Press Release

 

First Major Exhibition on Charles Rohlfs, Maverick of the Arts and Crafts Movement, Coming to Southern California

Jan. 29, 2010 (updated April 1, 2010) - The first major exhibition of furniture and decorative art by the American craftsman and designer Charles Rohlfs (1853–1936), “The Artistic Furniture of Charles Rohlfs” brings together more than 40 pieces from 10 museums and several private collections to survey Rohlfs’ career as a furniture designer. With roots in the Aesthetic movement and an art-for-art’s sake sensibility, Rohlfs’ style relates to the abstract naturalism of Art Nouveau but draws on precedents from Asian and Moorish as well as English and German designs. While his work influenced the pared-down oak forms that became hallmarks of the Arts and Crafts movement, Rohlfs preferred the term “artistic furniture” to identify his designs not as part of a specific style or movement but rather as an expressive art made by a single individual. Organized by the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Chipstone Foundation, and the American Decorative Art 1900 Foundation with new scholarship based on the Rohlfs family archives and newly discovered primary sources, “The Artistic Furniture of Charles Rohlfs” concludes its national tour at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in the fall of 2010. More about the exhibition >

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Hall Chair Charles Rohlfs (American, 1853-1936), Hall Chair, 1904. Oak, 57 x 18 7/8 x 17 inches. Milwaukee Art Museum, Gift of American Decorative Art 1900 Foundation in honor of Glenn Adamson. Photo by Gavin Ashworth © American Decorative Art 1900 Foundation.		Hall Chair (detail) Charles Rohlfs (American, 1853-1936), Hall Chair, 1904 (detail). Oak, 57 x 18 7/8 x 17 inches. Milwaukee Art Museum, Gift of American Decorative Art 1900 Foundation in honor of Glenn Adamson. Photo by Gavin Ashworth © American Decorative Art 1900 Foundation.
Desk Chair Charles Rohlfs (American, 1853-1936) and Anna Katharine Green (American, 1846–1935), Desk Chair, ca. 1898–1899. From the Rohlfs home. Oak, 53 15/16 x 15 15/16 x 16 7/8 inches. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Promised Gift of American Decorative Art 1900 Foundation in honor of Joseph Cunningham. Photo by Gavin Ashworth © American Decorative Art 1900 Foundation.		Tall Rocking Chair Charles Rohlfs (American, 1853-1936), Rocking Chair, 1901. Oak with replaced leather seat, 56 1/2 x 18 x 33 inches. Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, DePuy Fund, 84.5. Photo by Tom Little © Carnegie Museum of Art.
Tall-Back Chair Charles Rohlfs (American, 1853-1936), Tall-Back Chair, ca. 1898-99. From the Rohlfs home. Oak, 54 x 17 1/2 x 16 1/4 inches. Princeton University Art Museum, Gift of Roland Rohlfs. Photo by Gavin Ashworth © Trustees of Princeton University.		Tall-Back Chair (detail) Charles Rohlfs (American, 1853-1936), Tall-Back Chair, ca. 1898-99 (detail). From the Rohlfs home. Oak, 54 x 17 1/2 x 16 1/4 inches. Princeton University Art Museum, Gift of Roland Rohlfs. Photo by Gavin Ashworth © Trustees of Princeton University.
Chafing Dish Charles Rohlfs (American, 1853-1936), Chafing Dish, ca. 1900. Copper, brass, and oak with ceramic casserole; 15 1/2 x 16 3/4 x 9 3/8 inches. Private Collection, New York. Photo by Gavin Ashworth © American Decorative Art 1900 Foundation.		Rocking Chair Charles Rohlfs (American, 1853-1936), Rocking Chair, ca. 1899. Oak, leather, and metal tacks; 32 1/2 x 24 3/4 x 33 inches. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, Promised Gift of American Decorative Art 1900 Foundation in honor of Joseph Cunningham. Photo © V&A Publications.
Carved Candle Stand Charles Rohlfs (American, 1853-1936), Carved Candle Stand, 1902. Oak and copper, 26 1/2 x 10 3/8 inches. Carnegie Museum of Art, Promised Gift of American Decorative Art 1900 Foundation in honor of Joseph Cunningham. Photo by Gavin Ashworth © American Decorative Art 1900 Foundation.		Tall Case Clock Charles Rohlfs (American, 1853-1936), Tall Case Clock, ca. 1900-1904. From the Rohlfs home. Oak with copper and green enamel, 81 x 19 1/8 x 9 inches. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Roland Rohlfs. Photo by Gavin Ashworth, Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art © American Decorative Art 1900 Foundation.
Plant Stand Charles Rohlfs (American, 1853-1936), Plant Stand, 1903. Oak and copper, 50 7/8 x 19 3/8 inches. Private Collection. Photo by Gavin Ashworth © American Decorative Art 1900 Foundation.		Lamp Charles Rohlfs (American, 1853-1936), Lamp, ca. 1904. From the Rohlfs home. Copper, brass, and kappa shell, with replaced glass; 23 1/4 x 15 7/8 inches. Private Collection. Photo by Gavin Ashworth © American Decorative Art 1900 Foundation.
Charles Rohlfs, ca. 1905. The Winterthur Library.		Charles Rohlfs as Dixon Charles Rohlfs in the role of Dixon in One Hundred Wives, 1 November 1880, Philadelphia. Daguerreotype. American Decorative Art 1900 Foundation.
Anna in Chair Anna Katharine Green, ca 1880. Rohlfs Family Archive.		Anna Anna Katharine Green, ca 1990-05. Rohlfs Family Archive.
Furniture Tag Charles Rohlfs (American, 1853-1936), furniture tag on underside of seat, Tall-Back Chair, ca. 1898-99. From the Rohlfs home. Princeton University Art Museum, Gift of Roland Rohlfs. Photo by Gavin Ashworth © Trustees of Princeton University.
Maker's Mark Charles Rohlfs (American, 1853-1936), Maker’s mark and date from Fretted Octagonal Cabinet. Photo © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.		Rohlfs Interior Interior of the Rohlfs home on Norwood Avenue, ca. 1905. The Winterthur Library.