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Thursday, 28 February 2008 | Levent OZLER
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Showcases Modern and Contemporary Decorative Arts and Design This Spring
Two Exhibitions Highlight Exceptional Private Collections of International Metalwork and Ceramics
This spring, a pair of exhibitions at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, will explore the passion for design traced through two preeminent collections of international metalwork and ceramics. Reflecting the connoisseurship of leading interior architect Margot Grant Walsh, Designed by Architects: Metalwork from the Margo Grant Walsh Collection will feature pieces designed by prominent architects between the late 19th and early 21st centuries, and explore the links between the design of buildings and of smaller, practical objects. The Scholar's Eye: Contemporary Ceramics from the Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio Collection will showcase highlights from a recent MFAH acquisition, in a presentation that captures the vibrant range of ceramic art created from 1940 to the present by international ceramicists, including Jean-Pierre Laroque, Adrian Saxe, Peter Voulkos and Beatrice Wood, as well as visual artists such as Sir Anthony Caro, Lucio Fontana, and Claes Oldenburg.
Organized by Cindi Strauss, MFAH curator of modern and contemporary decorative arts and design, Designed by Architects will be on view from March 15 to August 3, 2008, and The Scholar's Eye will be on view from May 18 to September 1, 2008.
In April 2007, the MFAH acquired the modern and contemporary ceramics collection assembled by New York-based scholars and art dealers Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio. Comprised of more than 375 international artworks and an accompanying library and archive, the acquisition propelled the MFAH to the forefront of museum ceramic collections worldwide. The Scholar's Eye offers audiences a first look at selected highlights from this singular collection.
The Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio collection and the Margo Grant Walsh collection both include superior examples of two distinctive areas of design. A common appreciation for the international, the cross-disciplinary, and the multi-cultural is reflected in both collections-as well as an impeccable sense of style.
Designed by Architects: Metalwork from the Margo Grant Walsh Collection
March 15 - August 3, 2008
Interior architect Margo Grant Walsh has spent a lifetime amassing her outstanding collection of over 800 metal objects from 17 countries, many of which were created by major architectural figures. Designed by Architects will showcase approximately 50 pieces of metalwork designed by international architects of the late19th through the 21st centuries. Historically, "master builders" were responsible for architecture, interiors, and furnishings. Although often overlooked, many modern and contemporary architects also applied their sense of design and style to objects on a personal scale. Designed by Architects features works made from silver, sterling silver, silver-plate, brass, and iron, often embellished with natural materials such as turquoise, amethyst, quartz, carnelians, and moonstones. Highlights include an ice cream set by Henri Van de Velde, a brooch by Thorvald Bindesbøll, a coffee pot by William Spratling, a centerpiece by Josef Hoffmann and a fruit stand by Ettore Sottsass.
Grant Walsh has been a trailblazer in the interior design industry and major figure at both Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Gensler, the global design firm. Widely recognized as a significant force in her field, she was inducted into the Interior Design magazine Hall of Fame in 1987, and received a Leadership Award of Excellence from the Interior Design Association in 2000. Now retired, Grant Walsh dedicates herself to collecting and lecturing on her metalwork collection.
The Scholar's Eye: Contemporary Ceramics from the Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio Collection
May 17, 2008 - September 1, 2008
The Scholar's Eye presents selected highlights from the extraordinary collection assembled by New Yorkbased gallerists Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio, leaders in the ceramics field for over 25 years. The collection encompasses a global roster of established and emerging artists working in the 20th and 21st centuries from the United States, England, Canada, Ethiopia, South Africa, Japan, China, Taiwan, Mexico, Uruguay, Argentina, France, Spain, Italy, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Latvia, Hungary, and Turkey. The Scholar's Eye traces technical and aesthetic developments in the field through approximately 40 objects, including functional articles, abstract forms, sculptural objects, industrial design installations, and narrative works. As with Designed by Architects, which spotlights the work of architects experimenting in metal, The Scholar's Eye features ceramic pieces made by artists whose specialty lies outside the medium, as well as pieces by some of the most accomplished ceramicists of the 20th century. The exhibition features pieces by Ralph Bacerra, Marek Cecula, Ken Ferguson, Anne Kraus, Ron Nagle, Richard Notkin, and Beth Cavener Stichter, with particularly important works by Laszlo Fekete, George Jeanclos, Kitamura Junko, Geert Lap, Bodil Manz, Lawson Oyekan, Richard Slee, and Akio Takamori.
Garth Clark is an internationally recognized scholar, author, and collector of modern and contemporary ceramic art. He has written or contributed to over three dozen books, and was the recipient of the Art Critics Award from the National Endowment for the Arts, among other honors. Mark Del Vecchio has been an influential dealer in ceramics for over 30 years and is the author of the critically acclaimed book Postmodern Ceramics. With the addition of their notable collection joins the museum's extensive holdings in ceramic art create new opportunities for exhibition and research.
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