Van Day Truex, & ‘Truex American Furniture’

Glenn Gissler - Blog - 2014 - vadaytruex_web

Van Day Truex (1904-79) may be the most significant interior designer that you have never heard.

I recently had the opportunity to meet with Scott Himmel to learn about the offerings in the launch of  Truex American Style, a very exciting new line of furniture inspired by Van Day Truex, and his illustrious friends and colleagues including Billy Baldwin, and Francis Elkins, other important American designers of the period (and a few legendary taste-makers thrown in for good measure.)

It bears mentioning that philanthropist Brooke Astor (1902-2007) described Truex as “one of the most charming men I ever knew”, and Albert Hadley (1920-2012) said that “No one influenced American interior design more [than Van Day Truex]”.

Glenn Gissler - Blog - 2014 - photo-9-640x766

(more…)

Thank You David Colman, and The Wall Street Journal

Glenn Gissler - Blog - 2014 - Wall Street Journal - 640x626
Last Friday I was quoted in The Wall Street Journal, in an article written by David Colman about the new book Mies, which chronicles the career of design legend Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

Colman asserts “the book is most intent on reasserting Mies as a focal player in the International Style movement that revolutionized industrial architecture in the ’40s and ’50s, ushering in the reign of glass-and-steel boxes.”

The article goes on to sheds light on the 85 year history of the iconic and ubiquitous Barcelona chair.

Celebrated interior design Matthew Patrick Smyth, architect DD Allen and I all give our personal perspectives on how to best specify the classic piece in interiors today. It’s quite an interesting piece.

Miss the article?  Follow this link to read the entire post.

RISD Museum Presents “Making It in America”

Glenn Gissler - Blog - 2013 - RISD - show - 11 - 640x751

David Williams, American (Newport, Rhode Island), 1769-1823
Patent Timepiece ca. 1815-1820, Mahogany, pine, paint, glass, and brass
Museum purchase; Bequest of Eliza Taft
Attributed to workshop of John & Thomas Seymour, American,
1738-ca 1818 and 1771-1848
Lady’s Writing Desk, 1795-1800, Mahogany, pine, light & dark wood inlays,
ivory, brass & enamel hardware, Estate of Martha B. Lisle
“Arabesque Pigeons”, Adelphi Paper Hangings
Wood block printed wallpaper – contemporary recreation of a historic wallpaper by Adelphi

For “Making It in America”, curators at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Museum selected artwork, furniture and objects from their collection, and with the collaboration of New York decorator Thomas Jayne, created a wonderful exhibition that illuminates connections between American ambitions and the making of art.

(more…)