“A chair is a very difficult object.  A skyscraper is almost easier.  That is why Chippendale is famous.”  These words by the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe form a theme for Kraushaar Galleries’ first spring exhibition.  We will present a selection of paintings and works on paper which include a chair as a primary or supporting element.  The exhibition will begin on April 3rd and continues through May 24th, 2019.

During the first decades of the 20th century studio scenes frequently included a chair as a subject in a room, like Gifford Beal’s formal portrait of Harrison Cady’s Studio, or as a support for a subject, as in John Sloan’s Kathleen Resting or William Glackens’ The Breakfast Porch.  As Modernist theories influenced American art, the chair took on architectural qualities as apparent in the two portraits of Bea Ault, a painting by Marguerite Zorach and a drawing by George Ault.  Ruth Asawa and Elmer Bischoff straddle a line between painterly representation and elements of abstraction while Jack Tworkov pushes the chair to complete abstraction. 

The exhibition can be viewed from the antique copies of Chippendale chairs that have been a part of the Galleries exhibition space for about 100 years.

Kraushaar Galleries, celebrating its 134th year in business, is committed to presenting quality American Art to the public.