ONLINE LEARNING
New Book Explores Luxury after the Terror
BY IRIS MOON
Luxury After the Terror explores the production, circulation, and survival of French luxury after the death of Louis XVI by focusing on decorative arts makers with strong ties to the monarchy and how they navigated the Terror and the world that it remade.
Book Review: The Story of the Country House
BY JESSIE DEAN
From its charming cover alone, this recent publication from Yale University Press caught our eye, but when multiple members recommended it, we knew The Story of the Country House: A History of Places & People by Clive Aslet was worthy of your attention.
“Borderlands” at The Huntington
REVIEW: SPECIAL PROGRAM
December 4, 2021
The Arts & Crafts Experiment of Rose Valley
BY SUE A. KEILBAUGH
In 1901, William Lightfoot Price brought together a group of prosperous Philadelphia free thinkers who enjoyed debating current philosophies of reform with the more informal company of his partners, friends, and relatives whose interests lay primarily in aesthetic matters. The consequence was the start of Price’s experimental utopian community based on the Arts & Crafts Movement.
A Place That I Think You’ll Like
BY JULIE SIGLIN
The story begins with a magnificent cherry tree. Wharton Esherick (1887–1970), an artist often considered the father of the Studio Furniture movement, was recently married and searching for a home in which to start his family. While exploring properties for sale in the Paoli, PA, area with his realtor, the agent said, “I’ll show you a place that I think you’ll like.”
American Classicism and Frederick Douglass’s Sculpture Collection
BY ELIZABETH S. HUMPHREY
Some of the sculptures contained in Douglass’s collection were Greco-Roman mythological figures such as Clytie, Mercury, and Psyche. However, Douglass’s ownership of a Diana of Versailles bust and a miniature version of The Greek Slave carry special significance.
Grinling Gibbons 300: Carving a Place in History
BY HANNAH PHILLIP
The Grinling Gibbons Society was formed in 2020 to masterplan the tercentenary festival Grinling Gibbons 300: Carving a Place in History (August 2021–August 2022).
Delicately Carved, Seductively Glazed: Gifts from the Fire Opens at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
BY JULIANA FAGUA ARIAS
Gifts from the Fire highlights the extraordinary diversity and impressive accomplishments of American potteries and ceramicists working from the late 19th century to World War II.
Fifty Years of Gio Ponti at the Denver Art Museum
BY TARYN CLARY
In 1965, the Denver Art Museum (DAM) approached Gio Ponti to create a new structure for its growing collections. Then 74 years old, the Italian architect had firmly established himself as a master of Modernism across the globe and across disciplines.
The Mozart of Metal: Dan Nauman on 19th-Century Blacksmith Cyril Colnik
BY JOHN-DUANE KINGSLEY
Nestled in the heart of Milwaukee, WI, is the Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum, home to the Cyril Colnik collection of decorative ironwork. Revered as a master craftsman, Colnik’s workshop created thousands of public and private commissions across Milwaukee that act as a tribute to the city’s strong Germanic origins.