Maison Gerard – Improving With Age

Glenn Gissler - Blog - 2014 - LELEU-129_2-2-423x820

 Dressing Table – Leleu 

Maison Gerard has been a go-to resource for fine French Art Deco in Greenwich Village for forever…and as it turns out, in this case ‘forever‘ is 40 remarkable years!

Gerard Widdershoven opened Maison Gerard in 1974 at a time when there was only one other gallery in New York City that specialized in French Art Deco furniture, lighting and objects. Widdershoven played a pivotal role introducing this period of decorative arts to the New York market; featuring pieces by Andre Sornay, Emile Jacques Ruhlmann, Maxime Old, Jean Dunand, Edgar Brandt, Dominique, Andre Groualt, Maison Leleu and many others.

I went to the party celebrating this impressive milestone and discovered how the evolution of Maison Gerard continues…

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Magic Happens in the Camera

Glenn Gissler - Blog - 2014 - Still-Life-608x820

I love photography.

And I love working with photographers to shoot images (can we still call them ‘pictures’ in the digital age?) of my design projects.

I have had a long and fruitful collaborative working relationship with Steve Gross and Sue Daley, known as Gross & Daley, documenting completed, and more recently ‘in-process’ projects.

A couple of weeks ago Steve, Sue, me and Senior Designer Craig Strulovitz spent two days shooting photographs of a two bedroom apartment on Gramercy Park North….

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Reinvention at the RISD Museum

Glenn Gissler - Blog - 2014 - RISD Museum - Hudner Buddha Gallery

…an old friend at the RISD Museum received a facelift…

I had the good fortune to study architecture and fine arts at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD – pronounced ‘riz-dee’) – a small, very old school located in the smallest state in America.

It was in 1877 that RISD, and the RISD Museum were created by a group of visionary Providence, Rhode Island women. The school is extremely well-known however the MUCH lesser known museum remains a ‘secret’ – but not for long!

The 137 year old museum’s collection now has over 91,000 objects and is housed in more than 72,000 square feet in three historic and two contemporary buildings at the heart of the RISD campus; with a curatorial staff numbering 10 as well as an additional 75 members of the Museum team, including the director John W. Smith.  It is the 3rd largest college museum in the world (behind Harvard and Yale).

In seeking a way to give back to the school and museum that has given me so much, five years ago I joined the Board of the museum: it has been one of the most rewarding and satisfying things that I have done in my life.

Last week I attended the unveiling of the newly renovated floor of the Radeke Building at the RISD Museum…

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A Few Minutes of Glenn Gissler Reality TV!

Glenn Gissler - Blog - 2014 - Moving Truck - Gross & Daley
On moving day, five guys and a 27 foot moving truck arrived in Connecticut at my new very old house with a lot of stuff!

My friends Steve Gross & Sue Daley captured the spirit of the day in a short video; it is a little bit goofy, but take a look and enjoy some of the excitement!

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