Decorative Arts and Design
Ron Arad (British, born Israel, 1951), designer, Blo-Void I, 2006, mirror-polished aluminum alloy and anodized woven-aluminum mesh, purchase through prior acquisition from Beth and Sam Scarboro in loving memory of Grace and Dewey D. Scarboro, and bequests of Kate Session Marsh and Mrs. Norman Powell Pendley, 2007.121.
The High’s Decorative Arts and Design collection explores the broad materializations of design across time and place.
It features the renowned Virginia Carroll Crawford Collection—the most comprehensive survey of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American decorative arts in the southeastern United States; the Frances and Emory Cocke Collection of English Ceramics from 1640 to 1840; Southern works; and global contemporary design. With more than 2,500 objects dating from 1640 to the present, the collection explores the intersections between art, craft, and design; handcraft and technology; and innovation and making.
Curator of Decorative Arts and Design
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Decorative Arts and Design HIGHlights
The High’s Decorative Arts and Design holdings include iconic and rare works of design such as the Red/Blue Chair (Rood Blauwe Stoel) by Gerrit Rietveld, The Century Vase by Karl L. H. Müller, an original Jazz Bowl by Viktor Schreckengost, a secretary desk by Wooton Manufacturing Company, and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Desk and Chair for the S. C. Johnson Building.
Nineteenth-Century American Decorative Arts
The High’s Virginia Carroll Crawford Collection is the most comprehensive survey of nineteenth-century American decorative arts in the southeastern United States. This renowned collection ranges from 1810 through 1915 and includes outstanding works by prestigious American makers such as Tiffany and Co., Herter Brothers, Libbey Glass Company, Gustav Stickley’s Craftsman Workshops, Rookwood Pottery, and Gorham Manufacturing Company.
Contemporary Design
The High’s growing collection of global contemporary design features outstanding works by many of the twenty-first century’s most innovative designers, including Joris Laarman Lab, Ron Arad, Stephen Burks, Jaime Hayon, Iris van Herpen, Francisco Laposse, mischer’traxler, nendo, Patrick Jouin, Johanna Grawunder, the Campana Brothers, Marcel Wanders, and Zhang Zhoujie, as well as key late twentieth-century designs by Zaha Hadid, Shiro Kuramata, and Ettore Sottsass.
Design Commissions
The High’s Decorative Arts and Design department often works directly with artists to design works specifically for the Museum, creating lasting legacies for both the artists and the city of Atlanta. The department has commissioned unique acquisitions from acclaimed designers for its collection (Tejo Remy, Molly Hatch, Jürgen Bey, Roberto Lugo, and Maarten Baas) and for the ongoing summer installation series on the Carroll Slater Sifly Piazza (Tanya Aguiñiga, Bryony Roberts Studio, Héctor Esrawe, Ignacio Cadena, Jaime Hayon, and SO – IL).
New Design Technologies
Designers often look to unconventional materials and new technologies for inspiration, allowing them to push the boundaries of creation. The High’s Decorative Arts and Design collection includes a range of objects that demonstrate these forward-thinking ideas, such as a variety of 3D-printed objects by Iris van Herpen, Joris Laarman Lab, Patrick Jouin, and Front Design; earlier patented innovations by Gebrüder Thonet, John Henry Belter, Louis Comfort Tiffany, and William S. Wooton; and key examples of mid-century American innovation, including plywood objects by Charles and Ray Eames.
Southern Objects
The High’s Decorative Arts and Design department collects works made in the American South, including early nineteenth-century fine furniture and silver; ceramics, wood, and textiles, including key quilts by Ruth Clement Bond, Wini McQueen, and Jessie Telfair; Southern vernacular forms, such as pie safes, slab tables, baskets, and Southern alkaline-glazed stoneware, including vessels by David Drake; Southern studio craft, especially through gifts by Martha and Pat Connell; and works by contemporary makers including Jon Eric Riis and Julia Woodman.
Studio Craft
The Decorative Arts and Design collection includes modern and contemporary craft works by acclaimed makers such as Peter Voulkos, Edward Moulthrop, Wini McQueen, Earl Pardon, Jon Eric Riis, Viola Frey, Art Smith, Dante Marioni, and Toots Zynsky. Generous gifts from Martha and Pat Connell, Audrey and Michael Landy, and Lisa and Ron Brill have enhanced the collection’s holdings of woodworking, textiles, jewelry, ceramics, and studio glass.
Ceramics
The High has been collecting ceramics since the 1920s, making it the largest category within the Decorative Arts and Design collection.
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