold with the 13th century legend of Sainte Marie l'Égyptienne. The doors went on exhibit in March 1922 at Knoedler Galleries and received a favorable review in The Sun. Eyre would not exhibit again in New York until 1943, when her fresco, "Persiennes, Persiennes" was included in "The Art of 31 Women Show" at Art of This Century Gallery.

Eyre began the study of frescoe painting in the late 1920s with Constantin Brancusi. Exhibits of her later frescoes were held in 1952 at Alexander Iolas in New York and in Paris at Le Sillon in 1960.

During her years in Paris, Eyre was associated with members of the Parisian arts and literary circles. Ezra Pound made corrections to her 1923 poem "Rue Montorgueil." Eyre met Surrealist poet Louis Aragon, who may have fell in love with her. Aragon's 1919 poem, "Isabelle," dedicated cryptically to one "Madame I.R." on its 1926 publication, tells of his love for "une herbe blanche." Their one-year liaison began in earnest in March 1925, soon after Eyre's relationship with Natalie Barney had ended. An affair with political writer Pierre Drieu La Rochelle, initiated in early 1923 and carried on intermittently, also ended at this time.

In 1933 Eyre and Pierre purchased a number of works of contemporary art. These included a Picasso watercolor and drawing from his Cubist period, a Braque, a Berman, two Picabia drawings, an Yves Tanguy, a large Mirà, and two paintings by de Chirico. In future years, gallery-owner Betty Parsons 1900-82), whom Eyre doubtless knew in Paris, would assist her in selling paintings from her collection. Many would be sold at a great loss to meet expenses.

From 1927 to 1933, Eyre collaborated with British carpet designer Evelyn Wyld (1882-1973), creating modernist furniture in glass, cowhide, wood, and lacquer for private clients. Eyre met Wyld while interviewing her for her monthly column, "Letters of Elizabeth," which ran for two years in Town and Country magazine. Eyre and Wyld exhibited their interiors in the 1928 and 1929 annual showings of the Artistes-Décorateurs and in 1930 at the first exhibit of the Société Union des Artistes Modernes. In 1932, the two women opened Décor, a furniture gallery in Cannes. The business, hurt by a decline in demand following the 1929 stock market crash, closed in 1933.

Eyre returned to Paris in 1945 There she met a young Italian writer, Paolo Casagrande. Eyre was 54 years old and he roughly half her age. With his encouragement, she rented a studio at 53 Via Margutta and beganworking on large frescoes and fresco portraits. One of her sitters was Tennessee Williams.

The relationship with Casagrande endured until the end of Eyre's life. Although Casagrande married in 1950 and eventually had children, he and Eyre maintained an almost continuous, passionate correspondence. They traveled for long periods in southern Italy, Sicily, Greece, and Morocco. During their Moroccan sojourn in 1951 and 1952, Eyre began making notes for short stories. "La Place de La Destruction" was published in 1955 in La Nouvelle Revue Française, and "The House in the Medina" appeared in Harper's Bazaar in November 1963. Her sketchbooks, watercolors, and frescoes from this period reveal her fascination with the North African landscape.

In March, 1961, possibly in order to pull away from Casagrande, Eyre left Paris and returned to New York permanently, taking a studio apartment at The Picasso on East 58th Street. In a diary entry made shortly before moving day, she wrote, "Write to Paolo every day, and mail it only occasionally." Her last visit to Paris occurred in 1978. Until legal blindness overtook her, Eyre pursued various research and writing projects.

She began work on a biography of Tobias Lear, a secretary to George Washington and a distant maternal ancestor. She also gathered photographs for "Illusions of Identity," a book of associations between the physical and metaphysical worlds with a preface by Ray Bradbury; the book was never published. In 1980, she supplied paintings to illustrate Overheard in a Bubble Chamber (1981), a book of science poems for children written by her close friend Lillian Morrison. The New Yorker magazine published three of her short stories: "Montegufoni" (1966), "Cot Number Eleven" (1968), and "Putu" (1972). Plans to bring together twelve stories in one volume were never realized.

Eyre de Lanux died in August 1996 at the age of 102.
Provenance:
The Eyre de Lanux papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by de Lanux's daughter Anne de Lanux Strong and grandson Paul Eyre in 1996.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Authors -- France -- Paris  Search this
Furniture designers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Topic:
Portrait painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Portrait painters -- France -- Paris  Search this
Modernism (Art)  Search this
Artists' studios -- Photographs  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Women authors  Search this
Women painters  Search this
Women designers  Search this
Genre/Form:
Drawings
Photographs
Diaries
Sketches
Sound recordings
Citation:
Eyre de Lanux papers, 1865-1995. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.lanueyre
See more items in:
Eyre de Lanux papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw93be3228e-6a54-4aa8-a122-a46448a5815b
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-lanueyre
Online Media:

Donald Deskey collection

Creator:
Deskey, Donald, 1894-  Search this
Names:
Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company  Search this
Centre de recherche en économie et statistique (Paris, France)  Search this
Charak Furniture Company  Search this
Cooper-Hewitt Design Archive  Search this
Deskey Associates, Inc.  Search this
Deskey-Vollmer, Inc.  Search this
Donald Deskey Associates, Inc.  Search this
Johnson & Johnson, Inc.  Search this
New York World's Fair (1939-1940 : New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Procter & Gamble Company  Search this
Radio City Music Hall (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Widdicomb Furniture Company  Search this
Deskey, Donald, 1894-  Search this
Extent:
75 Cubic feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Proposals
Labels
Clippings
Renderings
Slides
Stationery
Letters patent
Financial records
Photographs
Drawings
Client lists
Correspondence
Organizational charts
Reviews
Patents
Lantern slides
Technical reports
Date:
1927-1989
Summary:
Project files containmagazine and newspaper clippings, reviews, correspondence, renderings, floor plans, perspective drawings, site plans, sketches, preliminary drawings, patents, stationery, labels, and technical reports. There is an extensive collection of photographs and slides of many of Deskey's packaging designs, interiors, furnishings, and exhibition installations. The files of Donald Deskey Associates include organizational charts, client files, proposals, and financial records. Some of Deskey's personal correspondence, speeches, articles, and family photographs are included. Materials cover the period from 1927-1975.
Arrangement note:
Arranged into six records groups: 1) architecture/interiors projects; 2)Donald Deskey Associates; 3) industrial design projects; 4) reference; 5) Donald Deskey's personal papers; and 6) photographs. A special collection of more than one thousand slides of Deskey's work are boxed separately.
Biographical/Historical note:
Industrial, interior, and packaging designer. Born Blue Earth, Minnesota, November 23, 1894. By 1943, he had established Donald Deskey Associates in New York. Along with Dreyfuss, Bel Geddes, and Loewy, Deskey was one of the great industrial design pioneers in the 1930s.

He is best known for his designs for the furnishings and interiors of Radio City Music Hall in 1932, and for his work for companies such as: Widdicomb Furniture Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan; W & J Sloane, New York; and Estey Manufacturing Company, Owosso, Michigan. Deskey is also known for his familiar packaging designs for Procter & Gamble products, such as Crest toothpaste, Prell shampoo, and Tide detergent.

Donald Deskey Associates also was responsible for lamppost #10, the streetlight still in use today in New York City. Materials from this archival collection were featured in Cooper-Hewitt's 1994 exhibition and accompanying book, "Packaging the New: Design and the American Consumer, 1925- 1975."
Location of Other Archival Materials Note:
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Drawings and Prints Department. Approximately 3,000 drawings for furniture and textile designs.
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Applied Arts Department. Two tables, handles, and a glass bottle and box designed by Deskey.
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Textiles Department. One textile designed by Deskey.
Other sources of archival information on Deskey include, the Procter & Gamble Archive, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Deskey Associates, New York City.
Provenance:
The Deskey collection was donated to the museum in three installments.

In 1975, Deskey deposited at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum,, hundreds of drawings, 3 four-drawer file cabinets of material, and several oversized packages comprising the bulk of his papers covering the period from 1927-1965. These items were officially donated to the museum in 1988.

In 1992, Deskey Associates of New York made an additional gift consisting of, approximately 1,000 35mm slides that documented projects from the 1960s through 1980s, and focused primarily on designs for packaging.

In 1994, Donald Deskey's nephew, Robert Deskey presented the Museum with, 120 postcards, letters, and family photographs.
Restrictions:
Unrestricted research use onsite by appointment. Permission of staff required to photograph materials.
Occupation:
Packaging designers -- United States  Search this
Interior designers -- United States  Search this
Industrial designers -- United States  Search this
Topic:
Packaging -- Design  Search this
Street lighting -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Buildings, Prefabricated -- United States  Search this
Plastics -- Design  Search this
Interior decoration -- United States -- 20th century  Search this
Design, Industrial -- United States  Search this
Furniture design -- United States  Search this
Art deco -- United States  Search this
Genre/Form:
Proposals
Labels
Clippings
Renderings
Slides
Stationery
Letters patent
Financial records
Photographs
Drawings
Client lists
Correspondence
Organizational charts
Reviews
Patents
Lantern slides
Technical reports
Identifier:
SIL-CH.1975-11-77
Archival Repository:
Smithsonian Libraries
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sc2dc69717a-7af5-4385-91a8-73b28e077a18
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-sil-ch-1975-11-77

Oral history interview with I.J. (Isaac J.) Sanger

Interviewee:
Sanger, I. J. (Isaac J), 1899-1986  Search this
Interviewer:
Pennington, Estill Curtis  Search this
Names:
American Institute of Graphic Arts  Search this
Columbia University -- Students  Search this
University of Virginia -- Students  Search this
YMCA of the USA  Search this
Dow, Arthur W. (Arthur Wesley), 1857-1922  Search this
Heckman, Albert  Search this
Pins, Jacob, 1917-  Search this
Von Groschwitz, Gustave, 1906-1991  Search this
Extent:
16 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1981 November 17
Scope and Contents:
Interview of I.J. (Isaac) Sanger, conducted 1981 November 17, by Estill Curtis "Buck" Pennington, for the Archives of American Art, in New York, N.Y.
Sanger speaks of his first encounters with art as a child growing up in rural Virginia, and of his first industrial art classes, taken at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville while he was still attending high school in Free Union. After graduating, he received what he describes as his first real training in art while working for the carpentry shop at Columbia University in New York in the early 1920s. While attending Columbia, he found work as a furniture designer for the YMCA [Young Men's Christian Association]. Sanger also worked for his professor Albert Heckman, doing linoleum cuts for "Aesop's Fables," which Heckman was illustrating. He explains that it was Heckman who encouraged him to continue practicing print making. Until then, he had been working in oil and water color while studying "Art Structure" with Arthur Dow.
When the Depression hit in 1929, Sanger lost his position with the YMCA and worked odd jobs until Albert Heckman introduced him to Gustave von Groschwitz, who brought him on to the WPA. During the 1930s, he received widespread recognition for his work; his prints were selected by the American Institute of Graphic Arts for their "50 Prints of the Year" show in 1928 and 1929. Following his work with the WPA, Sanger served the army in World War II at Camp Kearns in Utah. He explains how he continued expanding his portfolio throughout the War, and once it was over, spent 25 years as a commercial artist. He relocated to Washington, D.C. in 1951 and became a member of the Washington Print Society while Prentiss Taylor was secretary. In D.C., he was a graphic designer for the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, but kept up his own private work, which Jacob Pins featured at the Smithsonian Castle. After formally retiring in 1966, Sanger decided to dedicate his time to travel, but adds that he still makes print making, painting, and furniture design a priority.
Biographical / Historical:
I. J. Sanger (1899-1986) was a painter and printmaker of Marlow Heights, Md.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 6 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Occupation:
Furniture designers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Topic:
Painters -- Maryland -- Interviews  Search this
Painting, Modern  Search this
Printmakers -- Maryland -- Interviews  Search this
Prints  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Identifier:
AAA.sanger81
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw90ccde882-8ce2-4d68-a03a-12d87b79700f
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-sanger81
Online Media:

The American Arts & Crafts movement in western New York, 1900-1920 : RIT 9 December 1991 through 22 January 1992 / [written and catalogued by Bruce A. Austin]

Author:
Austin, Bruce A. 1952-  Search this
Rochester Institute of Technology  Search this
Physical description:
40 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 28 cm
Type:
Exhibitions
Place:
New York (State)
Date:
1992
C1992
20th century
Topic:
Arts and crafts movement  Search this
Arts and crafts movement--History--Exhibitions  Search this
Decorative arts  Search this
Furniture design--Exhibitions  Search this
Call number:
NK1141 .A93 1992
NK1141.A93 1992
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_421716

Drama in design : the life and craft of Charles Rohlfs / by Michael L. James

Author:
James, Michael L  Search this
Subject:
Rohlfs, Charles 1853-1936  Search this
Physical description:
104 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 28 cm
Type:
Exhibitions
Place:
New York (State)
Date:
1994
C1994
Topic:
Furniture  Search this
Furniture designers  Search this
Call number:
NK2210.B8 B87 1994
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_465228

[Furniture designed and sold by the New York firm of Kimbel & Cabus]

Creator:
Kimbel & Cabus  Search this
Subject:
Kimbel & Cabus  Search this
Physical description:
Approximately 300 black and white photographic prints and negative prints, in 3 albums ; 30 x 37 cm or smaller
Type:
Catalogs
Pictorial works
Trade catalogs
Place:
New York (State)
New York
Date:
1875
Topic:
Furniture  Search this
Furniture, Victorian  Search this
Renaissance revival (Art)  Search this
Gothic revival (Art)  Search this
Call number:
NK2435.N7 K56 1870
46816
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_442288

The Rustic artistry of Clarence O. Nichols : furniture in the collection of the New York State Museum

Author:
Adirondack Museum  Search this
New York State Museum (Albany, N.Y.)  Search this
Subject:
Nichols, Clarence O  Search this
Physical description:
35 p. : col. ill. ; 21 cm
Type:
Exhibitions
Place:
United States
Date:
1987
20th century
Topic:
Furniture--History  Search this
Furniture design--History  Search this
Call number:
NK2439.N47 A23 1987
NK2439.N47A23 1987
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_417260

Wendell Castle papers

Creator:
Castle, Wendell, 1932-2018  Search this
Extent:
0.6 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1965-1975
Summary:
The papers of Rochester, New York-based furniture designer, sculptor, and educator Wendell Castle measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1965 to 1975. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence with galleries, museums, universities, clients, friends, and colleagues. Also found is a small amount of other material such as resumes, financial records, price lists, notes, and printed material.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Rochester, New York-based furniture designer, sculptor, and educator Wendell Castle measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1965 to 1975. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence with galleries, museums, universities, clients, friends, and colleagues. Also found is a small amount of other material such as resumes, financial records, price lists, notes, and printed material.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of the collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Wendell Castle (1932-2018) was a furniture designer, sculptor, and educator based in Rochester, New York. He was born in Emporia, Kansas and received both his bachelor's in industrial design and master's in sculpture from the University of Kansas. He taught at the School for American Craftsmen and the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Wendell Castle conducted by Robert F. Brown on June 3-December 12, 1981; and an oral history interview with Wendell Castle conducted by Jeannine Falino on February 22-24, 2012.
Provenance:
The Wendell Castle papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 1982 by Wendell Castle.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Furniture designers -- New York (State)  Search this
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- Rochester  Search this
Educators -- New York (State) -- Rochester  Search this
Topic:
Decorative arts  Search this
Citation:
Wendell Castle papers, 1965-1975. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.castwend
See more items in:
Wendell Castle papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9674bab7c-9368-4fda-af8b-169a9be7cbea
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-castwend

Finn Juhl at the UN : a living legacy / Karsten R.S. Ifversen, Birgit Lyngbye Pedersen ; foreword by Michael Sheridan ; [translator and author's editor: Martha Gaber Abrahamsen]

Author:
Ifversen, Karsten R. S  Search this
Pedersen, Birgit Lyngbye  Search this
Sheridan, Michael  Search this
Subject:
Juhl, Finn 1912-1989  Search this
United Nations Headquarters Maintenance and repair  Search this
Physical description:
111 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), plans ; 28 cm
Type:
Books
Place:
New York (State)
New York
Denmark
Date:
2013
20th century
Topic:
Conference rooms--Design  Search this
Furniture design--History  Search this
Interior decoration--History  Search this
Call number:
N7023.J84 I38 2013
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_1023140

More than a hundred pen sketches of certain very picturesque and agreeable furniture / designed and adapted by Joseph P. McHugh & Co. and sold at the sign of the "Popular Shop" 42d St. W. at 5th Ave., New York

Author:
Joseph P. McHugh & Co  Search this
Subject:
Joseph P. McHugh & Co  Search this
Physical description:
[6], 40 leaves : chiefly ill. ; 25 x 25 cm
Type:
Catalogs
Trade catalogs
Place:
New York (State)
New York
Date:
1898
Topic:
Furniture, Mission  Search this
Wicker furniture  Search this
Decoration and ornament--Mission style  Search this
Call number:
NK2439.M297 A4 1898
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_665576

New fvrnitvre from the work shop of Gvstave Stickley, cabinet maker, Syracvse, NY VSA

Title:
New furniture from the work shop of Gustave Stickley
Author:
Stickley, Gustav 1858-1942  Search this
Former owner:
Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration Library DSI  Search this
Subject:
Stickley, Gustav 1858-1942  Search this
Physical description:
[24] pages. : chiefly illustrations. ; 19 cm
Type:
Catalogs
Trade catalogs
Place:
United States
New York (State)
Date:
1901
1916
Topic:
Furniture  Search this
Furniture, Mission  Search this
Arts and crafts movement  Search this
Call number:
NK2439.S8 A4 1901
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_667536

Metaproject 04 / Rochester Institute of Technology School of Design

Title:
Metaproject four
Metaproject oh four
Conceptor:
Owen, Josh 1970-  Search this
Book designer:
Sheehan, Bridget  Search this
Author:
Rochester Institute of Technology School of Design  Search this
Sponsor:
Herman Miller, Inc.  Search this
Printer:
Cohber Press  Search this
Physical description:
92 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 23 cm
Type:
Exhibitions
Exhibition catalogs
Place:
New York (State)
Rochester
Date:
2014
Topic:
Office furniture--Design--Competitions  Search this
Industrial design--Competitions  Search this
Office furniture  Search this
Industrial design  Search this
Call number:
HF5521 .M48 2014
TS171.4 .M464 2014
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_1098231

[Furniture designed and sold by the New York firm of A. Kimbel & Sons]

Creator:
A. Kimbel & Sons  Search this
Subject:
A. Kimbel & Sons  Search this
Physical description:
Approximately 200 black and white photographic prints, plans, and blueprints, in 1 album and 1 box
Type:
Catalogs
Pictorial works
Trade catalogs
Place:
New York (State)
New York
Date:
1882
1882-1941
Topic:
Furniture  Search this
Office furniture  Search this
Colonial revival (Art)  Search this
Renaissance revival (Art)  Search this
Gothic revival (Art)  Search this
Decoration and ornament--Louis XVI style  Search this
Call number:
NK2435.N7 A5 1882
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_1061852

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