Greene & Greene "Chair"

From: The Huntington
Limited Edition: 10
Exhibition: A “New and Native” Beauty: The Art and Craft of Greene & Greene
Material: Printed 2-ply vinyl
Dimensions: 35" x 96" (88cm x 243cm)

Hanging Hardware Included

Summary

From the Bolton House come upright chairs that call to mind the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, but with a softer edge. Tall vertical lines and tapered forms are solid yet airy, reflecting the overall theme of the home's design. Created by the California-based Greene brothers, the mahogany chair strikes a dramatic pose covering the entire front of 10 banners from The Huntington exhibition "A New and Native Beauty: The Art of Greene & Greene".

Description

The Arts & Crafts Movement had its roots in England in the late 1880's, but the influence of this burgeoning movement would ultimately be felt all over America, Europe, and even Japan. In other countries many names would be attached to iterations of the style - Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Jugendstil, Craftsman, Mission - but related tenets were always at its core. These ideas would go on to shape 20th century attitudes towards design, lifestyle, work, and home.

Starting with the work of William Morris and the writings of John Ruskin in Great Britain, the ideas that came forth were new and bold for their time. The Arts & Crafts ideology viewed fine arts, decorative arts, applied arts, crafts, and architecture as a unified whole, what the German’s dubbed gesamtkunstwerk. At heart, the movement stemmed from the belief that the hand of the craftsman was being erased by industrialization and mass-production. They instead championed the revival of traditional techniques, and believed that art could and should be a part of everyday life. In each country where these ideas took root, they generated their own specific outcomes based on local cultural needs, yielding clearly identifiable styles. For example, the stylized roses of Charles Rennie Mackintosh in Scotland; the abstract, sinuous curves of Belgians Henry Van de Velde and Victor Horta; or the classic Craftsman bungalow in the US .

This banner showcases a high-backed hall chair designed by Charles and Henry Greene for the home of Dr. W. T. Bolton for whom the Greenes designed three houses between 1900 and 1906. This mahogany chair is an outstanding example of Arts & Crafts furniture designed to be congruent with the home around it. The long, elegant lines of the chair back are harmonious with the Bolton floor plan which emphasizes a long, narrow rectilinear configuration. The back of the banner is white with a sage green band down the left hand side. Sage green, white, and brown text reads “Huntington/The Art & Craft of GREENE & GREENE/Oct. 18, 2008 through Jan 26, 2009”.

Provenance

These banners were displayed around Los Angeles from October 18, 2008 through January 26, 2009 to promote the exhibition A “New and Native” Beauty: The Art and Craft of Greene & Greene. It then traveled to the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C. and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

About the Artist

Learn more about Greene & Greene