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拍品專文
Before the Klismos Chair and his defining 1940s collaboration with the Greek furniture manufacturers Saridis of Athens, Terence Howard Robsjohn-Gibbings spent two decades building a prolific design career in the United States, encompassing both commercial collaborations and high profile private commissions. Arriving in New York in 1929, Robsjohn-Gibbings built a reputation for his exquisite taste and sharp wit; highly critical of the contemporary tastes of his day, instead cultivating the “neo-Attic” style that would establish him.
Describing his experience of first noticing classical Greek furniture in 1933, Robsjohn-Gibbings wrote: “Vitality, surging through the human figures on the vases, surged through this furniture. I had wandered unsuspecting into a new world”. His designs, combining classical Greek forms such as the Klismos chair, and Art Deco motifs, were sought out by clients such as Hilda Boldt-Weber, Doris Duke, and Thelma Chrysler Foy; prominent socialites of the day who recognized the freshness and innovative qualities of his work. For Weber’s 47-room Bel-Air mansion, Casa Encantada, designed in 1937, Robsjohn-Gibbings created 200 stunning pieces that combined the splendors of history with contemporary American style. This striking commission elevated classical Greece to the heights of Art Deco opulence, cementing the originality and timelessness of Robsjohn-Gibbings’s designs. With the Weber commission, Robsjohn-Gibbings developed early iterations of his later-famous pieces, frequently altering and perfecting his designs between commissions.
An earlier version of the stool (lot 180) for the Kandell residence was first designed for the “giddily feminine” home of Thelma Chrysler Foy in 1940. The original design featured two ornamental bronze tassels tied at the legs, perhaps omitted by Robsjohn-Gibbings for the more austere Kandell apartment.
The refined faux-bamboo accents on the ‘Bamboo’ cabinet, designed custom for the Kandell residence (lot 181), feature in many Robsjohn-Gibbings projects. Through these cast bronze elements, as well as the elegant sweeping forms of his pieces, the stylized historicism and panache ascribed to Robsjohn-Gibbings are emphasized. The cabinet can be seen in archival photos standing at the entryway to a luxurious Kandell living room. With its marbled floors and walls, pooling natural light, and uncluttered interior; Robsjohn-Gibbings’s Kandell penthouse evoked a bygone era; an interior both classically elegant, and stunningly modern.
Describing his experience of first noticing classical Greek furniture in 1933, Robsjohn-Gibbings wrote: “Vitality, surging through the human figures on the vases, surged through this furniture. I had wandered unsuspecting into a new world”. His designs, combining classical Greek forms such as the Klismos chair, and Art Deco motifs, were sought out by clients such as Hilda Boldt-Weber, Doris Duke, and Thelma Chrysler Foy; prominent socialites of the day who recognized the freshness and innovative qualities of his work. For Weber’s 47-room Bel-Air mansion, Casa Encantada, designed in 1937, Robsjohn-Gibbings created 200 stunning pieces that combined the splendors of history with contemporary American style. This striking commission elevated classical Greece to the heights of Art Deco opulence, cementing the originality and timelessness of Robsjohn-Gibbings’s designs. With the Weber commission, Robsjohn-Gibbings developed early iterations of his later-famous pieces, frequently altering and perfecting his designs between commissions.
An earlier version of the stool (lot 180) for the Kandell residence was first designed for the “giddily feminine” home of Thelma Chrysler Foy in 1940. The original design featured two ornamental bronze tassels tied at the legs, perhaps omitted by Robsjohn-Gibbings for the more austere Kandell apartment.
The refined faux-bamboo accents on the ‘Bamboo’ cabinet, designed custom for the Kandell residence (lot 181), feature in many Robsjohn-Gibbings projects. Through these cast bronze elements, as well as the elegant sweeping forms of his pieces, the stylized historicism and panache ascribed to Robsjohn-Gibbings are emphasized. The cabinet can be seen in archival photos standing at the entryway to a luxurious Kandell living room. With its marbled floors and walls, pooling natural light, and uncluttered interior; Robsjohn-Gibbings’s Kandell penthouse evoked a bygone era; an interior both classically elegant, and stunningly modern.