In 1905, the Hewitt sisters were introduced to Jean-Léon Decloux in Paris during one of their acquisitions trips. Decloux collected drawings, print albums, and decorative arts objects, and soon became one of their agents for purchasing works on paper. To cement the relationship, he quickly donated examples of French ornamental paneling. On Decloux’s recommendation, the Hewitt sisters encouraged the museum’s advisory council to purchase over 500 drawings from Decloux’s collection in 1911; in 1921, the museum acquired 413 albums of Decloux’s ornament prints and related preparatory drawings.
In 1905, the Hewitt sisters were introduced to Jean-Léon Decloux in Paris during one of their acquisitions trips. Decloux collected drawings, print albums, and decorative arts objects, and soon became one of their agents for purchasing works on paper. To cement the relationship, he quickly donated examples of French ornamental paneling. On Decloux’s recommendation, the Hewitt sisters encouraged the museum’s advisory council to purchase over 500 drawings from Decloux’s collection in 1911; in 1921, the museum acquired 413 albums of Decloux’s ornament prints and related preparatory drawings.
Moitte designed this neoclassical panel as part of a commission for the Hôtel de Salm in Paris. The bright turquoise gouache is typical of the highly saturated color palette then popular for domestic interiors. The design is a variation on the grotesque motif, characterized by a non-narrative assembly of fantastic animals. In 1905, the Hewitt sisters were introduced to Jean-Léon Decloux in Paris during one of their acquisitions trips. Decloux collected drawings, print albums, and decorative arts objects, and soon became one of their agents for purchasing works on paper. To cement the relationship, he quickly donated examples of French ornamental paneling. On Decloux’s recommendation, the Hewitt sisters encouraged the museum’s advisory council to purchase over 500 drawings from Decloux’s collection in 1911; in 1921, the museum acquired 413 albums of Decloux’s ornament prints and related preparatory drawings.
In 1905, the Hewitt sisters were introduced to Jean-Léon Decloux in Paris during one of their acquisitions trips. Decloux collected drawings, print albums, and decorative arts objects, and soon became one of their agents for purchasing works on paper. To cement the relationship, he quickly donated examples of French ornamental paneling. On Decloux’s recommendation, the Hewitt sisters encouraged the museum’s advisory council to purchase over 500 drawings from Decloux’s collection in 1911; in 1921, the museum acquired 413 albums of Decloux’s ornament prints and related preparatory drawings.
In 1905, the Hewitt sisters were introduced to Jean-Léon Decloux in Paris during one of their acquisitions trips. Decloux collected drawings, print albums, and decorative arts objects, and soon became one of their agents for purchasing works on paper. To cement the relationship, he quickly donated examples of French ornamental paneling. On Decloux’s recommendation, the Hewitt sisters encouraged the museum’s advisory council to purchase over 500 drawings from Decloux’s collection in 1911; in 1921, the museum acquired 413 albums of Decloux’s ornament prints and related preparatory drawings.
In 1905, the Hewitt sisters were introduced to Jean-Léon Decloux in Paris during one of their acquisitions trips. Decloux collected drawings, print albums, and decorative arts objects, and soon became one of their agents for purchasing works on paper. To cement the relationship, he quickly donated examples of French ornamental paneling. On Decloux’s recommendation, the Hewitt sisters encouraged the museum’s advisory council to purchase over 500 drawings from Decloux’s collection in 1911; in 1921, the museum acquired 413 albums of Decloux’s ornament prints and related preparatory drawings.
Homer was an avid fisherman and a master of watercolor. Fortunately, he was able to combine his avocation with his profession. Through a combination of broad strokes, soakings, and calligraphic gestures, he was able to convey this wilderness scene and to express the serenity of man in harmony with his majestic surroundings. Beginning in 1912, Winslow Homer’s brother and sister-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Savage Homer Jr., donated to the museum over 250 drawings from Homer’s studio in Prouts Neck, Maine, and 22 oil paintings hanging in their home. Charles was acquainted with the Hewitt sisters and also knew the painter Elliot Clark, who was acquiring American drawings on the Hewitt sisters’ behalf. With the acquisition of additional material, the museum now holds the largest group of works by Homer in any private or public collection.
Prints of Monnoyer’s floral compositions were published as pattern books for use by artists and designers. His designs combine the scientific accuracy of botanical illustration with an aesthetic elegance. This engraving is from one of the artist’s most influential print suites. Compare this print with the Dutch marquetry cabinet displayed nearby.
In May 1927 Charles Lindbergh made his historic nonstop flight from New York to Paris. Within the year United Wallpaper introduced this wallpaper honoring the American hero.
This object is currently on display in room 302 in Carnegie Mansion.
This proposal for a skyscraper by Beaux-Arts-trained architect Ely Jacques Kahn demonstrates the power of the architectural drawing as an advertising tool in the midst of New York City’s building boom. Kahn emphasized the 65-story height through vertical lines and by depicting the building as looming over the city.
This drawing documents Queen Elisabeth of Prussia’s library, study, and breakfast room at Charlottenburg Palace. The interior is an eclectic mix of baroque and rococo furniture from the royal collection and newly fabricated pieces. A rococo-revival carpet, porcelains, and portiere draperies dividing the rooms impart privacy and coziness to this informal bourgeois interior.
Agnes Miles Carpenter admired the Lobmeyr glass at the 1925 Paris Exposition and placed an order for a commission with the firm in Vienna. These life-sized designs were sent to Carpenter in New York as part of the commission, which included glassware by Oswald Haerdtl. The tall glass is on display in the case nearby.
This object is currently on display in room 206 in Carnegie Mansion.
Tassels are normally associated with richly colored glossy silk. The techniques employed for these white linen versions combine the skills of the passementier (braiding and knotting) with the materials and techniques of the lace maker, in one case used to create tiny lace flowers and figures.
This is one of a series of 4 architectural renderings by Hugh Ferriss showing the importance of the city’s landmark 1916 "set-back" law. Designed to allow light into city streets, the limitations imposed on maximum mass resulted in New York’s stepped architectural silhouette. This drawing, featured in Ferriss’s influential article in the New York Times Magazine in 1922, led to many of the skyscrapers that impressed Europeans and Americans alike.
This object is currently on display in room 302 in Carnegie Mansion.
Razzmatazz reflects the period’s taste for op art, which exploited how the eye perceives a dissonant figureground interaction. These papers were intended to be used sparingly, as accents balanced by unadorned adjacent walls. The black flock creates a tactile experience and gives the design a greater sense of depth.
This grouping shows off a wide range of visual effects and glass-blowing techniques. The aquamarine footed bowl [1975-32-14] was made by the paperweight technique in which an outer layer of heavy clear glass surrounds the water lilies to enlarge their imagery and give a blurry underwater effect. Green glass has been blown directly into the candlestick’s bronze cage [1975-32-12] to give the form dynamic dimension. Meanwhile the two small glass vessels [1966-55-15 and 1978-177-1] display Tiffany’s experimentation with marbleized glass.
General Dynamics hired the firm of Dorothy Draper & Co., Inc. to design interiors for their new Convair 880 airplane - the first jet airplane to challenge the supremacy of Boeing's 707 model in the airline industry. An advocate for roomy, commodious spaces and an early proponent of plastic laminates, Draper designed a colorful, convenient plastic-laminate veneered bathroom interior that functioned efficiently and comfortably for consumer use. This drawing served as a model for the mock-up plane interior assembled in San Diego prior to fabrication of the production airplane. Convair 880s were purchased by TWA who used them with Dorothy Draper & Co. interiors. Only sixty-five 880s were produced over the lifetime of the production run from 1959 to 1962, and General Dynamics eventually withdrew from the airliner market.
This object is currently on display in room 203 in Carnegie Mansion.
The lone female figure standing in contrapposto alludes to antique statuary, while the draped garlands and the delicate balancing of the figure on the floral swag draw from eighteenth-century neoclassical wallpapers. The fresh colors and minimal nature of the design speaks to the 1920s.
This object is currently on display in room 302 in Carnegie Mansion.
These posters use scale for narrative purpose rather than abstract effect. The large heads establish a point-of-view character, while the smaller elements suggest thoughts, memories, and actions.
Henningsen’s PH Artichoke lamp employs copper leaves attached to a metal framework to suggest the actual plant. The resulting composition creates industrial-looking uniform layered planes while evoking a naturally occurring structure.
