Philip Johnson's Glass House 1949

The Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut was designed and built by Philip Johnson and Richard Foster in 1949. Heavily influenced by the Bauhaus ideals, they designed along minimalist lines with the aim of  achieving transparency in a standing structure. It is an extraordinary building in its severe and rigid minimalism and is often compared to Farnsworth House (1951) by Mies van der Rohe as the two are very similar in form and principal.

Have a look at this amazing photograph taken in 1964 in Philip Johnson’s Glass House by David McCabe for ‘The Glass House Conversations’. In the photo are Andy Warhol, David Whitney, Philip Johnson, Dr John Dalton and Robert A.M. Stern. Described by architectural historian Vincent Scully as ‘the longest running salon in America’,  Philip Johnson and David Whitney gathered together figures of design, art and architecture, who were at the forefront of their fields in their day, and have since moved into the realms of legend.  Imagine being a fly on the wall in that room!

 Murray Moss gave a sold-out talk on 2 May at the Glass House. It must have been amazing. We would have loved to have been there but were business-bound in Paris. Hopefully he’ll give another soon…..

http://philipjohnsonglasshouse.org/programs/conversationsincontext/

Murray Moss Quote

“‘I’ve always regarded most of the non-life-saving material world as ‘souvenirs’ of more or less profound thought expressed through functional ‘things’, which, by definition, possess therefore a divine duality for which they are sometimes considered inferior to Art, rather than the other way around.’”

—	Murray Moss, in his introduction in the Phillips du Pury catalogue for the sale he curated last fall (October 2012).

Christopher Dresser

Christopher Dresser (1834-1904), an English botanist and scholar of the decorative arts was probably the first industrial designer in the modern sense of the term. He embraced all the implications of industrial mass-production, unlike his Arts and Crafts Movement contemporaries, aligning this to the design of bold and highly visionary crafted objects. This teapot (1879) is unbelievably ahead of its time. Having had the privilege to work at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum during the mounting of the exhibition (way back in 2004!) entitled 'Shock of the Old: Christopher Dresser', I have come to highly regard Dresser's application of his vision. I ran right down to the Shop to buy a teapot, as well as a beautiful oil and vinegar stand that he designed (editioned by Alessi not original pieces ... someday!).


There was an article about Murray Moss written in the past year, in which upon being served water (?) in, I believe it was, a czech glass tumbler the interviewer found himself appreciating the preciousness of the glass, which intern inspired him to sit up straighter. This is what interests us and something we strongly believe in! It is powerful - this idea of objects influencing our thinking and behavior - the moment when the Dresser's innovation, beauty and creativity is transferred into an experience with an effect on the user (in this case me!).

I couldn't locate the article but here is an earlier post in which Murray Moss speaks to the idea of objects affecting our behavior.

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Murray Moss, 'On Good Taste'

Murray Moss ‘On Good Taste’ | MOSS: Dialogues Between Art & Design (byPhillipsDePury)

My heart melted and then soared listening to this this short film where Murray Moss talks about appreciating design for it’s properties (in this case the fact that glass is breakable) and explains how when accepted and appreciated these properties can inspire grace in a person.

Murray Moss ‘On Decoration’

This is powerful. Murray Moss questions why or when decor became ‘unintelligent’ or ‘low class’.  Decor, which he renames ‘collage’ and then ‘Eisensteinian montage’ (montage editing as opposed to continuity editing) in this piece, is an ‘invitation’ to create your own ‘riff’ - as in music.

So inspiring! Express yourself thoughtfully!

Modern Magazine on Murray Moss

Murray Moss

Art Assure Ltd, the art financing company, announced it is putting together a ten-day exhibition of art and design, curated by modern and contemporary design dealer Murray Moss for Phillips de Pury at the Phillips Park Avenue space. The exhibition will be followed by an auction, in October. According to Asher Edelman, who heads Art Assure Ltd. “the exhibition and sale will consist of 60 to 70 paired vignettes: Murray will be choosing works of art, objets d’art and design that complement each other.” The plan is to rebuild the interior of the space to create a preview that will be “like a museum show,” Edelman says, adding that he believes this is “a new kind of model” for selling art and design at auction. The sale date will be released when Phillips de Pury makes an official announcement next week.