Contacts: Thea M. Page, 626-405-2260, [email protected] Lisa Blackburn, 626 -405-2140, [email protected]

The at The Huntington

The furniture of Charles Rohlfs (1853–1936) was made during an international revolution in the fields of art and design that flourished in the second half of the 19th century. Generally called the Arts and Crafts movement, this period of radical change came in reaction against machine-made, mass- produced furnishings of the 1840s and ’50s. It represented a major philosophical departure from the dense ornamentation that characterized Victorian design toward an emphasis on structure, purpose, and craftsmanship. The origins of the Arts and Crafts movement are traced to changes taking place in in the 1840s under the influence of writer (1819–1900) and architect and theorist Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812–1852). They, in turn, inspired textile designer (1834–1896), generally considered the founder of the movement. Many significant examples of the new art and design of the mid-19th and early 20th centuries can be found in The Huntington’s European and American art galleries. Since 1990, the Dorothy Collins THE ARTISTIC FURNITURE OF Brown Wing of the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art has been devoted to the display of the architecture and design of Charles and Henry Greene (Greene & Greene), proponents of the Arts Charles Rohlfs and Crafts movement who were the subject of a major traveling exhibition organized by the Gamble House/USC School of Architecture and The Huntington in 2008–09. In 1999, The Huntington purchased a collection of William Morris material comprising several May 22 –Sept. 6, 2010 thousand items and considered the largest in the United States. With that acquisition, a new collecting emphasis on the later 19th century was established at The Huntington. To provide context for the Morris materials, the European galleries, housed in the Huntington Art Gallery, now display works by his predecessors, including Pugin, and important followers like Charles Robert Ashbee (1863–1942) and Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo (1851–1942). In addition to featuring the Greene brothers, the American galleries highlight work by Americans who were similarly part of the wider Design Reform movement, such as the Byrdcliffe Arts Colony, Rohlfs, and Gustav Stickley (1858–1942).

HIGHLIGHTS OF HUNTINGTON DISPLAYS RELATING TO THE ARTS AND CRAFTS MOVEMENT In the Huntington Art Gallery Upstairs, Rooms 29–31 and 33 in the Gallery Guide

Gothic Revival Prie-Dieu (Prayer Desk), 1840–41, designed by A. W. N. Pugin, stained pine. Pugin was an important theoretician of the Design Reform movement that began in the 1840s. He taught that all ornament should relate to structure and purpose. This prie-dieu, designed for the Convent of Our Lady of Mercy in Birmingham, England, demonstrates this tenet. The arched cross brace provides stability, while the central post supports the weight of the person at prayer. (Room 29)

Painted Bookcase, ca. 1867, manufactured by the Art Furniture Company, London; with decorations probably painted by Heaton, Butler, and Bayne, London, pine and oak with oil paint and enameled metal.

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This Gothic Revival bookcase is very close in design to one illustrated by Charles Locke Eastlake in his 1868 book Hints on Household Taste in Furniture, Upholstery, and other Details. Like William Morris, Eastlake believed that the objects with which people decorated their homes should be hand-made by skilled artist-craftsmen, rather than mass produced by machines. The bookcase includes hand-painted panels whose forms resemble stained glass windows. The figures in these panels represent “art,” “science,” “commerce,” “literature,” “music,” and “agriculture.” (Room 30)

Reclining Chair with “Violet and Columbine” Pattern Upholstery, ca. 1880, Philip Webb (British, 1831–1915), manufactured by Morris & Company, London, ebonized wood and wool upholstery. This model of a reclining chair was continuously manufactured by Morris & Company from the 1870s until the firm closed in 1940. (Room 30)

Woodblock for “Pink and Rose” Wallpaper, ca. 1890, William Morris, for Morris & Company, London, cut by Barrett’s, London, pearwood with brass pins. This woodblock is based on Morris’ drawing of the Pink and Rose wallpaper design, hanging nearby. Most papers produced by the firm were hand-printed using separate woodblocks for each color. The brass pins enable the block to be repositioned for the successive printing of different colors. (Room 30)

Century Guild Chair, ca. 1882, Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo (British, 1851–1942), mahogany, leather, painted decoration. This extremely rare piece of furniture was designed by the British architect, artist, and craftsman Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo. When the chair was first seen, its novel design caused a sensation. The elaborately carved back, with its organic, sinuous lines, contrasted with British Arts and Crafts design of the period, which typically reflected gothic influence. More importantly, the floral and seaweed-like forms anticipated by ten years, marking this chair as the genesis of the movement. Mackmurdo was a disciple of William Morris and a founder of the Century Guild, which comprised both artists and entrepreneurs. The guild strived to imbue objects found in the average home with beauty and artistry. This chair, one of five known to exist, was intended for the guild’s own dining hall. (Room 31)

Piano, 1904, Charles Robert Ashbee (British, 1863–1942), manufactured by the Guild of Handicraft, London, with action by John Broadwood and Sons, mahogany with holly inlay, veneered light wood and wrought iron. Ashbee was deeply influenced by the teachings of William Morris. The two reformers shared a belief that hand-crafted objects benefited the craftsman and consumer alike. His workshop, the Guild of Handicraft, employed poor laborers as metalworkers and cabinetmakers, producing hand-crafted furniture pieces such as this piano. Ashbee designed at least five upright pianos for the English firm of Broadwood and Sons. For this piano, based on his fourth design, he extended the top and sides out to the front and then closed it in like a cupboard. Its formal, rectilinear shape is a bold departure from conventional piano design. It shows Ashbee’s belief in the ability of the piano to make an important statement of style in the modern interior. (Room 31)

David Healey Memorial Window from the Unitarian Chapel, Heywood, Lancashire, ca. 1898, Edward Burne-Jones (British, 1833–1898) and John Henry Dearle (British, 1860–1932), manufactured by Morris & Company, London, glass and lead. William Morris believed the function of stained glass was to “tell stories in a simple direct manner.” He advocated the use of rich, subtle tones characteristic of medieval stained glass and worked to achieve its radiant effects by employing medieval techniques that had recently been rediscovered. These methods produced a kind of glass called “pot-metal,” which was colored throughout rather than just on the surface. This window, from a building now demolished, combines Burne-Jones dynamic figure compositions with Morris’ skill in pattern and color, which was carried on at the firm by his successor, J. H. Dearle. (Room 33)

In the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art Dorothy Collins Brown Wing and Rooms 1 and 5 in the Gallery Guide

Dining Room Table and Eight Chairs for the Joseph W. Husser House, Chicago, Ill., ca. 1899, Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959), oak. On loan from Daniel, Diane, and Mathew Wolf. One of the most influential architects of the first half of the 20th century, Frank Lloyd Wright established an architectural practice in Oak Park, Ill., in 1893. Wright’s early residential designs are characterized by their expansive rectilinear structure, formal clarity, gently sloping roofs with broad overhangs, and sensitivity to orientation and site. Wright was committed to a comprehensive approach to interior and exterior design and often created furnishings and interior designs for his homes and offices. Wright created his first tall-backed dining chair in 1895 for his own home in Oak Park. When arranged around a table, the chairs break up the expansive interior space, providing a vertical counterpoint to horizontal design elements while creating a more intimate environment conducive to dining and conversation. The tall, slat-backed chairs Wright Page 3 designed for the Husser House about 1899 differ slightly from Wright’s earlier version. In an effort to integrate his furniture designs with the Husser House interior, Wright used squared rather than turned slats; the rear legs taper and flare outward at both the base and the top, lending a grace and elegance to the form. (Room 5)

Fern Vase, ca. 1900, Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company, designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848–1933), Favrile glass. Throughout his life, Louis Comfort Tiffany produced a wide variety of decorative objects using diverse materials and highly experimental forms of surface decoration. In 1893, using techniques developed from his studies of ancient Egyptian, Roman, and Syrian glass, he produced an iridescent glass with a metallic luster; he named the glass Favrile. This shimmering glass is now synonymous with Art Nouveau style in America. With lustrous, highly abstracted leaves gracefully curving upward across the surface of its monumental form, Fern Vase, like much of the artist’s work, is based on a close observation of and reverence for nature. This important vase was part of Tiffany’s own collection and was installed in Laurelton Hall, his 84-room mansion in Oyster Bay, Long Island, until 1946, when the home was sold and his collection dispersed. (Room 5)

Leaded Glass Window from the James A. Patten House, Evanston, Ill., 1901, George Washington Maher (1864–1926) and Louis Millet (1856–1923), clear, colored, and textured glass; gold leaf; lead. Like Louis Sullivan and other Prairie School architects, George Washington Maher took a comprehensive approach to architectural design. He regularly employed a central decorative theme to unify his interiors. For the Patten House, Maher chose a thistle motif, which he used throughout the project. This entry-hall window was produced under the direction of the stained-glass artist Louis Millet. (Room 1 and 5)

Library Table, 1901, Charles Rohlfs (1853–1936), oak. Charles Rohlfs was among the most audacious furniture makers working in the early years of the 20th century. With no formal training as a furniture maker, he created inventive forms in wood that, while unique, also draw on a multitude of design sources, ranging from Germany and Scandinavia to the Near East, China, and Japan. In 1897, Rohlfs established a small workshop in Buffalo, N.Y., where he produced innovative forms in wood over the next decade. His wife, the highly successful mystery writer Anna Katherine Green, contributed to some of his designs. Rohlfs furniture was particularly influential on Gustav Stickley’s early furniture designs, such as the small floriform table shown elsewhere in this gallery. This massive oak table, or partners’ desk, was intended to be used by two people. Each of its two drawers extends the full depth of the table and can be pulled open from either side. Its rectilinear form gives the table its visual weight while the sinuous curves in the carved designs lighten its otherwise ponderous massing. (Room 5)

Cabinet with Tulip Poplar Panels, 1904, Byrdcliffe Arts Colony, panels designed by Edna Walker (1880–?), polychromed poplar with brass hardware. Located in a bucolic setting in upstate New York, the Byrdcliffe Arts Colony was founded in 1902 by the British-born visionary Ralph Radcliffe Whitehead and his American wife, Jane Byrd McCall. Whitehead believed in the dignity of hand labor and the virtues of a simple life. By founding and financially supporting the Byrdcliffe Arts Colony, the Whiteheads provided a place where individuals could escape “the slavery of our too artificial and too complex life, to return to some way of living which requires less of material apparatus.” A woodworking shop was established at Byrdcliffe in 1902, the colony’s first year of operation. While it lasted only two years, the shop produced 50 pieces of furniture, some of which were shipped to New York and sold. This boldly geometric cabinet, with tulip poplar panels designed by Edna Walker, is among the finest pieces of furniture produced at Byrdcliffe. This piece remained in the Whitehead family until it was purchased by The Huntington. (Room 5)

Reassembled Dining Room of the Laurabelle A. Robinson House, Pasadena, Calif., 1905–07, Greene & Green. Designed for Laurabelle Arms Robinson and her husband, Henry Robinson, the original dining room for the Laurabelle A. Robinson House was under construction between 1905 and 1907. While it was severely altered in the mid-20th century, the room was meticulously recreated by The Huntington and the Gamble House/USC School of Architecture, including the original furniture, which had been donated to The Huntington by the Robinsons. The chandelier, made of mosaic leaded iridescent glass in a stylized cherry tree pattern, illustrates the Greenes’ attraction to Japanese design. It is the only adjustable-height lighting fixture designed by Greene and Greene. (Dorothy Collins Brown Wing)

Reassembled Stairway from the Arthur A. Libby House, Pasadena, Calif., 1905, Greene & Greene. The reassembled stairway from the Arthur A. Libby House (demolished 1968) provides a valuable perspective into the Greenes’ early quest to celebrate a total composition as greater than the sum of its parts. The stairwell paneling draws its inspiration directly from the nature of the risers and treads and brings a sculptural quality of hand workmanship to its railings and balustrade. Early evidence of inlay work, characteristic of their later designs, is seen here in the brass inlay of the columns and newel posts. (Dorothy Collins Brown Wing)