By Frances McQueeney-Jones Mascolo

Among the earliest forms of furniture is seating, used initially to provide a platform for an elevated personage. Over the centuries chairs, benches, stools and other seating pieces came into common use by lesser mortals. The exhibit “The Art of Seating: 200 Years of American Design” on view at the Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, S.C., explores the evolution of the peculiarly American idiom. Forty-four seats on view in the exhibit represent the development of seating furniture over the last two centuries, touching on the important movements in American design. The chairs are drawn from the collection of Diane DeMell Jacobsen, who gathered with an eye toward the domestic and international influences on American chair design. For this collector, her chairs are more sculptural objects than simply utilitarian or decorative pieces. They are simply works of art; that they have a utilitarian function is secondary. The collection offers an interesting perspective on the evolution and influences of American furniture design over the course of 200 years.

The Spring Show NYC returned to the Park Avenue Armory May 2–6 offering a well-calibrated presentation, setting itself apart from New York’s crowded calendar of art and antiques fairs.