Correspondence, sketches, printed material, and photographs.
REEL 1595: Correspondence; sketches; clippings; a book and brochure describing designs created by the interior design firm of Fakes, Bisbee and Robertson; and photographs of interior designs.
REEL 1597: Photographs of interior designs by Fakes.
Biographical / Historical:
Interior designer; New York, N.Y.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming by Emily Guthrie Smith, Fakes' niece, 1979.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Interior decorators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
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
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Charles W. White papers, 1933-1987. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Henry Luce Foundation. Funding for the digitization was provided by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation and the Alice L. Walton Foundation.
Richter, Gisela Marie Augusta, 1882-1972 Search this
Extent:
14.4 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Scrapbooks
Sketchbooks
Photographs
Date:
1915-1977
1898
Summary:
The papers of furniture and interior designer Terence Harold Robsjohn-Gibbings measure 14.4 linear feet and date from 1898 to 1977 with the bulk of material dating from 1915 to 1977. Found within the papers are biographical material, correspondence, writings, project files, printed materials, artwork including 4 sketchbooks, 30 scrapbooks documenting Robsjohn-Gibbings career, and photographs of Robsjohn-Gibbings and his work.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of furniture and interior designer Terence Harold Robsjohn-Gibbings measure 14.4 linear feet and date from 1898 to 1977, with the bulk of material dating from 1915 to 1977. Found within the papers are biographical material, correspondence, writings, project files, printed materials, artwork including 4 sketchbooks, 30 scrapbooks documenting Robsjohn-Gibbings career, and photographs of Robsjohn-Gibbings and his work.
Biographical materials consist of a key to the city of San Francisco, an award certificate, a photograph of a table from Robsjohn-Gibbings' personal art collection, and a ring design.
Correspondence is primarily with Robsjohn-Gibbings' friends, business associates, and scholarly researchers discussing relationships, business commissions, and his professional work. Correspondents of note include illustrators Alan Dunn and Mary Petty, and classical art historian Gisela Richter.
Writings by Robsjohn-Gibbings consist of 13 essays, 2 copies of the draft manuscript The Cuckoo Sings, 2 manuscript drafts of Furniture of Classical Greece, and a notebook of collected inspirational quotations. There is also a translation of a selection of Heinz Kahler's Hadrian und Seine Villa Bei Tivoli.
Project files include photographs and portfolios of 28 commercial and residential commissions; photographs and watercolor renderings of designs produced by Robsjohn-Gibbings Ltd.; photographs and portfolios of designs for Widdicomb Furniture Company; and printed material and research related to the furniture designs for Saridis of Athens. The series also includes portfolios of residences photographed by Ezra Stoller Associates, and photographs and notes for a 25 year Interior Design retrospective exhibition.
Printed material includes published books by Robsjohn-Gibbings, annotated books on Hadrian's Villa and decorative sculpture, catalogs, clippings, press releases, and miscellaneous printed material.
Photographs are of Robsjohn-Gibbings, his friends, his New York office and Athens apartment, and photo shoots for Life and Look magazines.
There are 24 volumes documenting Robsjohn-Gibbings career from 1936 to 1963, an additional 4 volumes of press coverage of his books, and 2 more volumes documenting European art and historical interior design.
Artwork includes 4 sketchbooks of classical Greek and Roman furniture designs rendered in graphite and watercolor by Robsjohn-Gibbings.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 8 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1942-1970 (4 folders, Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1940-1976 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Writings, circa 1930-1976 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1, BV 12)
Series 4: Project Files, circa 1930-1976 (4 linear feet; Box 1-2, Box 6-8, BV 13-16, OV 42-53, OV 55)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1898-1977 (1.9 linear feet, Box 2-4, Box 9)
Series 6: Photographic Materials, 1915-1976 (0.3 linear feet; Box 4, Box 9, OV 54)
Series 7: Scrapbooks, 1936-1970 (5.9 linear feet, Box 9-11, BV 17-41)
Series 8: Artwork, circa 1930-1976 (0.5 linear feet; Box 4-5, Box 9)
Biographical / Historical:
Terence Harold Robsjohn-Gibbings (1905-1976) was a furniture and interior designer who lived and worked in New York City and Athens, Greece.
Robsjohn-Gibbings was born in England and studied architecture at London University. In 1930, he immigrated to America, and six years later opened his own interior decorating firm, Robsjohn-Gibbings Ltd., on Madison Avenue. Throughout the 1940s and 50s, he was one of the most recognized decorators in America and designed homes for Doris Duke, Alfred Knopf, and Thelma Chrysler Foy. One of his earliest commissions was Hilda Boldt Weber's 43 room Casa Encantada mansion in Bel-Air, for which he created more than 200 custom pieces of furniture between 1934 and 1938.
From 1943 to 1956, Robsjohn-Gibbings was the principal designer for the Widdicomb Furniture Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan. These residential furnishings reflected an elegant, simplistic aesthetic and were regularly showcased in the magazines Town and Country, Interior Design, Vogue, and House Beautiful.
He was a critic of the prevailing taste in Bauhaus modernism and Queen Anne, Georgian, and Spanish extravagance and expressed these views on design and aesthetics in the books Goodbye, Mr. Chippendale (1944), Mona Lisa's Moustache (1947), and Homes of the Brave (1953).
In 1960, he and his collaborator, Carlton Pullin, met the Greek furniture makers Susan and Eleftherios Saridis, who commissioned Robsjohn-Gibbings to design a line for their company, Saridis of Athens. These pieces were modeled after classical Greek forms and aesthetics, and are detailed in Robsjohn-Gibbings' Furniture of Classical Greece (1963).
In 1965, Robsjohn-Gibbings moved to Athens, Greece and continued designing residential and commercial spaces until his death in 1976.
Provenance:
Portions of the Terence Robsjohn-Gibbings papers were donated by the artist in 1966. In 1977, Margaret Carson donated a manuscript copy of The Cuckoo Sings. Later in 1977, the bulk of additional material in the collection was donated to the Archives of American Art by Robsjohn-Gibbing's associate and executor, Carlton Pullin.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers 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.
Topic:
Furniture designers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Interior decorators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
