Jerry Bywaters at the Blanton Museum of Art

Editorial Staff Art

Jerry Bywaters (1906-1989) was a seminal figure of 20th-century art in Texas. In addition to the prominent role he played as a faculty member for more than forty years at Southern Methodist University (SMU), and as director of the Dallas Museum of Art for over twenty years (1943-1964), throughout his career he was also an artist, curator, and critic. Considered …

Maynard Parker’s modern architecture & interior photography

Editorial Staff Furniture & Decorative Arts

The Huntington Library recently launched a new online database that makes accessible the archives of Los Angeles-based architectural and garden photographer Maynard L. Parker (1901-1976). Parker contributed images to many of the nation’s premiere home design publications from the late 1930s through the early 1970s including House Beautiful, Architectural Digest, Better Homes & Gardens, and Sunset. He traveled across the …

Great Estates: Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish, New Hampshire

Editorial Staff Exhibitions

As the subject of a major exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (on view now through November 15) and a new feature-length documentary directed by Paul Sanderson, Augustus Saint-Gaudens—one of the foremost sculptors of the Gilded Age in America—is certainly having a moment. Adding to these offerings is the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish, New Hampshire, where his …

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Editorial Staff

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) in Richmond recently announced the acquisition of the Ludwig and Rosy Fischer collection of German Expressionist art—widely considered one of the finest groupings of material in the world. Assembled by the couple between 1905 and 1925 while living in Frankfurt, Germany, the Fisher collection comprises over 200 works that includes oil paintings, sculptures, …

Cintra & the estate of Joseph Stanley at Rago

Editorial Staff

Beginning on Saturday August 1, more than 500 lots from the estate of Joseph Stanley will go on view at Rago Arts and Auction Center in Lambertville, New Jersey, before being sold at auction on August 8. Items in the sale—which range from 18th-century English furniture to a wide array of Chinese export art and objects—are the unusual survival of …

Myfamilysilver.com, a model site for antiques

Editorial Staff

A recent visit to www.myfamilysilver.com shows that this new website, which launched in May, offers a smart business model for antiques dealers: instead of charging a commission from sales there are monthly membership and listing fees. Founded by Martyn Downer, a former head of jewelry at Sotheby’s in London and director of Corfield Morris Fine Art and Antique Advisers, and …

Fairyland luster at the New Orleans Museum of Art

Editorial Staff

The current exhibition With a Little Help From Our Friends pays homage to the donors of  several recent gifts to the New Orleans Museum of Art. On view through October 18, the show includes more than fifty objects. Highlights include: glass from the collections of Jack M. Sawyer, and John W. Lolley; a collection of American pressed-glass presented by Florence …

Richard Schultz’s iconic outdoor furniture

Editorial Staff

There are few features more representative of mid-century modern architecture than the patio. Indoor/outdoor living was promoted in nearly every domestic architectural plan of the era, from Richard Neutra’s Kaufmann Desert House in Palm Springs to Philip Johnson’s Rockefeller Guest House in New York City. Even so, very few designers devoted their attention to modern outdoor seating. Richard Schultz is …

Cher’s passion for Pugin to highlight Bonham’s Gothic revival sale

Editorial Staff

On Wednesday July 15 Bonhams in Knightsbridge will host a special auction of Gothic revival works of art with several examples attributed to Pugin—the undisputed leader of the movement. The sale, which goes on view July 12, includes nearly 200 lots of the 19th century’s so-called pointed-architectural style. From cast-iron fixtures to polychrome tiles to oak furnishings this high style …

Great Estates: Hamilton House in South Berwick, Maine

Editorial Staff

Summer is the perfect time to explore lesser-known historic house museums, and Hamilton House in South Berwick, Maine—one of Historic New England’s thirty-six sites and a National Historic Landmark—is one such gem. Situated on a bluff that overlooks the Salmon Falls River, the house and grounds offer an idyllic retreat, and, as the slideshow below demonstrates, is an inspired setting.Built …