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Inspiration

Philip & Kelvin LaVerne

Okay, I admit I love Antiques Roadshow. I especially love it when someone has brought in an item they paid a pittance for only to discover it is now worth a fortune. A lovely lady paid $600 for a beautiful bronze console table etched with exotic Asian designs. She soon discovered that she had purchased an exquisite table designed by Philip & Kelvin La Verne and that her table had an estimated value of $25,000 to $30,000.

Philip and Kelvin LaVerne Chan cabinet circa 1965. Patinated and acid-etched brass over pewter and wood.

I have long admired the work of Phillip and Kelvin LaVerne, a father and son artistic team designing one of a kind works of art that also happen to be beautiful and now highly collectible furniture. The LaVernes worked mostly in bronze, using innovative methods, including burying bronze and pewter slabs in soil for up to six weeks to achieve the beautiful patinas and etches so highly prized in their work. The LaVernes were fond of ancient motifs, such as Egyptian and Asian references that give their work a timeless quality. Produced primarily in the 1950’s and 1960’s, their pieces now command stratospheric prices and are highly sought after by collectors. The Christina Grajales Gallery and Todd Merrill, both in New York, are leading dealers carrying the work of these exceptional artists.

Here are some exceptional examples of their work:

Philip and Kelvin LaVerne coffee table, Todd Merrill

‘Les Femmes’ A patinated bronze and pewter cabinet, circa 1970, Christies

Chateau Dreams

There is a thrill nearly every designer gets when finding that diamond in the rough waiting to be turned into a polished gem. It’s seeing the possibilities and the largely blank canvas upon which you will paint your fantasies and make your dream a reality. Pierre Yovanovitch stumbled across a crumbling 17th century chateau near Marseilles and was seduced.

I have long admired the work of Paris-based designer Pierre Yovanovitch and his most recent layout in Elle Décor does not disappoint.

Yovanovitch spent three years restoring his chateau in Provence and the results are why this largely self-taught designer has shot to the top of the French design world in a little more than a decade.

Yovanovitch deftly juxtaposes classic French architectural references with clean modern aesthetics and rarified 20th century furnishings and lighting.

Elle Décor – Livingroom “The sublime 17th century gypsum fireplace mantel with a Robsjohn-Gibbings biomorphic coffee table and custom sofas.

Elle Décor– DiningRoom – “Austere and monastic in the most sophisticated manner possible.”

Elle Décor – Master Bedroom – “Modern, refined country style”

Timeless, classic, ethereal.

photos via Elle Décor

Brute Force

Brutalism was a term given to a particularly raw and rough design genre which emerged from Post-World War II Europe. It was most likely given that name due to the torched, twisted, torn and crimped materials, mostly metals, that designers willed into submission. Such designers as Paul Evans, Silas Seandel, Tom Greene, and Curtis Jere were among the high practioners of this artform. Today, many of these pieces, many by Evans in particular, are commanding stratospheric prices as new collectors discover the strange and abstract beauty of these pieces.

Paul Evans produced a line of pieces for Directional Furniture in the 1960’s. Here are some examples from his Argente and Cityscape series.

Silas Seandel is also an American trained sculpture producing both large scale metal installations such as the one he did recently for the World Trade Center Memorial, but is probably best known for bringing traditional sculpting techniques to furniture.

Tom Greene designed lighting for the Feldman Lighting Co. of Los Angeles. Feldman was a prominent lighting company from the 1940’s through the 1970’s. Greene was known for his fantastic torch cut chandeliers.

Curtis Jere is actually the nom de plume of artists Jerry Fels and Curtis Freiler. Together they produced metalworks for their company Artisan House. Although still in business today, it is the pieces from the 1960’s to the early 1970’s that have collectors clamoring. Below: Starburst Wall Decoration – a highly collected piece by Jere / Raindrop Mirror – probably one of the most sought after designs from Curtis Jere / Abstract wall decoration

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