COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
Record
AMICA ID:
MIA_.93.89.1
AMICA Library Year:
2003
Object Type:
Decorative Arts and Utilitarian Objects
Creator Name:
Elmslie George
Creator Nationality:
American (born Scotland), Minnesota
Creator Role:
Designer
Creator Dates/Places:
1871 - 1952
Gender:
M
Creator Name-CRT:
George Grant Elmslie
Creator Name:
Purcell William
Creator Nationality:
American, Minnesota
Creator Role:
Designer
Creator Dates/Places:
1880 - 1965
Gender:
M
Creator Name-CRT:
William Gray Purcell
Title:
Side chair
View:
3/4 view
Creation Date:
c. 1914
Creation Start Date:
1904
Creation End Date:
1924
Materials and Techniques:
Pine, oak, birch, horsehair upholstery
Classification Term:
Furniture
Dimensions:
H.50 X W.19-1/4 x D.20 in.
AMICA Contributor:
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Owner Location:
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
ID Number:
93.89.1
Credit Line:
Gift of Susan Decker Barrows
Provenance:
Edward W. and Susie M. Spaulding Decker Susan Decker Barrows
Context:
In 1913 Purcell and Elmslie built a large summer residence for Edward W. Decker, a Minneapolis banker, on a wooded lot on Lake Minnetonka. The dining room furniture is unlike any other by Purcell and Elmslie. It is constructed of pine, a wood appropriate for a summer house, with chair seats upholstered in hard-wearing horsehair, once a deep blue. The chair backs have no decorative design, letting the form tell the story. The molding on the side-rail terminals and on the feet matched that of the built-in buffets. Purcell later noted that, "Mr. Decker spent all the money that was necessary to make our architectural thesis complete in all its detail...really an integral work in every department."
Exhibition History:
Prairie School Architecture in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin, Minnesota Museum of Art, St. Paul, 1982 Minnesota 1900: Art and Life on the Mississippi, 1890-1915, The Minneapolis Instittute of Arts, 1994
Related Multimedia Description:
Unified Vision: In the late 19th century, Louis Sullivan conceived the idea of an authentic American architecture suited to the needs of people living in the modern age.Employing his principles of unified design, Sullivan's followers, including Frank Lloyd Wright, William Gray Purcell, and George Grant Elmslie, developed what is now known as the Prairie School.Unified Vision explores these modern concepts through the exemplary Prairie School collection at The Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
Related Image Identifier Link:
MIA_.26941c.tif
