July 16, 2020

Introduction to Abstract Expressionism.

No, your kid couldn’t have painted it.

Franz Kline, Chief, 1950

Unfortunately, Abstract Art or Modern Art often still elicits a negative response. It looks easy. It’s messy. What is it? A soup can?!

I’ve found a quite straightforward and informative account of the group of painters, mainly painting in Post-WW2 New York City, that built upon the traditions of more experimental painting and sculpture that was done previously - primarily in Europe - and brought us what most now commonly call Modern Art (this is a bit of a misnomer as Modern Art really begins in the late 19th century).

All art can bring beauty or interest or humour or drama to a room. For my money, art from the Post-Modern era (including contemporary art) Does this most successfully. It’s often graphic, design like quality allows it to sit quietly in the room as an element or it can inspire the entire design of a room.

July 15, 2020

Celebrating Josef Frank

Born on July 15th 1885, Josef Frank was an architect, designer and artist who created incredibly striking and iconic textiles. For more information on the man as well a the most complete collection of his textile work click here.

August 19, 2019

Passenger “tube” in TWA Hotel at JFK Airport. Formerly TWA Terminal designed by Eero Saarinen in 1962.

July 29, 2019

There’s more to designing a room than picking out furniture. LINK

July 27, 2019

The Staatliches Bauhaus (German: [ˈʃtaːtlɪçəs ˈbaʊˌhaʊs] (listen)), commonly known as the Bauhaus, was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught.[1]

The Bauhaus was founded by Walter Gropius in Weimar. The German term Bauhaus—literally "building house"—was understood as meaning "School of Building", but in spite of its name and the fact that its founder was an architect, the Bauhaus did not initially have an architecture department. Nonetheless, it was founded upon the idea of creating a Gesamtkunstwerk ("'total' work of art") in which all the arts, including architecture, would eventually be brought together. The Bauhaus style later became one of the most influential currents in modern design, Modernist architecture and art, design, and architectural education.[2] The Bauhaus movement had a profound influence upon subsequent developments in art, architecture, graphic design, interior design, industrial design, and typography.[3]