DALLAS, TEX. – The Dallas Museum of Art is showing “Art Deco and Streamlines Modern: Design, 1920-1950,” the second in a three-part series of exhibitions featuring approximately 75 objects from the museum’s Twentieth Century design collection, which has grown substantially in recent years. The exhibition is in the Focus Gallery and will run through February 17.
A significant part of the exhibition is devoted to recently acquired works of art. Among these pieces are exceptional objects designed by American Eugene Schoen in 1935 for the glamorous home of Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz in Washington, D.C. Schoen was responsible for every detail of the estate’s interior. Although Schoen was best known for his New York apartment interiors, the Cafritz home was perhaps his most important commission.
Another significant group of Art Deco pieces was recently bequeathed to the museum by Patsy Lacy Griffith, a noted Dallas collector. Griffith had spent the past decade acquiring furnishings from the 1920s and 30s for her high-rise apartment along Turtle Creek. The bequest included pieces by Oscar Bach, Georg Jensen, Jacques Adnet, Gaston Suisse, Eugene Printz, Paul Follot, Janen & Co., Paul Piret, Albert Cheret, Andre Arbus, Edgar Brandt and Raymond Subes.
Charles L. Venable, the museum’s director of collections and exhibition management and chief curator, is curator of the exhibition.
“The addition of the Cafritz pieces and Mrs Griffith’s gifts have totally changed the complexion of our Twentieth Century decorative arts holdings. Until now, we have concentrated on American industrial design. These new works broaden our holdings by adding numerous handcrafted luxury rdf_Descriptions. Dallas now has a much broader collection incorporating Art Deco European furniture, silver, ceramics, glass and textiles. Using this material as a foundation, the museum now is poised to build strong holdings in European decorative art from the period of 1920 to 1950 and beyond,” said Dr Venable.
“Art Deco and Streamlined Modern: Design 1920-1950” will include French furniture and light fixtures featuring images of exotic birds, American tableware and a chrome weight scale in the form of skyscrapers, and German punch bowls in the machine aesthetic. Also noteworthy are streamlined appliances and furniture that demonstrate the differences between classic French Art Deco of the 1920s and American design in the 1930s.
The Dallas Museum of Arts is in the downtown Arts District on the south side of Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St Paul and Harwood Streets. Hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 11 am to 5 pm; Thursday, until 9 pm. For information, www.dallasmuseumofart.org.
