From Issue 65
The Artistic Furniture of Charles Rohlfs
The Artistic Furniture of Charles Rohlfs”, on view through April 25 in the Heinz Architectural Center at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Pa., is the first major museum exhibition of furniture and related objects by this protean artist, actor and furniture-maker. Until now, the work of Rohlfs (1853 – 1937) , whose designs stand alongside those of better-known contemporaries such as Gustav Stickley and Frank Lloyd Wright, has not received a level of analysis comparable to that they enjoy.
Rohlfs combined design motifs in remarkably inventive ways and created furniture like none other, contributing a new chapter to the history of visual expression. His virtuosic carving and imaginative silhouettes relate to Art Nouveau and a wide range of international design traditions, and his innovations influenced the pared-down oak forms of the Arts and Crafts movement. This exhibition draws on research into the Rohlfs family archives and new documentary sources that reveal the origins of Rohlfs’ designs and the important role his wife, author, illustrator and furniture designer Anna Katharine Green, played in his achievements.
“The carved designs of Charles Rohlfs represents some of the most engaging yet long under-researched craftsmanship in American from since 1900″ said Jason T. Busch, the museums Alan G. and Jane A. Lehman Curator of Decorative Arts. “The American Decorative Art 1900 Foundation, Chipstone Foundation and the Milwaukee Arts Museum exhibition and catalogue provide a compelling argument for the important role Rohlfs played in the trajectory of modern design.” The exhibition, curated by Joseph Cunningham of the American Decorative Arts 1900 Foundation, has been organized at the Carnegie Museum by Busch. A companion catalogue of the same title was published by Yale University PRess in assocation with the American Decorative Art 1900 Foundation.
The exhibition has been presented at the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Dallas Museum of Art, and after its run at the Pittsburgh it travel to the Hunting Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in the San Marino, CA, from May 22 to September 6, and the Metropolitan Museum of the Arts in New York.
Aesthetic Movement
Although Rohlfs emphatically denied any connection to particular movements or stylistic influences, his devotion to personal expression has roots in the “art for art’s sake” theories of the late 19th century Aesthetic Movement. His rich assortment of tables, chairs, chests, and candlesticks, all distinguished by the quality of their handcraftmanship, reflect such varied influences as Japan, China, the Middle East, and Medieval and Renaissance Europe. A modernist in the sensibilities, Rohlfs indirectly endorsed the Arts and Crafts tenets of honest workmanship and truth to materials and Art Nouveau’s obsession with the whiplash line. As the present exhibition demonstrates, his work had far0reaching impact on the design of American and European furniture around the turn of the 20th century, particularly the work of Stickley.
Rohlf’s furniture-making was the culmination of a lifetime dedicated to art, design and theater. Trained in socially progressive artistic ideals at the Cooper Union in New York City, Rohlfs went on to design decorative cast-iron stoves for some of the largest industrial foundries in the country while simultaneously pursuing a career as a stage actor.
Protean Creator
Rohlfs began designing furniture in1896, when he was 43. Claiming that this inspiration came from the natural grain of oak and his own creative imagination, he called his work “artistic furniture” or, simply, “the Rohlfs style” and cultivated an enigmatic persona that has persisted to this day. Rohlfs was also among the most skillful American furniture makers of the late 19th century. Although his work features the dark matte oak that would become widely popular as “Mission Style,” he was to much of a businessman to embrace the English Socialist sympathies of William Morris or the utopian visions of his own regional competitors, the Roycroft shops.
During all periods of his career he employed only a few other workers, putting his distinctive handprint on each and every piece that carries his name. But the exhibition also speaks to Rohlf’s professional relationship with his wife, providing opportunities to discuss the role of women in modernist design.
Complementing the Exhibition
At a special luncheon program on March 25, Edward and Kathryn Friedman, local collectors of the furniture of Gustav Stickley and his rival Charles Rohlfs. After lunch, Jason T. Busch, the museum’s Alan G. and Jane A. Lehman Curator of Decorative Arts, will conduct a tour of the exhibition. Admission, including lunch, is $36 for museum members and $45 for the general public. Cal 41 622-3288 to register.
Two complimentary exhibitions also on view at Carnegie Museum of Arts, “Gods, Love, and War: Tapestries and Prints from the Collection” which runs until June 13, features highlights from the museums collection of stunning 16th and 17th century tapestries and prints. It explores the historical popularity of the pictures in textile form: the patrons, artists, and studios who created a taste for the tapestries; and the thematic intersections between tapestry and print imagery.
In November 2009, the museum reopened the Alisa Melton Bruce Galleries, which have been renovated as part of a multi-phase master plan for the museum, present some 500 examples of American and European decorative arts and design from the mid-18th century through the present day. Many of the objects on display are newly acquired or have never before been exhibited to the public.
Carnegie Museum of Art is located at 4400 Forbes Ave. in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh. It was founded by industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in 1895. One of the four Carnegie Museums in Pittsburgh, it is nationally and internationally recognized for its distinguished collection of American and European works from the 16th century to the present. The museum’s Heinz Architectural Center is dedicated to enhancing understanding of the physical environment through its exhibitions, collections and public programs. Formore information call 412 622-3131 or visit cmoa.org.
Dr. Robert Winter Receives Tile Heritage Award
In November, the Tile Heritage Foundation presented Dr. Robert Winter, the celebrated architectural historian (and American Bungalow founding board member and architectural-history adviser), with the Tile Heritage Award, an honorary tribute conferred by the foundation’s board of directors on an individual who has made an extraordinary contribution to the tile world.
The award, an 8″ x ” custom tile produced especially for Dr. Winter by Steve Moon at the Tile Restoration Center in Seattle, commemorates the 100th anniversary of the iconic Pasadena bungalow the tile maker Ernest Batchelder built for himself and his wife, where Winter has resided since the early 70’s. For the tile, Moon used a detailed illustration of Batchelder’s bungalow by Marie Glasse Tapp and her daughter Delia Tapp, founders of the Tile Restoration Center.
“Dr. Winter, his numerous titles and publications aside, has personally done more than most to preserve and promote the heritage of tiles in Southern California and well beyond,” said Tile Heritage Foundation President Joseph Taylor in presenting the award. “He serves as the respected voice representing the legacy of Ernest Batchelder, arguably among the most innovative – some would say revolutionary – tile makers of the 20th century. A responsible custodian of the house for almost 40 years, Bob has established a museum out back where his collection of Batchelder tiles is on display, and he has willingly opened his home to countless Arts and Crafts enthusiasts over the years.
“Bob’s care of the Batchelder legacy and his willingness to share his knowledge and his residence with others embrace the spirit of Tile Heritage, which is dedicated to promoting an awareness and appreciation of ceramic surfaces. We salute Dr. Winter with our sincere thanks, honoring him with the Tile Heritage Award”
The Tile Heritage Foundation, founded in 1987 as a nonprofit charitable organization, is dedicated to promoting awareness and appreciation of ceramic surfaces in the U.S. It serves the need for a historical perspective regarding all ceramic surfacing materials, both past and present. In addition to aiding in the education of the general public about the rich and varied history of tile, the organization has become a major voice in the preservation of existing installations of rare and unusual ceramic surfaces while enhancing the visibility of contemporary work as well.
“Tile Heritage involves more than the promotion and protection of tiles, murals, and mosaics,” says the foundation’s mission statement. “The foundation represents the need to preserve a perception of ourselves. From the time of the earliest cave paintings to molded clay forms, people have always sought to conceptualize themselves and inspire others through artistic endeavors. Safekeeping ceramic surfaces today is an integral part of preserving ourselves, a means of being remembered and understood by future generations.”
In addition to consultation and research services on historic and contemporary tile, the foundation offers books and historic catalogs for sale. To learn more, visit tileheritage.org
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