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11/13/2012 |
Every time I go to the Metropolitan I spend some time looking at the Luce study collection in the American Wing. My visit a few weeks ago with Ron Hock and Linda Rosengarten was no exception. For them, it was a first look. For me, it was also a first look as the collection is so massive that every trip I see something new. The study collection is just piles of furniture and other American decorative art that the museum doesn't have room to display in one of their formal galleries. It's all just stacked up behind glass walls for our perusal. Most of the furniture is unrestored - which means that you see all sorts of details. It's like walking through a used furniture shop - albeit one with really, really nice stuff.
The importance of the collection to anyone interested in making furniture cannot be overstated. Supposing you had the urge to make a painted wood chest. The first thing you should do is look at as many chests as possible. They must have twenty of them piled in for viewing. There are dozens of chairs, and bedsteads, some quite hideous, some amazing. Desks galore. Piled in is not only the famous Frank Lloyd Wright metal desk and chair but also a bunch of lesser metal and folding chairs from other makers. The glass shelving allows you to look at the piece from all angles. With every visit, something catches my eye and I learn something.
I wish they had a similar study collection for their non-American furniture. You should know that the Brooklyn Museum also has a study collection - smaller than the Met's, but still worth spending a lot of time with. |
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