http://www.allartnews.com/important-20th-century-design-and-tiffany-sale-at-sothebys-in-new-york/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=important-20th-century-design-and-tiffany-sale-at-sothebys-in-new-york Art News for Art Lovers Thu, 09 Dec 2010 06:48:02 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.3 http://www.allartnews.com/important-20th-century-design-and-tiffany-sale-at-sothebys-in-new-york/comment-page-1/#comment-131 Eileen Manning Michels Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:18:37 +0000 http://www.allartnews.com/?p=851#comment-131 Although in recent decades Harvey Ellis has been celebrated in some colleclting circles as the designer of furniture for Gustav Stickley, there is no evidence that he in fact functioned as as such during his brief time in Stickley's employ. The concept of Ellis as a furniture designer, now sacrosanct in many--but not all--Arts and Crafts collecting circles, stems from a 1970s misinterpretation of his illutrations published in the Craftsman magazine in the last half of 1903. See chapter 13 in my book, Reconfiguring Harvey Ellis (2004). Slowly but surely that idea is now being corrected, and ultimately the furniture in question will be judged on its intrinsic merit, not because of a posited connection with a particular designer. Who am I to challenge conventional wisdom about Ellis and furniture design? For starters I have been studying Ellis since 1952 and probably know more about him than anyone else on the planet. Although in recent decades Harvey Ellis has been celebrated in some colleclting circles as the designer of furniture for Gustav Stickley, there is no evidence that he in fact functioned as as such during his brief time in Stickley’s employ. The concept of Ellis as a furniture designer, now sacrosanct in many–but not all–Arts and Crafts collecting circles, stems from a 1970s misinterpretation of his illutrations published in the Craftsman magazine in the last half of 1903. See chapter 13 in my book, Reconfiguring Harvey Ellis (2004). Slowly but surely that idea is now being corrected, and ultimately the furniture in question will be judged on its intrinsic merit, not because of a posited connection with a particular designer. Who am I to challenge conventional wisdom about Ellis and furniture design? For starters I have been studying Ellis since 1952 and probably know more about him than anyone else on the planet.

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