(Wooden Dolls, designed 1953 by Alexander Girard, American, 19071995. Photo by Marc Eggimann, Lent by Vitra, Inc. Vitra)
Furniture you sit on it, you sleep on it, you eat over it and the rest of the time, you take it for granted.
Some furnishings, though, deserve far more attention paid to the form that goes with their function, and now the Philadelphia Museum of Art spotlights one of the greatest makers of gorgeous household items in its latest exhibition.
In VitraDesign, Architecture, Communication: A European Project with American Roots, museumgoers will learn about one design firm, family-owned Swiss company Vitra, which has been accessorizing international houses into homes since 1950.
On view in the Perelman Building’s Collab Gallery, a space devoted to the museum’s modern and contemporary design collection, Vitra explores the company’s history through more than 120 works of furniture, design objects, publications, models, publications and videos.
An exhibition of six sections, the display moves from the company’s American roots — the organization first began with licenses from American Herman Miller for designs by Charles and Ray Eames, George Nelson and Alexander Girard in 1957 — all the way through to its modern day holdings at the renowned Vitra Design Museum in Germany, which houses one of the world’s largest collections of modern furniture design.
The exhibition features not only contemporary products and designs, but also historic objects and archival material including a plywood toy elephant by Charles and Ray Eames, a group of Alexander Girard's Wooden Dolls and George Nelson's 1948 furniture catalogue for Herman Miller.
In conjunction with this design-focused display, the museum’s group for modern and contemporary design, Collab, honors Rolf Fehlbaum, Vitra's Chairman Emeritus, with Collab's 2014 Design Excellence Award.
The show will be on view through the spring, giving lovers of design time to appreciate this remarkable show of fine furnishings.
VitraDesign, Architecture, Communication:
A European Project with American Roots
When: Through April 26, 2015
Where: Philadelphia Museum of Art Perelman Building, 26th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Cost: Included in museum admission
More info: www.philamuseum.org